March 6, 2011

28 of 30: catty

I've just put up a new outfit post on my tumblr!* You can check it out (and read about my super-inconvenient shopping phobia) here.
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EDIT: In the interests of maintaining a reasonably contiguous blog archive, I have amended my post from Tumblr below - you can now read it here, or in it's original home (with all the original comments) on Tumblr. Enjoy!
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3.6.11 CATTY
28 of 30

near Grand Bazaar, Istanbul near Grand Bazaar, Istanbul
necklace - vintage, great grandmother's / watch - La Mer / cat print blouse - Zara / pink striped sweater - H&M / overdyed skinnies - Zara / boots - Steve Madden

We took these yesterday right after leaving the Grand Bazaar. It's Istanbul's biggest marketplace, and filled with all kinds of goodies - jewelry, scarves, clothes, leather goods, handbags, antiques, lamps, furniture, books... pretty much you name it. It was sort of funny to see it after experiencing the souks in Morocco - while the bazaar is famous for its huge scale, dazzling variety, and aggressive salesmen, after the souks it seemed so relaxed! I have never been a big fan of intense salesmanship, but I think Fes really thickened my skin about it.

I did make my very first stab at bargaining though, and while this might seem like a pretty standard issue tourist experience, it was a pretty big deal for me. I am still kicking myself over not buying any shoes or jewelry in Morocco, and the truth is that it was because I am horribly intimidated by negotiation! I am convinced I have no poker face whatsoever, and I always cave immediately. It's honestly a wonder that I managed to sell my car for more than a box of Crackerjack. I don't think I did too badly on my first time out though - I've been looking for a small compass to wear as a necklace, and finally found a great shop selling vintage navigational equipment that had the perfect '70s compass. I managed to counter-offer (and counter-counter-offer) without being too awkward (I think), and ultimately walked away, pride intact, when we couldn't agree on a price. There is a happy ending though - Chris is going to go back for it in a few days and see if he can get it a little cheaper.
We took our first few photos on a little side street near the bazaar, which wound up not being quite so deserted as we'd thought - we had to keep carefully timing our photos in between the huge crowds of people that kept popping around the corner! So we eventually decided to move on to someplace a little more scenic - the park across from the Sultanahmet Cami, aka the Blue Mosque.

Sultanahmet Cami, Istanbul Sultanahmet Cami, Istanbul
P.S. For those who want to follow my adventures in Turkey this month, you can subscribe via RSS, follow my tumblr with bloglovin, or add it to your Google Reader.
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