THE RUMELI FORTRESS
The Rumeli Fortress is situated on the
Tracean side of the Istanbul Bosphorus. It
was built by Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror in
1452 to prevent aid from north reaching
Byzantine. It took 4 months to build with
1,000 masons and 2,000 workers. Today, the
fortress hosts many concerts and dramatic
performances in its amphitheatre usually in
the summer months.

SULEYMANIYE MOSQUE
Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent
commissioned the Suleymaniye Mosque,
which was designed by Architect Sinan and
built between the dates 1550-1557. It is the
largest mosque in Istanbul. Suleyman was
the richest and most powerful Sultan of the
Ottoman Empire. He is remembered by the
Turks as the one who introduced laws and
not by his magnificent title.

HAGIA SOPHIA
Haghia Sophia, the "Church of Holy
Wisdom", was built by the Emperor Justinian
in the 6th century. It was, for nearly a
thousand years, the largest enclosed space
in the world, and still seen as one of the
world’s most important architectural
monuments. It was used as church for 916
years, as mosque for 481 years and was
converted into museum in 1935.

SULTANAHMET MOSQUE
Facing Hagia Sophia stands the supremely elegant, six-minaret,
imperial Sultanahmet Mosque. Built between 1609 and 1616 by the
architect Mehmet, the building is more familiarly known as the Blue
Mosque because its interior gleams with a magnificent paneling, of
blue and white Iznik tiles. It is considered to be the last example of
Ottoman classical architecture.During the summer months an
evening light and sound show both entertain and inform.

GRAND (COVERED) BAZAAR
The oldest and biggest closed bazaar in the world, also known as the Grand
Bazaar, has around 4000 shops and over 60 alleyway, covering a huge labyrinth
in the city centre. The original two structures, covered with a series of domes
and remains of the 15th century walls, became a shopping area by covering the
surrounding streets and adding to it over the following centuries. It take the first
place to visit Istanbul for foreigners. Millions of different objects that are sold in
thousands of shops seem charming for especially Western Visitors.

MAIDEN TOWER
If you saw the James Bond movie “The World is not Enough”, you
may recall the location where Judi Dench was imprisoned and Pierce
Brosnan killed the lovely Sophie Marceau. This 12th century stone
tower erected on a rock at the entrance of the Bosphorus by
Byzantine Emperor Manuel Komnenos. This tower, which has served
as a prison and a lighthouse, became the source of many legends in
ancient days. It soon will be opened to the public as a cafeteria.

DOLMABAHCE PALACE
Dolmabahce Palace was constructed between 1842-1853 by Sultan
Abdulmecid. The architect was a famous Armenian architect, Nikogos
Balyan. The palace reflects the European and more "modern" side of the
Ottoman Empire. The Sultans moved to Dolmabahce Palace after its
construction was finished and never went back to Topkapi Palace which
hosted them nearly 4 centuries. It is also the place where Mustafa Kemal
Ataturk (founder of the Turkish Republic) died in 1938.

BOSPHORUS BRIDGE
Istanbul is the only city in the world spanning two continents (Asia and
Europe). The city is divided into two parts by the Straits of Bosphorus (20
miles long), connecting the Sea of Marmara (at the south) to the Black Sea
(at the north). The Bosphorus Bridge was opened in 1973 as part of the
50th anniversary celebrations of the founding of the Turkish Republic. The
bridge is 1560 m long, with a middle span of 1.074 m, a width of 33.40 m
and an altitude of 64 m.

It’s quiet inside the bus as well. I’m beginning to miss Istanbul’s noises. Suddenly, from a distance, I hear the piercing shriek of the ferry that will take us to Asia Minor. I start to hum "Uskudar".

