Istanbul, Watermelon Vendor

Our ship was docked on the east side of the Golden Horn, so we crossed the bridge and visited the Blue Mosque, St. Sophia Mosque, Topkapi (Palace of the Ottoman Sultans), and at least a few of the 4,000 stores in the Grand Bazaar. Our ship sailed at noon, so we didn’t have much time to visit.

The streets of Old Istanbul, on the west side of the Golden Horn, were very busy, but there’s a pedestrian tunnel to get under the first big main street. There are little shops and sidewalk vendors everywhere, and while many of these shops sell one product only (buttons, belts, thread), they appear to have every size, shape, and color of whatever it is they are selling. When we walked past here a few hours later, on our way back to the ship, one man was selling slices of watermelon, and from the looks of the trash pile, had been selling very successfully. Yes, that is a familiar head scarf on the extreme right of the photo.