Istanbul
Barry reminisces...
One of the highlights for me in Istanbul was actually seeing the geographical
features of the area that came into play during the famous seige in
1453 when the then Constantinople, in effect last remnant of the Roman
Empire, fell to the Ottoman Turks: the Golden Horn, blocked by a chain
to prevent enemy naval infiltration; the hills of the then town of Pera
over which the Turkish admiral carried his fleet to bypass the chain;
the city promontory from which the defenders watched for relief ships
from the West; the outer walls, pounded by Turkish artillery for weeks.
Here I was seeing what the history books had been telling.
Musician at Poseidon Restaurant
Mosaics in the Hagia Sophia
At the Topkapi Palace, home of the sultans of the Ottoman Empire.
Street scene in Istanbul's Taxim area.