She was sat at a carpet shop with her mother sipping her apple tea when I met her first. I would never have thought that she was a fashion model if she herself had not told me that she was indeed one. And quite some model as she had been modelling for the famous Turkish fashion designer Yıldırm Mayruk for the past eight years. She was very modestly dressed; plain trousers, a plain t-shirt and plain pair of shoes. I suppose I need not say that she was not wearing any make up either -save a moisturizer may be.
"I love drinking apple tea at the Grand Bazaar" she said when she noticed me looking at her glass, "It beats anything else. It is so seductive, I could drink cups and cups. It is something special to the Grand Bazaar". I have heard almost the same words from so many other tourists and had not understood the reason for such a preferance. To me and according to the tradition tea in a thin waisted glass cup was the thing to drink at the Bazaar while haggling over a piece of carpet or jewelry.
"Well, this is the in thing now at the Bazaar" she quipped "and you don't get it anywhere else. And if you do, it just does'nt taste the same. It's a part of the scene". Sarah Muldowney has

been coming to Istanbul for eight years now and according to her she has visited the Bazaar at least 20 times. She says "I could spend a whole week here at the Bazaar." Her flat in London appearently is full of stuff she has bought from here. "Cushions, rugs, spreads, lanterns, chandeliers, stools, tables, silver" she lists, "are all around the flat and the place looks like model Grand Bazaar."
To some who enter the grand Bazaar for the first time, it could be a scary experience when faced with the crowds, the noise, and the hustling salesmen of the Bazaar. But she thinks just the opposite: "I don't mind the hustle; in fact if you ignore them it could be fun as well. It is apart of the atmosphere anyway."
What does she mean by the atmosphere? "A bit of everything" she answers "It reminds me of Egypt in away. The rush, the noise, the colors, the bargains, rugs, everything. It is a unique world here. I wouldn't change a chat in a shop accompanied with apple teafor anything."