Istanbul

Work this time, visiting our friendly and rapidly growing office for a few days, but I managed to sneak in a free weekend to wander around and get to know the place again. I was here two years ago on a similar trip and it's a great city to throw away the map and just discover things. Buildings of every period and state of repair, spectacular views at every turn and interetsing people too. It feels like a southern European city, but with hints of the exotic - especially the many mosques and in the look of many of the people, often recent immigrants form Anatolia.

The topography is also spectacular (and involves some steep climbs) and means you are always fairly clear where you are going (keep going down and you will hit the Bosphorus) with spectacular distant views to the major landmarks.

I had a great meal on the bridge - lots of great fish here! - watching kids in their shorts jumping into the water to entertain (for a small fee) the tourists. I came across a little mosque where they were putting on a display of sufi traditional dancing in the little sheltered garden. And the bazaar goes on for miles and is impossible to escape without buying a box of saffron or a plate of turkish delight or something leather. Crowning everything the Hagia Sophia, the Roman cathedral-turned-mosque-turned museum that even now looks shockingly daring in its scale and the span of its dome, yet has survived Istanbul's earthquakes for thousands of years. And nearby the elegant Blus Mosque that has served as a model for thousands upon thousands of mosques throughout the country. I didn't visit the Topkapi Palace this time, but I have a feeling I will be back soon.