Here we are in Istanbul.
We decided to go back in time.
The easiest way without the hassle of building a time machine is a little visit to the Ferikoy Antique Market.
It’s in Ferikoy (snort).
It’s 5 years old.
It’s on every Sunday.
It’s pretty big so I would say give yourself a good 2 hours at least to have a good look through everything if your boyfriend is kind and patient. If not, go alone and plan for 3 hours.
They also have vendors making the usual yummy Turkish snacks and serving yummy Turkish brewed tea so be a little hungry.
But don’t have coffee. Yet.
Let’s play a game: how many of those on the table are in his phone now??
Little trinket box. Your valuebles shall be guarded on the red cushion by the nice lady with the red nipples.
Tick-tock… a picture of the illusion of time.
Meet Ozkan. He’s been a part of this for a long while.
His most interesting story:
Always looking for items of beauty and value, he hears of a person selling many possessions and goes over to the address given. The items belong to the lady selling them: they’re mostly silverware and various jewelry & accessories.
He leaves with 2 full boxes and puts them on his stand that Sunday.
He sells every single piece from that house… to one person – a man who magically hand-selects everything that came from that house and nothing else.
He gets a phone call from the daughters of the lady later that evening.
The story goes: The items sold by the lady were gifts from her ex-husband lovingly gifted to her over the years whilst they were married. She sold them in an attempt to erase his memory.
They were divorced but he still loved her. When she sold his gifts, the kids told him of it and thus he ended up being the mysterious buyer who hand-picked every single item bringing the full circle back home to him…
So sad, so sweet…
His FB page for Turkish antique enthusiasts is here.
He also has a website that’s in Turkish but pretty interesting called popvizyon.
The MGM lion.
Hostile takeover (kick).
These guys were 300 Liras. They’ve detached from material things but their owners haven’t. They should meditate together.
Cuppa.
For tea as well as Turkish coffee… which makes me wonder if they have any good coffee cup readers around here… hehe – been a while 😉
Sweet love <3
Old shoes and old Nestle tin standing innocently in the background. I wonder how old tin feels about new tins trying to monopolize the world supply of water… Shame? Thus the color red??
The Ottoman times. No running water and thus these were used for bathing in Turkish baths. I would have bought one but the usual ‘where will my real home be and when’ thingy stops me yet again.
Rare moment where the thingy mentioned above doesn’t stop me.
This is my new friend, Mevlana’s disciple in deep prayer.
It’s brass and cost me 20 Liras.
Woulda cost 25.
Of course I haggled.
This magazine is apparently a collector’s item focusing on the humorous and erotic.
We did peek and ended up inside the mind of a deviant satanic artist with a butt fetish.
It was diabolical and had us giggling.
Childhood heroes.
Why the fascination with this era?
The headline on the right reads, “This woman ruined me”.
Familiar story but erroneous thought: you ruined yourself, mate, with your choices… Just saying 😉
Naked yoga.
It does exist.
But that’s another story.
People still do this fur thing. I keep forgetting…
LOVE going through the photos here. Always expect to find ones of my granny or grandpa.
I *did* find one of Ataturk though last time I was there and pointed it out to the seller. He pretended to not believe me but the price of the little photo ended up being 30 liras!
These are cotton bags with cutesy art on them. 10 Liras each.
I bought 2: one as a gift to someone and one as a gift to myself.
Stuffed.
200 liras each except for the little one in the back who was only 100.
I guess some deaths are less precious than others… and this thought, my friends, is what is wrong with this world today 🙁
More original art.
Loved these ladies and their big smiles.
I would have definitely bought some of these to convert to cushions or pillow covers but, you know, the thingy thing.
I loved this homeless drunkard clown.
100 Liras (because he has a broken foot. I asked – he said he wasn’t even drunk when it happened; he goes to visit his mom every Sunday so he makes sure he doesn’t drink much the night before. He tripped on her new flower pot on his way there). (Yes, I made that up.) (As in, of course he was drunk…)
Unique art from a glass maker in Bodrum.
These will be converted into bracelets by yours truly.
LOVED that market!
They do have a lot of stalls where all items go for 5 Liras too so something for every budget.
(BTW the organic market is set up there on Saturdays.
Do that too if you are closeby.)
Ferikoy Antique Market:
Opening hours:
Sundays 10 am to 7 pm
Location:
We decide to have a little coffee after the market and ended up in a place called But First Coffee (which is pretty much our daily morning mantra).
LOVED the coffees, the vibe and the smiles here.
Here’s a close up of our friend who’s still praying.
Haven’t named him yet. Any suggestions??
They seem to be relatively new and their prices are really reasonable, but don’t tell them that shhhhhh…
Absolutely love their logo too.
Wonder if it is in tune with sacred geometry…
Just delighted because the cafes on this side just don’t have the same delightful feel as the ones in Kadikoy, then there’s this sweet one – YAY!
Anyway, click here for their location map.
Did I tell you you MUST drop by here??
GO already 😀
Thank you for this lovely play date *mwah*