Brooklyn Flea

Senor Flea has been outta site for a bit, it's true, getting some much-needed R+R in lovely Istanbul. (An intercontinental tessekur erderim to the weather deities for keeping ze Flea dry last week!) Not that the Flea would ever rest, mind you.

The antik shops in Turkey are just mind-boggling: when a tile or postcard or chair is old here, it's Ottoman old, centuries old, multiple empires old. But a stroll through the antik centers of Istanbul is not so different than our little Brooklyn Flea, complete with chaotic piles of "stuff" whose order is known only to the "eccentric" proprietor, who seems mildly interested (at best) or oblivious (more often) to a customer's existence/interest.

The crop of shops in and around Faik Pasa Yokusu in the Cukurcuma neighborhood were our faves, many of which just pile their wares out on the sidewalk/street (above) but then when you step inside their troves of credenzas, lanterns, jewelry, silver, etc., are revealed. Got lost for hours. (Senora Flea makes a cameo here.)

Similarly, the Asian side 'hoods of Uskudar and Kadikoy host antik bazaars jammed with treasures, older cranky men, and of course dust. There are also restoration workshops inside these mini-malls, where our faves included massive entrance doors and giant decorative teapots (below), and awesome transistor shortwave radios (that dealer was too mean for us to risk a photo, sorry).

Today, off to the Grand Bazaar for trinkets galore. Now that's a market!