Once
again, I found myself spending a few hours at a Turkish pazar with my friends
here in Istanbul.
This
time my trip coincided with a visit to the Ulus pazarı (held every Thursday) located
off one of the main streets in Ortaköy,
called Dereboyu Caddesi. This market also is known as the “Ulus sosyete pazarı” because of the namebrand clothing
you sometimes find here. One of my longtime expat friends here told me the pazar was closed for about five years
and only reopened in the last few years in this new otopark location under the first bridge.
Prior
to my trip, I had emailed several friends in the area to see if they wanted to
meet up for a pazar stroll and
perhaps a gözleme lunch. This is
the same gözleme seller that I
mentioned in this post: Visiting
the 4Levent Pazar in Istanbul.
I
hadn’t planned to spend nearly four hours at this pazar, but I couldn’t help myself. I visited with a couple of my
girlfriends over çay, then a second glass of çay, ate my
spinach and cheese gözleme, strolled
through the familiar sights and sounds of Istanbul and just soaked up the atmosphere.
I miss this! (I am enjoying the markets in Warsaw, but they aren’t
quite the same as this.)
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| Turks love to pickle everything! Yum! |
 |
| My Turkish gözleme at the pazar. |
I
also stocked up on some Turkish ingredients such as dried currants, freshly,
sundried apricots from Malatya, olives, pickled veggies and more. As you stop
by the different vendors, you can taste test everything and basically are
encouraged to do so – a bite of beyaz
peynir or tulum peynir, a couple
different olives, nuts, etc. You could practically make a mini meal off just
these items.
 |
| These sundried apricots from Malatya, Turkey, tasted like sunshine. So sweet and good! |
Until
next time, enjoy the photos from my pazar
visit!
 |
| Of course, there's something for everyone at the pazar. |
How to get
there:
The
Ulus pazarı is held every Thursday in
the Ortaköy/Ulus neighborhood on Dereboyu Caddesi. See map.
The
DT1 bus from Taksim will stop nearby or the pazar
is about a 15-minute walk from the shore road in Ortaköy. There’s also a free
shuttle bus that leaves from the Akmerkez Mall in Etiler to the pazar.
9 comments:
Oh my Joy, this is the ultimate treat!!:) Having cay and gozleme when you do your shopping is icing on the cake, great photos!:) Ozlem x
oh yeah...i could spend 4 hours there too! enjoy your trip!
@Ozlem, yes, I know you love the pazars as much as I do! A lovely outing!
@Joyce, Thanks so much! Yep, you would love the Turkish pazar just as much!
Those are wonderful pictures, and my gosh, the array of foods!
You mean the Ulus pazari is back?! It was cancelled for a while, I didn't realise it had started again. Thanks for the update! I love this pazar!
Looks like another great pazar. Hoping to get to see some more of Istanbul's markets in November but let's see...not sure how long we have there yet. Great pics - and the Warsaw markets do look great, you know. ;)
I could easily spend 4 hours here. It's great that you can pop back to Istanbul so often.
@Mary Ann, thanks for stopping by!
@Deniz, yes, the pazar is back! It was really big this time compared to when I was last herein Feb or March. Bought 2 nice pairs of Zara tights for only 20 tl!
@Julia, so many pazars, so little time! ;-) I agree - Warsaw's markets are pretty great too!
@Annie, Especially with friends! This will be my last Istanbul trip until the spring. I'm going to the US for nearly all of November as my dad has been in and out of the hospital again.
seasonal fruit and vegetables- yum
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