Because I need more jewelry.....

Generally when I travel, I buy something non-touristy as a reminder of my trip. Art a lot of times. Sometimes a carpet. (Ahem.) Often times it's jewelry.

Today, two rings. I couldn't decide which one. I asked if she'd give a deal on both. (She would.) I asked if she took AMEX. (She did.)

They are designed by a jeweler in Melbourne. The large one is Pietersite (it shimmers like Tigers Eye) and the smaller is a gorgeous Blood Stone.

Ooh la, the Istanbul (Egyptian) Spice Market

Everything that comes to mind when you think "spice market" and "Istanbul" is true. It's stand-upon-stand of pile-upon-pile of bright, fragrant, beautiful spice mixtures. And next to those spices are bin-upon-bin of black teas, fruit teas, flower teas, herbal teas. And in the back of almost every store, there's decanter and decanter of thick, heady perfume oils. But perhaps the best? Every kind of Turkish Delight you can imagine: those based in honey (the best), those based in sugar (sweeter), those with nuts, those coated in coconut, those in rolls, those in cubes, rose, chocolates, marshmallow, nougat. Literally, Mizz S and I tried almost every kind of Turkish Delight.

Needless to say, the Spice Market was none too easy to walk away from.

My money getting pulled into a syringe.

I bought patchouli (not at all like the head shop crapola), musk and amber. I'm so in love with my wrists now.

After the Spice Market, we wandered nearby streets and I got a hankerin' for freshly squeezed pomegranate juice. As luck would have it, my juicer guy was lazy and I got to do the work myself. (Not so easy, truth be told.)

It took about six pomegranates to get enough juice for a small cup.

Istanbul's Grand Bazaar

I really wanted the title of this post to be, "Abandon hope all ye who enter: a credit card's trip through Istanbul's Grand Bazaar" but it proved too long.

Mizz S and I are spending 6 days here in Istanbul. Going to the Grand Bazaar earlier today, we had a game plan: try to see at least a respectable fraction of the 4,000 shops and don't make any sizable purchases today because we can come back later once we shop around more.

We visited four shops.

The first, we stared at carpet upon carpet and drank apple tea with the owner. We stayed strong in our plan.

The second, I almost bought a diamond and sapphire platinum ring from the 1930s. And, or, maybe an opal ring. But I walked away (almost certain I'd come back).

The third, Mizz S and I drank apple tea as we bought pashminas- me, two; Mizz S, one.

The fourth, I walked away with one silk-on-silk soumak carpet, and Mizz S had two of 'em. We got more apple tea.

Thank goodness they were heavy because we were forced to be done shopping as a logistical matter (because, clearly, our plan to not buy today was not full proof).

One of the many entrances into the endless maze of shops.

This may come in handy to use as a tent while I pay off my credit cards.

These photos are not doing it justice.

This is a design from the Caucus region. Saying it's a Caucasian design makes me laugh.

Made it to Venice

On August 13th, Mizz S and I took a two-hour flight from Bucharest to Venice. As neither of us had been to Venice before, we decided to overnight there before heading out for points east (Slovenia then Croatia being our plan). Our hotel was not in Venice but, rather, on mainland in Marghera. After a short bus ride as stowaways, we were looking at the canals and wandering the small streets. 

Trying to take pictures and I realized we were totally in the way. Mizz S was making me laugh with comments like "work it" and "make love to the camera."

An unplanned purchase but one I couldn't walk away from- a Murano glass bowl that I bought right off Piazza San Marco (you know, right where the prices are real cheap).

Piazza San Marco.

Genuine, authentic Italian graffiti.

Ok, it's official: I love my camera.

I feel pretty, so pretty.

My first (significant) purchase, a sterling silver and red coral necklace. Made by the artist Anna Maria Viscens, I bought it at Antherea, a little boutique almost at Barceloneta. While the coral bit is pretty, the coolest part is the slide clasp.