July 12, 2021

 
We visited the Qaysari Bazaar in the center of Erbil. There are stalls both under roofs and out in the open. The Kurds love gold and the women wear it abundantly over their special dresses at celebrations. Here is one of the many many shops with beautiful gold work. We can't imagine what they are worth... Following are a few other photos of the shops. 



Jim at the Bazaar near the Citadel.

This is the Citadel in the center of town near the Bazaar. We plan to visit it when the weather gets cooler and we can spend more time walking out in the sun. 

The Kurdish men are wearing their traditional dress... most of the older men here do so. 

Everywhere we go we seem to attract attention. This Arab family stopped us in the supermarket so their son could practice speaking English with us. They wanted to take their picture with us and we happily complied. 


Many of the Muslim women cover themselves from head to toe but in a very elegant way. I find them fascinating...



A beautiful Muslim woman in DuHok...

A bit more austere...

A shop in the Bazaar for sparkly traditional celebration clothes for children. 

Larger supermarkets and shopping centers are kept spotlessly clean. There are young men and some young women that have responsibilities for just one or two aisles and all the products are perfectly aligned. In the food court they start cleaning your table sometimes when you're still there. 

This is the floor of the food court in the mall. Every thing is so spotlessly clean. 

Muslim family enjoying an evening at the park...

Backgammon is a popular game here and the boards are beautiful...

A cafe devoted to backgammon...

This is very different, this is what they call a shisha... when customers in a restaurant smoke tobacco they can order from a menu of different tobacco flavors, like "two apples.” It stands next to the table and has a long hose with a mouthpiece the restaurant patron can use, the hose is long enough that everyone at the table can pass it around and use it during their dinner... 😳

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