Istanbul  is a city of hills often quite steep.
At the moment we’re descending from Taksim to waters of Bosporus on a downwash on a shared taxi. We should join the swirl of other taxis and cars converging on Galata Bridge and crossing the Golden Horn we’ll find ourselves in the Old city of Constantinople. 

We’re going to pay a short visit to the Seraglio, which for centuries was a mysterious secretive place of residence of the sultan with his ministers and vast harem guarded by eunuchs. In a moment, we should be at the Sublime Porte, the entrance to the Seraglio.

The heads of traitors and captured enemies used to be displayed here on the battlements about the gateway. Inside is the divan where the sultan ministers used to meet in council, and behind the divan is the harem where hundreds of women used to live out their lives in boredom and intrigue.

Once inside the seraglio, the women of the harem were kept there, as virtual prisoners. Only a few found favour with the sultan. Some who fell out of favour were tight up in sacks and dumped in the Bosporus. 

But now we have left Istanbul behind and in the soft early morning sunshine of another day we’re jogging across the remaining piece of Turkey in Europe in the direction of the Greek frontier.