Franks Blog: IST 26th SAT

Saturday, April 26, 2025

IST 26th SAT

Sleep in
Carpet Pricing
Mosque
Met up with James for Dinner - Insane at TRY5000
Traditional Photos

After the solemnity of Gallipoli and the associated emotional energy drain, we are back in Istanbul.

A sleep in and then off for a walk in search of coffee. Collared by a fellow and ushered into "his" shop as his "guest". As his "guest", we get a free coffee. As we sit there we are shown carpets made by his fathers women in Eastern Turkey. We are offered a special price as his first customers.

We are learning the way this works. Furious button pressing on a calculator which is then turned towards us with a number. We then clarify the currency. Euros this time. USD next time. We note it's always an integer.

As we go to leave he introduces us to his brother who will show us ceramics. We follow dutifully across the street. We look at pottery and shown a video on his current model Samsung fold out phone of his father who [now] lives in central Turkey hand painting the pottery prior to firing.

Next we pass a shop with a cat on a rug and take a photo. Then turn into a shop selling jackets. The same cat (it seems) races past us and sits beside hand bags.
As far as I can tell, everyone including the cats are in league to sell stuff to tourists.

The Grand Bazaar is like a space time discontinuum. It's huge. Once inside, it feels like you turn down a corridor and then another and then you are back where you started or not in antisynchronism to what one intended.

There's a fun interaction between shop keepers "engaging" you and one ruining their day by not looking at their stuff. Mind you they are not so intense as to be really annoying and you have to hand it to them to be making business.

Suleymaniye Mosque

Lots of people picnicing. Kids kicking a soccer ball and someone had set up a little plastic (yellow and orange you know the type) baby swing hanging from a tree.