Marhaba, Istanbul!

When a young Coco Chanel got down to designing the Turkish military uniforms in the 1930s, Istanbul was undergoing a renaissance of sorts. While the 19 -century Ottoman Istanbul was considered as cosmopolitan as modern London, the city in the 20 century was embracing a miscellany of its Greek, Roman, and Venetian (and Ottoman) influences—a cultural diversity that it retains to this day. Almost a century later, as I sit along the Bosphorus reading about Istanbul’s transition from a strategic Silk Route destination to one of the most glamorous second cities in the world, a timelapse of sorts plays in my head—trading vessels get replaced by superyachts and merchants with binocular-wielding travellers; imperial mosques and palaces built by the Byzantines and Ottomans and , where the world’s biggest airport makes a dent in global aviation, and boutique fashion brands give the swanky international ones a run for their money.