In Instanbul -- I have only 49 things left to do before I die now

Age is relative. Rosemary is 55; the Hagia Sophia is 1,400 years old. One of the wonders of the world (the church) it is the crown jewel of the Istanbul skyline and especially beautiful framed by budding trees and tulips.

Three of us from the center made a long weekend trip to Turkey in which we managed to see eight of the top 10 attractions of this amazing city. I am tempted to write endlessly about what we saw, ate and bought. But in looking over other offerings on the web and in blogs, that's been pretty much done. So instead, some highlights only.

First, Istanbul is huge, New York huge, with a population estimated at 12-15 million and laden with little kids. It sprawls in New York City-like boroughs, Galata, Beyoglu, Taksim and Uskudar, only the sections of this city are in Europe and Asia, the only bicontinental city in the world. In our three days we were in mostly one section.

And Istanbul is Venice-like, a city built on and around water. The Bosphurus Strait muscles between the European and Asian side, the Golden Horn (the best named river in the world) cuts through the European side and the Sea of Marmara run along the south of the city and the Black Sea along the north. These are not streams but powerful, strong-running big rivers filled with steamers, barges, and cruise ships. The water is turquoise by day, inky black by night and the port is crowded and busy at all times. The best meal we ate was fish fresh from the river grilled at the port and dumped with onions and tomatos into a big roll. People stood in a long line to pay their 2 YTL (about $1.40) for that.

Third, Istanbul is ancient. Constantine the Great founded it in 324 AD. It served as the capital of the eastern Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire and the Ottoman Empire.