travel INDEX A city of contrasts


the ground. It was a stool that would have suited a two-year-old perfectly. All around was sweetness and colour. Golden-shelled pistachios, rose petal pink Turkish Delight and small pastries oozing sticky syrup engulfed him, giving the white- bearded stall-keeper a look resembling that of a rather faded bloom in an immaculately prepared bouquet.


T 26


Setting aside the cliches, Istanbul truly is a city of contrasts. The old man in the bazaar is fi rmly of the traditional, the unchanged, but elsewhere commercial and residential blocks dominate a skyline punctuated by mosques and minarets; traditional cafes serving apple tea in delicate glass cups hold steadfast against the arrival of that Seattle-originated coffee mega chain, and the young of this vibrant


he old man in the Spice Bazaar looked both incredibly comfortable and strangely unnatural as he sat on a stool barely 12 inches off


– and Islamic – city wear their designer labels with confi dence and their iPhones like a third hand.


This is also a city that conjures up memories of the classroom. Eight and a half thousand years old, it was capital of the Byzantium, Roman and Ottoman empires and it is, of course, the only city in the world that straddles two continents. Often mistaken as Turkey’s capital


(“No, that’s Ankara,” says my guide Aziz. “Where the trouble makers live!”), Istanbul can be exhausting. It’s home to 13 or 15 million people (in truth no one seems to know) and it can often feel like each and every one of them is on the city’s roads or mulling around its numerous – and sometimes breathtaking – attractions. Taksim Square is the heart of the “new”


city. It’s a meeting point, a nucleus; all concrete and shifting human form. In truth, there is little to recommend it. Around the square itself, locals get on with the day,


kebab shops spill out onto busy pavements and the city’s signature yellow taxis negotiate both busy, narrow streets and tourists attempting to get their bearings. But head away from the square and down one of the roads that branch off it like spokes on a bicycle wheel and you’ll fi nd stylish hotels, bars and restaurants forming orderly queues down tree-lined streets and something resembling a village feel takes over. At night courtyard bars play music at a level over which you can still hear yourself speak and tiny cafes host musicians performing jazz or a traditional Turkish repertoire. Taksim is a little rough around the edges, slightly bohemian and an area in which, no matter how dense the tourist throng, retains an authenticity. If, however, you’re looking for a base a bit more upmarket, then head across the Bosphorus river for the old town area of Sultanahmet. It’s here you’ll fi nd chi-chi boutiques,


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