Day Two, nothing new

Turkey is still very wet and I still have no luggage.  I'm getting really sick of the same pair of jeans and same sweater.  The airlines swear that the bags will be arriving in Istanbul at 4 PM today, but it was only after a lot of calling that we had to locate them and then alert the airlines as to where they were.  It seems that the airlines should have figured that out on their own.  I'm already penning the angry letter in my head.  Thankfully with trip insurance I was able to get clean socks and things, and my LLBean moccassins have held up incredibly well even in the wet.

Swords for sale- none for you, Remy!

This morning we headed out to the Grand Bazaar, which was happily indoors.  There was so much there, mostly pottery, textiles, rugs, and a few oddities like silver and musical instruments.  We wandered for most of the morning.  I have no patience for bargaining, so it's not really my scene, but Andrew got some great deal on new jeans (yay, clean!) and I ended up with a couple of pillow cases.  We ate lunch at an attached restaurant that had been recommended, and it was so good.  Andrew and I had this lamb thing mixed with vegetables under a cover of pastry and cheese.  There was also an amazing eggplant puree.  Julie had her favorite tomato and cucumber salad, but said it was more vinegary than in the States.

After lunch it had stopped raining so we walked to the Suleimanie mosque but it was closed for prayers.  Grr.  then we walked to the spice market, while it started raining again.  It was in a giant maze of pedestrian streets.  One shopkeeper let us try a few spices, and I bought a mix called Jannisary Blend.  Then we tried to find a cab back but we were in the middle of that huge pedestrian zone without knowing it so we walked until we were back at the Grand Bazaar, and eventually had to just walk to the hotel.  Now I am wet, cold, and sort of cranky, and really just want my luggage to arrive.