Byzantium.
Constantinople.
Stamboul.
Istanbul.

Whatever you want to call it, that's where I've been for a week and a half.



I have plenty of stray cats to keep me company -- by my estimates, there are at least eight million of them in this GINORMOUS city of around 12 to 15 million (the exact figure varies, depending upon who you ask). Istanbul spans two continents and three landmasses -- and each chunk of the city is large and in charge.

If there was one phrase I'd use to encapsulate the place, it'd be water, water, everywhere ... but make sure you don't have a drink, because you're apt to get sick. The Sea of Marmara, the Golden Horn and the Bosphorous keep the fish sandwich vendor cartels going strong, and the dirty tap water pumps money into the bottled water industry.

But once you venture inland a bit, and the sea gulls begin to dissipate, make sure you don't ever tell someone to "meet you by the mosque." They are EVERYWHERE.

And beware of raki. Gricko, my Japanese friend that I met in Belgrade, did not heed that advice. And he paid the price.

Just an aside: I could have sworn the lesson of Vietnam was to quit, before getting sucked in too deep? I guess George must have dozed off during his "Lessons of Past Wars" briefing, because we all know that the president who has publicly boasted that he "isn't much of a reader" didn't pick up that lesson when he was boozing it up at Yale.

He'd fit in well on the streets of Istanbul if that boast really is the case. Trying to eyeball headlines from sidewalk newspapers on display here, if done for more than three seconds, is going to generate an automatic "Buy it or keep moving" comment from the angry Turkish vendor.

Going for the "don't wanna pay flip-over" is entirely out of the question.