I absolutely loved Istanbul. Old city. Modern city. Lively. Historic. Interesting! And I confess to humming the tune from the band "They Might Be Giants" called "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" much of the time I was there.

I have actually been here before, nearly 40 years ago. Part of the fun for me is to see the changes. At that time, my roommate and I were traveling with a couple of girls (We were twenty and so were they. Girls didn't mind being called "girls" back then) We wandered through the Grand Bizarre and were approached by a couple of guys who wanted to buy them. We declined, but not before negotiating. I fear they will never forgive us! But I digress. Today parts of the Grand Bazarre have been remade into a modern shopping mall.

Turkey in general, and Istanbul in particular, occupy a fascinating physical and cultural place. Istanbul lies partly in Europe and partly in Asia and is torn by influences from both cultural traditions. Turkey is an Islamic country but has a large Orthodox Christian population. It is a secular democracy being pulled in an Islamic direction. It has been conquered and occupied many times by soldiers from many cultures. It's enthusiastic to join the EU but would be the first non-Christian country to do so which gives the current EU members pause.

These photos were taken in April 2008 mostly with a Nikon D3.