By Bob Van Leer

  (ISTANBUL, TURKEY, June 7, 1987) - We started early today to catch an 8:30 a.m. flight for the hour trip to Istanbul. At the airport there was a noticeable difference in the people. Instead of being mostly European, here the passengers were from several continents.

  We noticed Muslim women in the chador, the dark, flowing robes covering everything except the eyes; Japanese; blacks; bearded Jews in skull caps and a babble of languages, mostly unrecognizable. We saw one large man with an oriental appearing face, dressed in flowing white robes and headdress, followed by three women who appeared to be his wives, along with a number of children. 

  Customs at the Istanbul airport were perfunctory. We were taken by bus to the Istanbul Hilton, an older hotel but considered one of the best. After lunch, our group went on a bus tour of Istanbul, crossing the Bosphorus which took us into Asia. The Bosphorus is the division between Europe and Asia. It is one of the busiest waterways in the world and at any time you can see ships underway in the strait. 

  Istanbul is a huge city of over 6 million population, split by the Bosphorus, with the largest population on the European side. Istanbul traces its origins back to the 7th century B.C. as Byzantium, but was best known as Constantinople. It has passed through a number of rulers; Greek, Roman, Ottoman and, finally, modern day Turkey.

  This afternoon our group toured two ancient sites. One was the St. Sophia museum, now a museum, but built as a Christian church by Constantine the Great and reconstructed by Justinian in the 6th century and considered one of the architectural marvels of all time. Its immense dome rises 55 meters above the ground and is 31 meters in diameter. 

  The second site are visited is much newer (that is, in terms of what is considered new in this corner of the world). It was built between 1550 and 1557 by the famous architect Sinan whose dearest wish was to surpass the builders of St. Sophia. It is so large with its four towering minarets that you need to get a quarter of a mile away to take an exterior picture. It is the Mosque of Suleyman the Magnificent and considered the most beautiful and splendid of all Imperial mosques in Istanbul. It is still in use as a mosque and it is necessary for everyone to remove shoes before entering. Women must have their head and arms covered.

  First impressions of Istanbul are that it is a more modern city in appearance than Athens. There is more open space and not as much of a sense of crowding. Tonight we go out for dinner and Turkish entertainment, including the local specialty, belly dancing.