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 pazari (held every Thursday) located off one of the main streets in Ortak�y, called Dereboyu Caddesi. This market also is known as the �Ulus sosyete pazari� 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 g�zleme lunch. This is the same g�zleme 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 �ay, then a second glass of �ay, ate my spinach and cheese g�zleme, 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! |
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| My Turkish g�zleme 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.
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| These sundried apricots from Malatya, Turkey, tasted like sunshine. So sweet and good! |
Until next time, enjoy the photos from my pazarvisit!
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| Of course, there's something for everyone at the pazar. |
How to get there:
The Ulus pazari is held every Thursday in the Ortak�y/Ulus neighborhood on Dereboyu Caddesi. See map.
The DT1 bus from Taksim will stop nearby or the pazaris about a 15-minute walk from the shore road in Ortak�y. There�s also a free shuttle bus that leaves from the Akmerkez Mall in Etiler to the pazar.