Gayle knows that while on holiday, the sight of a pen or knife store will then draw me in like a…read moreStar Trek tractor beam. Do I own too many pens or Journals? Yes, and what's your point? And so, during a recent trip to Instanbul, along came Panter Kırtasiye, conveniently located on the Istiklal shopping street. Any pen or journal needed or desired might be found here. I was kind of overwhelmed by it all, before blocking out the expansive journal collection and concentrating on pens, some of them Turkish. The rest is another chapter in my pen purchase history.

My girlfriend and I were blown away by Ark of Crafts and the curator, Nilufer. It was so much more…read morethan I expected even after reading the great reviews on Trip Advisor. I am happy to be the first to move the tips to Yelpers. We spent an hour in this tiny corner of the beautiful upstairs terrace bar of the Adahan hotel. You just want to pick everything up, feel it, and inspect the fine craftsmanship in the details. And Nilufer is always with you to explain each piece and each artist. These are real artists and much of it is made by or support women. After spending so many days wandering around Istanbul walking into shops wondering what is fake and what is legit it's so refreshing to have someone walk you through some of the real deal items that hold much of Istanbuls charm. I felt more informed when visiting other places like the Grand Bazaar because we came here first! Ornate pottery, detailed painted pieces, fine china, housewares, etc. The space is a wonderful place to spend the hour it should take you to explore. The view from the terrace is a terrific reason too, but go there, have a tea, coffee, beer or wine (apparently there's a great breakfast here, and a nice place for a drink at night too) and let Nilufer be the biggest reason why Ark of Crafts really blows the others out of the water.