Maggie & I spent a week in Instanbul at the end of April to celebrate my 72th birthday. What a fascinating city - not a pretty city but incredibly diverse with a scrambled mix of old and new - at least in the old sections we saw. Thanks to Maggie's planning we had a very memorable time which included a Turkish shave and a haircut, a Turkish bath, dinner on two continents, and two amazing private tours by http://www.mylocalguideistanbul.com/
There are quite a number of images of poor areas which contrast with the beauty of the mosques and bright bazaars, but I don't want you to get the wrong impression. We saw only a small part of Istanbul which indeed is a city of contrasts. Turkey has been refused entry into the EU more than once but is now doing better economically than any country in the EU. NOTE: Please use arrow keys to scroll down a bit to see captions.