Turkey - A Country That Straddles The East And The West With Pomp

At the confluence of two distinct cultures, Turkey offers a wide range of destinations. Two writers with very different ideas and itineraries approach the singular country.

- Shikha Pushpan, Neeta Lal

Marhaba, Istanbul!

The only city on Earth to straddle two continents, Istanbul sits where Europe and Asia collide. Here, you move between civilizations in a couple of steps and transcend cultures in a matter of minutes. BY SHIKHA PUSHPAN

When a young Coco Chanel got down to designing the Turkish military uniforms in the 1930s, Istanbul was undergoing a renaissance of sorts. While the 19th-century Ottoman Istanbul was considered as cosmopolitan as modern London, the city in the 20th century was embracing a miscellany of its Greek, Roman, and Venetian (and Ottoman) influences—a cultural diversity that it retains to this day. Almost a century later, as I sit along the Bosphorus reading about Istanbul’s transition from a strategic Silk Route destination to one of the most glamorous second cities in the world, a timelapse of sorts plays in my head—trading vessels get replaced by superyachts and merchants with binocular wielding travellers; imperial mosques and palaces built by the Byzantines and Ottomans watch glass-walled skyscrapers come up. This is the modern Istanbul— where the Blue Mosque’s domes oversee lively cafes abuzz with young Istanbulus catching up post-work over raki and meze, where the world’s biggest airport makes a dent in global aviation, and boutique fashion brands give the swanky international ones a run for their money.

IN THE OLD TOWN

“So, take me back to Constantinople. Been a long time gone, Oh Constantinople.”