TURKEY

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Istanbul, the city that straddles two continents, has become one of Europe's most rewarding and most acclaimed destinations, designated in 2010 as the so-called European Capital of Culture and in summer 2011, crowded with tourists of every stripe. Smart stores and shiny new light-rail tramcars (are you listening, Melbourne?) are juxtaposed against the medieval beauty of Aya Sofya, Byzantine church turned mosque, its majestic Ottoman neighbour, the Blue Mosque, and countless other legacies of vanished empires. The Grand Bazaar and the bustling waterfront of the Golden Horn are guaranteed to amuse and to fascinate.