In Istanbul, every touristy area we found ourselves in had people selling these tops. Always male, and usually pretty young. They'd have a big handful of them, held by the strings, and were somewhat willing to negotiate on price. It didn't take us long to buy a couple, which had two effects: it was a great way to have the kids take a break when we had to wait for something, and we could make sure they were on display when we came near vendors. Here's what they look like up close:
The kids actually already had a couple of these tops courtesy of Nana and Granddad, but despite many attempts to figure them out, none of us had ever gotten the hang of it. Fortunately there are many willing teachers in Istanbul - not just the vendors, either. We had carpet salesmen see Eero (in Istanbul it's always the boy that gets attention) playing with his, and they'd step out from in front of their shop and give him a lesson.
Here's one of the vendors showing Cielo and Eero how to do it. This is after we had already bought some - this guy just didn't think Eero was doing it right. Note the pile of tops on the newspaper on the ground.
At a beautiful fountain.
In a residential street.
In front of Hagia Sophia. Eero is trying to make the top jump up in the air.
Here's Cielo trying a jump trick, too.
Stairs were a popular place, because you could make the tops walk down them.
After each spin, you have to wind up the string again.
More stairs.
Even when we went to Barcelona we still brought them out when we needed some peace and quiet to talk. Here we were out at night trying to decide which tapas place to go to.
