Istanbul Grand Bazaar

We left Almaty early Wednesday morning.  The flight was over four hours and a three hour time zone change.  Istanbul is a huge city, spanning over two continents.  We stayed on the Europe side.  The weather reminded me of Southern California since it is surrounded by water. 

After we checked into the hotel, we decided to walk up to see the Grand Bazaar.

 

This is one of the entrances to the bazaar.  People were everywhere and salesmen were trying to sell us perfume, socks, jackets, etc etc

 

 

There are many high-end jewelery stores down this first hall way.

 

And it goes on and on.  I'm sure we saw only a fraction of the entire place.

 

On Saturday morning, we visited the bazaar again.  We met a man named Jimmy who has known LDS friends for many years.  He was able to show us some good places to shop.  He has friends in Orem, Utah so when he learned that one of our couples was from Orem, he dialed his phone and handed it to Sis Stutz to make a connection.

 

Jimmy and Sister Storm

 

Jimmy had heard about Sister Monson's passing and offered condolences

 

 

Jimmy's Silver Corner

 

BYU in Istanbul

 

Here's some random places that caught my eye

 

Music Instruments

 

Cowboy boots and bags

 

Chandeliers

Loved these costumes and hats













This is the outdoor restaurant where we had lunch on Wednesday.  While we were here, we heard the call for prayers.  They put it on a loud speaker here and you can hear it from several different mosques.  After we ate, we noticed a Burger King across the street!  So we went there on Saturday.

 

Burger King in Istanbul.  The sisters have told us that the Burger King is now open in Astana!  We'll have to give it a try.

 

This is the view outside the window