Lost In a 3 Story Craft Store

So..it is no secret that Lady Hiva and I both like to try new crafts and something artistic. Over the years you have seen us do cakes, paint, decorations and photography. So when we heard there was a large craft store in Istanbul we were so excited to go check it out. EuroFlora here we come!

We went one day after I finished work and by the time we battled all of the traffic we arrived after dark. The area where EuroFlora is located seems a bit more industrial and there are not many street lights. We parked in a shadowy parking lot next to some bushes—the only thing missing from a horror movie is a large van parked next to us waiting to snag us in the door as we walk by. YIKES! But since I am writing this, we obviously survived (what can I say, I have a REALLY overactive imagination and I have to sensor what I voice to Lady Hiva because she does too and if I tell her that it is creepy she gets even more freaked out!)

Inside the store was HUGE! It was three stories of craft and art—it was a mix of Michaels in the States and UniWide Wholesale in Manila. We walked through each of the aisles to see what there was offered. They had paper products, decorating products, party products, a floor of flowers and holiday products. It was amazing.

We thought it was fun to see all of the Halloween and Christmas decorations too. We tried on the costumes and dug through the items. The bad part about stores like this is just seeing something sparks an idea and then a whole craft piece comes to life…you walk out with more projects and plans than you expected when arriving in the dark parking lot.

If you are in Istanbul and planning a party or just want a craft to do, a trip to Euroflora is a must. The Spice Market has many of the same items for sale but it is all in one place—three stories of one place.(Just go in the daylight to avoid any white vans in the parking lot!) 

A Crowded Bazaar

Istanbul, across the Golden Horn to Galata

We had some friends that were visiting Istanbul and it was so much fun to spend time with them. Actually, it turned out to be a busy week for visits. We ate a traditional Turkish Breakfast with some of our colleagues and their guests and then we headed off to the Spice Bazaar to meet our friends and to do some touristy sites.

Turkish breakfast!

It was fun to spend time with them. We did the Spice Bazaar—the tourist part, and then we took them out to the place where the ‘locals’ shop. It was SO crowded! Normally there are people, but this was exceptionally busy. There are two other times I have been in a small spaces with thousands of people pushing me in a direction I was not planning to go and those were Chinatown in NYC during Chinese New Year and Divisoria (a shopping district) in Manila, Philippines. Much like this trip to the Bazaar, those other trips we had some unsuspecting tourists who thought we were taking them for a leisurely experience at the mall! HAHAHA…well they found out better and have plenty of stories to tell!

We spent the day trying all the exotic foods—some we had sampled before and others that were new—Pomegranate juice (completely good for you but completely SOUR…Lady said she felt like it was literally eating away her enamel), a Turkish version of a hamburger crossed with a  sloppy joe, Turkish icream (it is a little more elastic than US Icecream), warm pida with cheese (think tasty cheese bread) and some kind of grilled cheese with sugar were among the most memorable.

Do you want to join with our closest neighbors?

Lets play a game of "who can find J.?"

The kids seemed to unfazed by the sheer number of people jostling for space and we would pop in and out of stores along our way. Forget squeaky clean malls, this is much more interesting!

We ended the day with another trip to the Hagia Sophia. I could never get sick of this building no matter how long we have been here or been inside. It is simply grand. This time the Lucky Dragon was obsessed with the marble stairs. I stood there while he went up and down and up and down and up and down again. I finally picked him up and walked to find the rest of the group and he was thrashing until he arched his back in defiance and looked up and saw the roof. He stopped immediately and spent the next ten minutes just staring at the ceiling and talking about it (in Dragon jibberish of course). 10 Minutes is a really long time for a little guy to stay still. It must have been really impressive!

His form of prostest that I would not let him through the signs on the ground

We are so happy to have people come visit. We hope to have many more in the future! And don’t worry, I am sure we will find a crowded place for you to visit while you are here…hehe!

Below is Lucky Dragon boy in his Tongan outfit ready to go to Church! 

Ready for Church

Day Off in Asia

With the American Holiday this past week, we were able to explore some parts of Istanbul we had never seen before. It is such a big and exciting city and, sadly, when you work in an place you tend to become bogged down with life—work, shopping, church callings etc—and do not get to explore as much as we would like.

On this day off we planned to go to see the “Asian Side” of Istanbul. We started in a popular area called Kadikoy. We were ready to go and Lucky Dragon boy looked so handsome in his clothes. However, sure enough, about half way down the road he decided to not chew his pear and gagged himself. This boy has as bad of a reflex as I do and once he gags, he usually throws up! (Last week in the States he threw up his quesadilla in a grocery store! I had heard the gag and reflex brought my hand up and I was lucky enough to catch all the puke…ah being a parent.) Lady always has a second set of cloths in the bag—but they were not near as cute as the other set.

Eating some Simit!

Storm over the Bosphorus

We took the ferry across the Bosphorus. The Dragon LOVED the boat ride and wanted to see everything. Kadikoy was amazing. We rode the little tram around the shopping part of the village and then went exploring through the stores and the shops.

There were so many smells and colors to enjoy. Lady Hiva stopped to buy rose water and vanilla bean for recipes they are doing. There were small coffee shops with old men playing outside of them. There were fish sellers with the morning’s catch, spice stores with rich aromas, food of all flavors, a candy store, a dessert and pastry shop, shoe stores, clothing stores, a pickle-er and a fruit stand all in a row. There is so much to see and enjoy. 

Most of all we loved to beautiful weather in an exciting city!