Month: December 2011

  • Istanbul Bites & Pieces

    Istanbul Bites & Pieces

    BAZAAR NEGOTIATING   I’ve never been one for shopping. My New York friends laugh at me because I shop retail. Sales shopping is definitely not my thing. And, forget the hondle. Until Istanbul. I figured the nearly six-century-old Grand Bazaar was the best place to practice. The guidebooks say negotiating is not so prevalent anymore,…

  • Not Constantinople

    Not Constantinople

    A dear friend decided he wanted to spend his 65th birthday with 24 of his closest friends.  We’re not talking ice cream cake and candles here: we celebrated in Istanbul. I understand now why they call those Sufi mystics Whirling Dervishes. My head was whirling after just one week in Turkey — that mad, exotic,…