Shopping Nirvana at Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar

If you’re recovering from a shopping addiction, Istanbul – particularly the older, tourist-packed areas like Sultanahmet and Eminönü – is probably not the place for you. From every shop window, golden and silver jewelry winks, rich carpets beg to be touched, and vibrant piles of spices and teas tickle your nose with their pungent scents. I’d love to meet the person who makes it out of Istanbul without having lightened their wallet at least a little bit; they’d have to have a miserly will as unyielding as the strongest iron.

One of the main corridors of the bazaar.

Of all the places to spend your lira in Istanbul, the most famous is probably the Grand Bazaar, a covered market that collects some four thousand stalls that peddle everything from jewelry to lamps to knock-off designer clothing to belly dancing outfits. Ceramics, embroidery, spices, Turkish delight, carpets…they’re all in the Kapalıçarşı (in Turkish, “covered market).

Throwback Thursday: La Boqueria Market in Barcelona

I am a wanderer by nature. Metro, train, plane, automobile, bus, horse…you name it, I’ll hop on board. But you’ll most likely find me hoofing it most of the time. Given the choice, if I can walk somewhere, I’ll let my feet carry me there.

I love to go wherever my feet lead me, whether that be circling the outer walls of Hamlet’s castle in Denmark, scaling the rocky goat paths of Mount Fuji’s upper reaches, or browsing the endless stalls of Hong Kong’s Jade Market. I don’t mind sore feet, because fantastic sights have almost always accompanied the walking that caused them. When those sights and exercise are accompanied by food, you might as well write me off for a few hours, because I’ll be disappearing down the rabbit hole for a good chunk of time.

The front entrance of La Boqueria market in Barcelona.

Because of that heady combination, one of my absolute favorite places to wile away the hours is La Boqueria market in the Citutat Vella district of Barcelona. Take the Barcelona Metro to the Liceu station on L3, walk a bit down La Rambla, one of the most prevalent pedestrian promenades in the city, and there on your right, a small stained glass sign proclaims that you’re now entering “Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria.” Come with an empty stomach.

A Double Dose of Delhi’s Markets

Access Info for Dilli Haat

• Nearest metro station: INA on the Yellow Line, Gate #1
• Admission fee: 20 rupees/adult, 10 rupees/child
• Hours: 10:30 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.

A fabric stall inside INA Market.

India is heaven for markets. You can find basically anything you could ever dream of there: spices, food, scarves, saris (both insanely elegant and for everyday), souvenirs, clothes…you name it, you can find it there. And you can probably get it for less than half the original price, if you have good bartering skills. One outdoor market, Dilli Haat, was on my radar before I’d even arrived in Delhi. It’s definitely a tourist attraction rather than a hangout for locals, but that didn’t really lessen the appeal for me. Dilli Haat’s claim to fame is its food court, which gathers specialties from all over India into one place. You can eat your way around the country without ever leaving Delhi. What’s not to love about that? So I set off from Humayun’s Tomb with a growling stomach, set on wolfing down as much food as I could.

The narrow aisles between the stalls of INA Market.