Dear friends, Recently my cousin Amit and I were in Istanbul for three days. Long back during school days, we were taught about Constantinople (now Istanbul), a unique city located partly in Asia and Europe, a strategic geographic location and its importance in trade between Europe and Asia. KLM’s night flight of three hours from Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam to Ataturk airport, landed me in Istanbul at 1:30 AM. Ataturk is quite similar to our old Mumbai airport. Hotel Boutique saint Sophia is @ 20 kms from airport and located at Sultanahmet, very close to most tourist attractions. Dome of Hagia Sophia Day 1: On the first day we visited Hagia Sophia museum. Built in year 537 by Greeks, it remained a church till 1453, and then converted in to a Mosque till 1935, and currently a museum. It is famous for its massive Dome and paintings. Painting on the Dome The Church Bell Next, we went to Basilica Cistern. It is an ancient underground water storage facility,