Turkish Delights – Of the Non Edible Kind

I just came back from Turkey, on an educational school trip organized by my daughter’s school. I’ve long been curious about Turkey and it didn’t disappoint. However, being on an schedule-packed school tour with other parents and students, there certainly wasn’t much time or opportunity for us to go awol to discover fancy restaurants, boutiques and less traveled sites. But still, we were fortunate and privileged to be bathed in the culture, being hosted by a number of Turkish families (fab, fab, fab food and unbelievable hospitality). Thank goodness that we did get to spend a couple of hours in the Istanbul Grand Bazaar on our very last day.

A couple of hours is not nearly enough to even scratch the surface of the treasures to be discovered there. The historical covered bazaar has 58 streets and over 6000 merchants. Count on getting lost. And lost, we were, my daughter and I, but not before discovering a delightful jewelry shop. I did some early holiday shopping  and bought some interesting necklaces. I was told that silk and cotton was used as the structure for much of the jewelry at a certain time as metal chains and wires were not available. I love how the necklaces are mounted on silk cords and embellished with bits of stones and fabric. Personally, the ethnic, old world, non-polished and colorful look of these necklaces is totally to my taste. The collar-like necklaces were bought in Izmir. They feature stones and beads on a cotton backing. And indeed, as per historical accurateness, there is not a bit of metal on these pieces. They look great under a jacket.

More on other Turkish discoveries in a future post.