Before entering the Grand Bazaar, my tour guide, the same guide I had last night for the food tour, wanted to show me her favorite place outside the bazaar--where books are sold. There are many stores outside the bazaar itself.

One of the four main gates to the Grand Bazaar. There are a total of 21 gates, 56 streets, and 4,000 shops. It is one of the largest covered bazaars in the world.

Inside the Grand Bazaar, much resembling a modern shopping mall.

Map of the Grand Bazaar. Shops selling specific items, such as carpets, gold, copper, and leather, are often grouped in areas, hence the colors on the map. Carpets are in the blue sections; gold is in the gold sections, etc.

You see men, sometimes very old men, rushing along the "streets" carrying trays of mint tea.

A friend of my guide was selling scarves in the shop on the left.

Many beautiful scarves.

I very liked the scarf he will holding up: a Chanel knockoff. The knockoff price, and with some bargaining, was too much for me. You bargain prices at the bazaar. The mint tea mysteriously appeared immediately after he asked if I wanted some.

Another store.

Sweets. The stores were not concentrated here as to what was being sold.

View of the bazaar's arches.

Silk and cashmere.

A cute sheep.

Decorated boots.

Shopkeepers sitting outside their shops to try to lure in customers. Some other tourists complained to me about their being put off by this but all you had to say was "no" and you were left alone.

Furs.

Pottery of the tourist kind.

Another gate. Outside of it, uncovered, were many more stores. It started to rain so I didn't investigate.

Shoppers. The Grand Bazaar gets between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors a day. We were here early and it was not yet crowded.

More of the arches.

A pastry shop.

Los Angeles Lakers basketball outfit.

Chicago Bulls sweatshirt.

Another view of the arches along another "road."

Outside the covered bazaar. It was raining so no customers for the shops selling silver items.

We climbed up stairs to the second floor. This was an area of silver workshops. There are also workshops in other areas for gold and other items as well.

This man is melting down silver. It would be cooled in the rectangular container on the left.

The finished product--a block of silver.

You can have your silver items melted down and then remade into items such as the reindeer in the photo.

This silversmith was Armenian who along with his brother take worldwide orders for custom work. He is holding one up.

Its bottom.

A delicate small tray.

My tour guide. She is about 5' 2". Look how low the door was, built when people were much shorter.

This is a silver polisher in another workshop.

This man did finish work such as affixing handles onto silver products.

Some of his work. The tops of the silverware would be carefully measured and fitted before attaching them.

Finished silver.

Back down the stairs, through the courtyard, and back to the covered bazaar.

Gold jewelry.

Embroidery.

One of the cafes. Putting meat on skewers.

Decorated pill boxes.

Another cafe.

Sultan dolls.

Whirling dervish artwork.

Outside the bazaar and more shops.