Day 81 - International Game

Today we had our adventure in The Grand Bazaar. The Bazaar building itself is a warren of shops, stalls, and food vendors all under a series of curved ceilings and painted arches. It is utterly confusing, and large enough to have its own address system. Of course none of this is clearly labled, but half the fun of being there is that feeling of being half lost down Alice´s rabbit hole.

At the shops, haggling is expected. It is part of the game. You must assume that any price quoted to you is approximately 1/3 more than the actual value of the item. Bat your eyelashes, say you really love it, but that you are on a strict budget. Say that perhaps you could afford the price, but that you are traveling, and the cost of shipping it home makes it impossible. Say you only have a little money on you, that your husband is holding the rest and that you can´t ask him for it. Offer and counteroffer until you reach your target. If all else fails, start to walk away. The vendor will usually call after you "What´s your final offer!" Make the offer. If it is within reason (at least 1/3 below the stated cost), you will probably get your item. If not though, be prepared to walk away. Your bluff has been called. Besides, there is sure to be another vendor eager to start the process all over again just a few displays down.

We haggle quite successfully, scoring both a pillowcover, which I intend to put over my daypack, and a gift for friends who got married in June.

Flush with success we stopped for our ubiquitous street food - Turkish pizza and kebabs - and then decided to cool off at one of the ancient cisterns. The one we visited was the newer cistern. It was built in the 6th century to supply the palace and some city fountains. The entrance is an unassuming brick building put up in 1987. Underground though, the scene opens up in cathedral-like proportions. 12 rows of 28 columns each rise out of the water. Each column is topped with Corinthian and Ionic capitals. The ceiling is vaulted brick, and fish - carp, goldfish, and milky-eyed fish used to the dark swim below. All around is the sound of dripping water. Medusa heads, believed to be Helenistic Greek, form the base of two columns near where the water used to ener the cistern. It is blissfully cool and damp under the ground, and the perfect place to spend a hot, hazy afternoon.

Later in the day, while Cz rested, I went to the post office. It turned out to be far too daunting a task - NOTHING was translated. Perhaps if I had arived at a less busy hour I might have asked someone to help me, but I decided that rather than wait in line (a line that may or may not have been the right one) for 20 minutes, to write some postcards and meet up with Aussie girl for some surrepticious shoe-shopping.

We returned home to find the Hostel clerk decked out in full soccer gear. He and a bunch of friends had rented the local pitch, and were invited us to come along and watch. Which is how I found myself in the wedged in the back of a car with Aussie girl and four others picking our way through rush-our traffic to the park. Cz took the train with Aussie Boy and the other players. The team was comprised of Hostel Clerk, several Turkish guys, Aussie Boy, and Canada Boy (another of our posse) and one other hostel guest. They players were all quite good and the non-players cheered equal sides in equal measure. It was a strange moment of feeling both home and far away at once. A local game, with players we knew, but instead of central park as a backdrop, the Bosphorus Sea and lights of Istanbul. I wish we had more time here - there is more I would like to see in Turkey, and the people are just lovely, but our plane wings away for Vienna at 7:45 tomorrow morning, and we should probably be on it.