A fun place to go in Istanbul is the Egyptian Spice Market. It got its name because for a long time that’s where they traded all the spices and things that were brought from Egypt. It was built in 1664 so it has been in business a long time.
Even though it was hot, we decided to walk so we could explore the neighborhood around the market. It was mostly downhill and we promised the boys we would take the train home if they agreed to walk there. They were still protesting about wanting to take the metro instead so we just said, “too bad, we’re walking.”
Lots of people, lots of old buildings and shops, many trinkets, and lots to see . . .
Walking around Istanbul without a plan feels is an adventure. There’s so much to see (like Egypt), but it’s clean (unlike Egypt). We could have explored the city on foot for another week without even beginning to be bored.
Inside the Spice Market looked just like this — if you imagine it going on and on and around the corner and on and on some more. We wandered around for over an hour and it just kept going.
We smelled the different teas, tasted some different spices, and had samples of Turkish Delight. I don’t like Turkish Delight. When reading The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe I thought Turkish Delight had to be some rich creamy chocolate or caramel candy — something that would go well with the steaming hot chocolate that the White Witch served to Edmund. It turns out that Turkish Delight is actually gummy fruit squares with nuts in them. I mean, it’s OK, but it’s hard to imagine that Edmund sold out his family for some nutty fruit leather . . .
At the entrance to the Spice Market there was a place selling soft serve cones. After our long, hot walk, everyone deserved a treat.
I’m making this picture extra-large so you can read the sign right in the center: Turkish Viagra (they are dates stuffed with nuts). If you click on the picture to look at it up close, it says “5 times in the night.” Gross.
At another spice place in central Turkey we were sampling different nuts and fruit combos and I asked the guy what the bright pink stuff was. He said it was concentrated cranberry, “good for the milk” and proceeded to use his fingers to create two jet streams shooting out from his chest. Um, oh-kay then! I thought maybe I had misunderstood what he was doing, so I asked Josh about it on the way home. Yep, that’s exactly what he was doing.
Right outside the Spice Market there was a man who was offering bird food for “tuppence a plate.” It was only 1/2 a lira (30 cents) for a small plate of corn.
Caleb and Carter had fun feeding the pigeons until . . .
this little boy intentionally ran through the flock and made them fly . . .
up to a safe haven — a high ledge on the side of the building. He was only 2 years old and was shrieking with excitement so it was pretty funny.
After spices and pigeons the boys wanted to take the train home, but it was about time for dinner so we went in search of some fish.
The Spice Market is right across the street from the entrance to the Galata Bridge and there are always people fishing from it. Rumor had it that you could buy fresh fish sandwiches right from the dock, so off we went in search of dinner . . . (to be continued).
