Our trip to Turkey didn't start off great. Our flight was cancelled and we ended up spending our first night in Newark, NJ (not exactly my idea of a great vacation!). Long story short, we arrived to Istanbul three days behind schedule (and without my husband's bag) and had to cancel our travels to Cappadocia and Turkbuku. This meant forging relaxation on the beach and charted gulets (insert sad face). We decided to stay put in Istanbul and make the best of it! We continued to have a great time despite a boating accident AND a separate trip to the emergency room! I can highly recommend the American Hospital ... we were in and out in 1 HOUR for less then $150 and a goody bag with our x-rays :-)
I immediately fell in love with Istanbul ... the food, the people, the culture and the history! I was also, of course, on the hunt for special jewelry. I conquered the bazaar on my own and stumbled upon some great pieces. I always try and find people who I really connect with to purchase jewelry from and was not disappointed this time. I found two men who made pieces for me while I was in Istanbul and wanted to introduce you to one.
Tayyar's shop was in a corner that was very difficult to find. There was a young man standing outside who caught my attention because he reminded me of my brother. I went in to check out the lovely pieces, but was more struck by what nice people they were. Tayyar is a WHIZ on e-mail and has already created more pieces for me that I am about to feature on the website. Stay tuned!