Istanbul is known as the cross-roads of the world. This is for good reason. The city spans two continents — Europe and Asia. And the lifestyles of its people span centuries!

It was late in October when we toured Istanbul. The rainy season was at hand and did destroy some of our photo opportunities. We hope you enjoy those pictures that we did get of this magnificent, intriguing city

Our photos of Istanbul were all taken in the ancient city, the location of all of the sites we visited. The old city lies between the Golden Horn and the Marmara Sea. (See the Istanbul area map page.) The modern city is north of the Golden Horn, and Asiatic Istanbul (also modern we're told) is across the Bosphorus connected by a bridge just to the right of the area shown in this map.

Lifestyles of the people seem to reflect the area in which they live. The religious conservatives are found mostly in the old city. Those with a more modern approach to life reside in the more modern sections of the city.

Istanbul is a city with a fantastic history. Wikipedia has an excellent history of of this illustrious city. Even those who are familiar with this history will find this article interesting. Here's a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istanbul.