DH asked, ‘Anyone familiar with Istanbul?’ I replied, ‘Have been to Istanbul, but can’t claim to be very familiar with it. Fabulous place, though.’ It left many enduring impressions. I was at first little disappointed by the Basilica Cistern, it was not quite as dramatic as portrayed in the 1963 James Bond film From Russia with Love. But the lasting sense is of a wonderful echoing, shimmering, cathedral-like place of mystery, mystery reinforced by two submerged Medusa heads. The Gorgon’s gaze has petrified an otherwise passing experience.
Photo: Medusa head, Basilica Cistern, Istanbul, 1997