Istiklal Caddesi, "Independence Street" in English, has been described as "the main street leading through the heart of Art Nouveau Istanbul." Certain things struck my fancy as Irene and I strolled down Istiklal Street with cameras in hand our first morning in Istanbul.
Please forgive any reflections in these photographs because I often shot through shop windows.
My first impression was the throngs of people out on a weekday morning.
I am always interested in local foods. Growing up in New England, I learned about "chestnuts roasting the over an open fire." There actually is an open fire beneath the pan under the vendor's left arm.
Traditional Turkish cooking is an art form, and these cooks perform it in front of a salivating audience.
This veteran cook is slicing lamb from a rotisserie.
I am not sure what is inside these pastry delicacies, but I think it was warm honey that I saw dripping off of some of them.
One window was filled with exquisite cakes.
Some treats contain natural sugars.
Pomegranates are squeezed into fresh juice in front of your eyes.
Finally, there is chocolate!
This man is literally surrounded by chocolate bars, as well as customers.
This ad filled an entire building wall, but I didn't see a restaurant to go with it.
One thing about the clothing's stores interested me.
Although I haven't seen a lot of bald people here, many of the display mannequins lacked hair.
We were obviously having a good time.
One of the shopkeepers came out and offered to take our picture.
This jewelry display caught our attention.
This one did, too.
There are a lot of blue eyes for sale. We will have to learn their significance.
This man is using a grinding wheel to sharpen knives.
This man uses a different kind of wheel to advertise the lottery tickets he is selling.
Even on Istiklal Caddesi, there is room for graffiti.
After a bend and narrowing of the road, we came across
a whole community of music instrument shops.
We had planned a couple of hours on Istiklal Caddesi, but we spent half the morning and all afternoon, and the only things we bought were coffee and some roasted chestnuts, but not together.
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