The Hilton occupies an expensive stretch of the Bosporus. The British Fleet is in and the Hilton is swarming with the Queen’s tars, most of them headed for the gaming tables. The lobby, clicking with dice and clacking with chips, sounds like Vegas. Even the view from the dining room, the fleet lit up with a thousand lights, looks like Vegas’s hotel strip. Eventually the continental menu gets our attention. In Athens, where we’ve just been, we gorged on ethnic food and in Capadoccia where we’re headed on a bus tour we’ll have a surfeit of dolmas and shish kabob. Tonight we’ll make due with veal cordon bleu. We’ve had a big day; we’re exhausted. We literally pray as we turn in: "Dear God, let the traffic stop tonight." It doesn’t. Horns blare, brakes screech and the red-and-white neon lights outside our widow blink "Hayim Otel" all night, our own sound and light show. Miraculously we sleep. In the morning the scene from our window reminds us why we’ve chosen to stay in the Sirkeci district. Straight ahead at the end of a short narrow lane, crowded with fruit stalls and book kiosks, we make out the dock we’ll return to and just before it, the Sirici Station. It’s hard to believe this was the end of the line for the fabled Orient Express, the train that brought "the beautiful people" from Paris to Istanbul. Now the Orient Express ferries tourists from Paris to Venice on a package tour.

The station we walk into is quiet, forlorn, its glass dome, tiled walls and floor haven’t seen soap since Mata Hari rode into town. Nowadays the station handles only suburban traffic, with the beaches of the Sea of Marmara the most important destination. We look everywhere, but Agatha Christies’ Hercule Poirot is nowhere about. Before we left home I fell in love with a Turkish folk song I heard on the radio called "Uskudar." It had a kind of modified belly dance rhythm, its melody plaintive yet upbeat, its words, I think, celebrating that vast suburb across the Bosporus in Asia Minor. I’ve been humming "Uskudar, Oh, Uskudar" ever since we arrived in Istanbul.

The famous Sahaflar Carsisi, in Bayzil Square, is directly opposite the covered bazaar’s Spoon Makers’ Gate. This historic area has about 50 small shops. This site was the Chartoprateia of Byzantium, the Book and Paper market during the Byzantine period. After the conquest of Istanbul in 1453, fez makers and metal engravers used the area. Booksellers were in the covered bazaar, now housing bedspread makers and vendors. Sahaflar’s fame reached beyond the Ottoman Empire to Europe, where writers and historians such as Antoine Galland, Hammer, Busbecq and Charles White gave special attention to this antique book center. Galland mentions the Sahaflar in his book, Les Memoirs d’Istanbul, in the 17th century. While working at the French Embassy in Istanbul, he bought books there for the King of France, the Ambassador and for himself.

Printing machines came to Istanbul in 1729, reducing the number of handwritten books. The Sultan prohibited the printing of religious books, in order to preserve the art of calligraphy. But calligraphic art still diminished, sharply decreasing the number of hand-illustrated, handwritten books. Today books come to the market from the estates of deceased people, as they have for centuries. Fascinating auctions are held regularly. Anyone may attend and all the bookstall owners have schedules of the auctions. In the past, book sellers had guilds. Shopping was done according to religious rules; shops opened and closed with prayers. The book dealers’ guild started with Abdullah Yetimi. Guild members were privileged to participate in an annual parade at the palace, where. second-hand books were displayed for the Sultan.

Istanbul, capital of the Byzantine and Ottoman civilizations, is still an important cultural center. You can still find art reflecting the city’s cultural treasury like a 400 year-old Koran; handwritten astronomy books, and I was shown what were, I was told, authentic imperial edicts. The quaint book stalls and shops are filled with dusty piles of books: antique, antique copies and current best sellers, displayed in many languages. The narrow stony streets lead you to a courtyard, small and overflowing with the warmth of the Turkish people…and the resident cats. These cats are loved immensely by the book dealers and are ceremoniously fed every evening. They wander about at will and lie lazily upon books that might easily be rare and valuable pieces of literature. The cats exude the warmth of the Turkish people and offer their own special invitation to absorb the joys of Istanbul’s second-hand book market, Sahaflar Carsisi.

Ready to time travel?  Imagine yourself strolling down the columned streets of a city that pre-dates Christianity. You can actually walk through a city that was ancient during the life of Christ. From the lush Greek Isle of Samos you can ferry across the starling blue Aegean Sea to the port of Kusadasi in Turkey, taking a journey that spans two millennia. The port of Kusadasi is swarming with aggressive merchants, the warm air is laden with spicy smells, and taxi drivers crowd the ferry exit eager to take you to Ephesus, only twenty minutes and a thousand years away.

