Izmir, Turkey

We sure have a knack of collecting people to take us around towns. We got off the ship in Izmir and started walking to the bazaar that we had heard about. It was about 45 minute walk. Somewhere along the way we collected another man who said he would show us his store where he sold Turkish rugs. No obligation of course. He was very nice and showed us to the bazaar, to some Roman ruins, and he showed us a mosque and told us about the muslim faith. He even gave us a copy of the Quran in English. He took us to his "friends" shop who sold knock-offs of Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Burberry, and Rock & Republics. We then went to "his" rug store and saw some beautiful carpets. True pieces of art. They weren't to willing to come down in price so we said we would go get some lunch and think about it. Our "guide" took us to a restaurant we ate and then he said he would show us another carpet store to compare prices. We went to the other store and they were more willing to barter. Our friends found a beautiful silk on silk carpet that will look beautiful on their wall.

We were just about to go back to the other store to buy a carpet that I like when I saw a large floor carpet that would look beautiful on my living room floor. He unrolled it and I loved it. Brent is very good at the bartering and I think we got a good price for it. I can't wait to see it at home. After we left our guide was very upset with us. We told him that if he could get us a better price at his store we would go back there but he wasn't too willing to barter. We tried to pay him for his time because we realize he had spent a lot of time with us and he was very nice. He wouldn't accept any money from us. We felt very bad.

Of all the places that we had visited thus far Turkey was our favorite. We would love to come back to Turkey.