TO THE BOSPHORUS AND BEYOND
Turkey has held an abiding fascination for me, steeped as it is in Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman history, culture, and cuisine. With my 50th birthday looming, my wife Simone suggested we travel a fortnight through this fabled land visiting the iconic sites and also some lesstrodden locales.
Jetting into Ataturk airport we were whisked to the resplendent Shangri-La, Bosphorus where our suite commanded a stunning view of the famous turquoisetinted strait that separates two continents. We had elected to stay six nights in Istanbul to leisurely explore the city formerly named Constantinople, after the Byzantine Emperor Constantine.
Our first meal in Turkey was a medley of mezzes,