Ephesus was ancient when St. Paul preached in the still functioning theater. The original bridge between Europe and Asia, Ephesus was one of the most important cities in the Roman Empire and reputedly, where the Virgin Mary and the Apostle John spent their last days.

Samos is a lush island of archeological remains, sweet local wines, and frequent ferries that crowns the northeast Aegean Sea. Aesop of fable fame and Pythagoras were native sons of this palm and pine forested island. Olympic Airlines serves the island with four daily flights to Athens. With even the tropical flower clad swank hotels inexpensive by Western European standards, Samos Town is a superlative destination to decompress after a few weeks of frantic traveling. The port is suitably picturesque and lined with cafes well suited to while away the hours. The clusters of tourist shops offer the ubiquitous worry beads and Greek key design jewelry.

The best value on the island is the Restaurant Christos located on Saint Nicholas Square, telephone 24792. Enormous servings of Greek specialties worthy of the gods are priced at three or four dollars (depending on the current exchange rate.) The restaurant alone is worth a stay on Samos. From the center of the square you’ll spot the restaurant in the corner, outdoor seating beneath a vine covered trellis is available for those comfortable dining in the company of the ever-present Greek cats. Indoor seating is also available. If the English-speaking staff are not sufficient to insure your comfort with Greek cuisine, the cook will be delighted to show you the dishes and allow you to choose what you’d like. The house wine is inexpensive and pleasantly dry for an island famous for sweet vintages.

Resolutely ignore them and make your way to the currency exchange booth. Change only a small amount of money—many restaurants and shopkeepers prefer American, British, or German currency. It is quite difficult to change excess Turkish lire once you leave Turkey.

The historic port city of Ephesus is now ten miles inland. The road twists and turns around hills offering staggering views of the sea. Your journey will continue through flat, infertile land where only scrub and weeds grow. The land is so heavy with salt that anecdotal reports indicate it will be centuries before it can be farmed.

Whether you return across the blue water of the Aegean to Samos, stay overnight in Selcuk to visit the House of the Virgin Mary, or indulge yourself in the busy bazaars of Kusadasi, you’ve time-traveled to Ephesus.

She’d so like to practice her English. Good lord, what English! Still, she has more English than we have Turkish. Almost every local we meet on our travels has some English; we, on the other hand, are linguistically impaired. But English is spoken throughout Istanbul’s great covered Bazaar. A labyrinth of crafts and trades crowd intersecting streets under roof and every merchant in every stall speaks our language. Any question we have about the antiquity of mosaic plates, the karat weight of gold earrings, the authenticity of hand-loomed carpets is answered in accented English. We look but don’t buy. The glut of merchandise exhausts us. We need to get back to our hotel, change clothes and head out to dinner, some place quiet and elegant. Quiet and elegant our hotel is not; it is, however, on a line that will take us across the Galata Bridge, to the more fashionable part of Istanbul and the Hilton Hotel.

The roar of traffic follows us all the way to the Archeological Museum. Inside, tour guides compete with each other and their charges as everyone jockeys for position before one marble sarcophagus or another. The din of English, French, German, Japanese and languages we can only guess at is earsplitting, but the art is classic, the history ancient. Here lie the leaders of Byzantium, their lives etched in battles, hunts, processions; their symbols, sphinxes and griffons. A guide points to one perfectly preserved tomb and shouts: "Alexander! Alexander the Great!" We demand evidence. "See for yourself scenes from his life in marble," says the guide. The battles look authentic to us.

The first impression is of space. Ceilings are eight or ten meters high, the walls white washed, but graying now perhaps a little grimy. The room is uncluttered with plenty of room to wander around the tables. The atmosphere is timeless. You cannot help but imagine that it was like this 100 years ago. The waiter is ancient. He is unhurried, gentle and patient – possibly the best waiter in the world. The food is virtually all salad, stuffed vine leaves, diced carrots, peppers and the like and cold rice, all beautifully mixed, there is fish too and cold local beer. A vegetarian would be perfectly at home here. There is no rush, it is cool and a perfect escape from the heat, dust and bustle of Istanbul.

Havuzlu Lokantasi, next door to the PTT, Grand Bazaar, Istanbul, Turkey