Turkey

Edirne

Entering the covered bazaar, we saw great hanging portraits of Attaturk, father of modern Turkey (at the far back in the picture on the left). The most notable thing to us about him was his decidedly 'funky' eyebrows. We were also astounded to find his likeness on every bill we got. We bought a number of the prayer bead sets on the right, including those with the 'lucky eye' that features so predominantly in Turkish tourist literature.
	Edirne was our introduction to the riot of color, smell, and sound that is shopping in Turkey. This market was originally a rest stop (or caravanserai) that was part of a mosque complex. Every mosque that was consigned by a Sultan had a school, hospital, food kitchen for the poor and market attached to it. Interestingly, because the country was in the middle of a currency change, we found ourselves paying for things with old money - 1,000,000 lira - and new money - 1 New Lira - having the same value. Crazy to buy something for 7 and get back 3 million in change!!!

Susan and Alea had to keep bundled up, even while inside the covered market. We ended up buying some pretend fruit made of soap (don't ask, but that is what Suz is inspecting at the left) while passing on the jewelry and yarn sets


Outside on the street, the sellers were just as hard at work. We saw fish mongers throwing the daily catch around as well as fruit vendors trying to stay warm. The smartest one of all was this lady who ran a sweets bakery - she sat inside and knitted in front of the heater instead of busting her chops outside!!