我真小看了土耳其，那麽晚才來到這裡。兩個禮拜的時間，主要沿愛琴海﹑地中海走，全是西方文明萌芽和興衰的遺跡。當然我也沒有漏掉天然奇景棉花堡 和中部的卡帕多西亞。還繼續往東到了少有人拜訪的古地，亞伯拉罕的老家--耳法(吾珥）和哈蘭，經過米索波大米，看到滾滾大水的幼發拉底河 。土耳其超出我所料，值得看的地方數不清。下次去中亞的時候，要沿黑海走。再去卡帕多西亞。

我的旅程先到伊斯坦堡。這座歷史名城不多做介紹，太多文章述説它了。而放在左邊的這些地名，是我特意挑選，值得一述的。

Blue Mosque

Sophia Museum

伊斯坦堡大概有四百多座清真寺，最有名的是這座有六個宣禮塔的 “藍色清真寺”。 它是這城的座標。遊人莫不到此一遊。

Istanbul has more than 400 mosques.  The “Blue Mosque” (Sultan Ahmet Camii), which has six minarets, is best known.  This landmark serves as the coordinate for the city, attracting all the tourists.

擁有約1700年歷史的聖蘇菲亞大教堂 ，不知重修了多少次，現在是博物館。有人說它應該是古代建築的七奇之一。

With about 1700 years of history, the Sophia Cathedral (The Hagia Sophia) had been renovated numerous times and is now a museum.  Some people consider it one of the seven wonders in ancient architecture.

從蘇菲亞大教堂的前門和山坡上，可以看到船隻航行在博斯普鲁斯海峡和馬爾馬拉海。

From the front steps of the Sophia Cathedral and the nearby hill, one can see ships sailing on Bosphorus Strait and Marmara Sea.

伊斯坦堡一直是帝王的首都。希腊人駐居的時候叫拜占庭；羅馬帝國時期叫君士坦丁堡；奥圖曼帝國時改爲伊斯坦堡。直到凱末爾宣告土耳其共和國成立後，才把首都遷至安卡拉。

 Istanbul had always been the imperial capital.  It was called Byzantine when the Greeks were here.  It was called Constantinople when under Roman rule.  Its name was changed to Istanbul under Ottoman Empire.  It was only after Mustafa Kemal declared the establishment of the Republic of Turkey that the capital was moved to Ankara.

伊斯坦堡的街頭，很多是上上下下的坡。整個伊斯坦堡的舊城區被聯合國定為世界文化遺產。

Many city streets in Istanbul are hilly.  The entire old town section of Istanbul has been declared by the United Nations as a world cultural heritage.

舊城區在金角灣南邊。金角灣就是巴爾幹半島最東邊的尖端。隔著狹窄的博斯普鲁斯海峡與亞洲相連。舊城區有兩道城牆圍繞，都有千年以上的歷史。 

 The old town is at the south of Golden Horn, which is at the eastern tip of  Balkan Peninsula.  It is next to the continent of Asia, separated only by the narrow waters of Bosphorus Strait.  Double walls dating back more than one thousand years surround the old town.

  Turkish kebaps are good to the last cut

The most popular Turkish bread