Writing about the Spice Bazaar in Istanbul runs into some of the same hardships that should make cooking shows popular.  Why do people want to watch a show about cooking when you can’t smell or taste anything?  Logically, it seems like people would lose interest in these shows pretty quickly.  Fortunately for me, these cooking shows are some of the most popular shows on television.  Thus, I hope that my blog about the Spice Bazaar, which is a place almost entirely made of taste and smell… can be as popular as a modern day cooking show.  Just imagine the smells!

Walking into the spice bazaar was like walking into a wall of incredible spicy smells.  With about a thousand people.  All walking into the wall at the same time.  It was easily the most crowded place I was in in Istanbul.  But it was totally worth it.

Just because it’s called the Spice Bazaar, don’t think you’re going to be limited to just spices.  Different stalls sold everything from spices to tea, turkish delight to curries, souvenirs, scarves, plates…

I think the curries were my favorite smells.  Just so intensely rich.  Absolutely divine.

The other thing I really liked were the teas.  So Many Kinds of Tea!  Tea for just about anything.

Love tea…  Bronchitis tea…  and if the Love tea didn’t do the trick,

Viagra tea.

Just outside the bazaar this person was selling beans.  They didn’t smell good, but I liked how they looked in their sacks.

There was also a person selling cactuses.  Truthfully, they seemed a bit out of place.  But someone once gave me a cactus as a valentines day gift… and these made me think of valentines cactus, so they got included in the blog.

Back inside the bazaar there was a baklava stall.  My love for baklava runs deep.  And the choices!  Oh god the choices!  Let’s just say, in my 4 days in Istanbul I ate more baklava than anyone should.  I would say more than was healthy, but let’s face it… there was nothing healthy about it.

Teas and spices and so delicious!!  One of my favorite places in Istanbul, and one of my favorite places I went on my trip as well.  I wish I could blog the smell.