The sadness of autumn when one recognises the earth will recall you at an end you'll never know. It's raining in Istanbul heavily. Thick fog shrouds the Ataturk Bridge over the Bosphorus straits, rain so heavy, fog so thick that the Eurasia Marathon, October 26, 2008, is delayed an hour until in the drenching downpour, akin to our tropical depressions, the runners head out.

Ethiopian male, Adilokasime, and Russian female, Yulamanova, win the men's and women's 42-kilometre race despite the daunting conditions. For thousands who followed them, it is a rare opportunity to walk across the suspension bridge joining Europe and Asia. As in most of Europe, spring and fall are the best times to visit, but occasionally this kind of storm disrupts everything.

We were going to take the ferry from Ortakoy, near our Ciragon Palace Kempinski Hotel. Skipping back and forth across the straits, from Asian towns to European ones, we had hoped to dine at the ferry's northernmost landing, Anadolu Hisari, on the Asian shore where the boat stops long enough for lunch and a hike up to Yoros Castle, once a Greek temple to Zeus, now a viewing point of the Black Sea beyond. Instead, a video about Turkey shows us an ultra-modern, architecturally designed shopping mall, Kanyon, in Istanbul's northern suburb of Levent.

A 30-minute taxi ride, over beautifully paved roads through prosperous neighbourhoods, brings us to the open-air mall with cleverly designed clear plastic covers jutting from the walkways to keep out the rain. There's daylight, dryness, and the most expensive brand-name stores Europe, America and Turkey have to offer.

After yesterday's nine-hour tour of ancient Byzantine/Constan-tinople/Istanbul, enough of anti-quities! We want to see the flip side: modern Istanbul. Wow!

Pleasant service

It matches any chic mall in the West. Not necessarily for size, though it's large enough, but for elegance as well. Think Bal Harbour here. We dine at Sushi Co to get our weekly dose of California roll and though the restaurant and service are pleasant, Jamaica's East Japanese Restaurant has them beaten for hotter wasabi and softer avocado. Because of the prices, we buy only postcards and because of the rain we miss nearby Metro Mall, another popular shopping area.

The mall's staff signal for a taxi and in 20 minutes, I am at Istanbul Modern (istanbulmodern.org), south of Dolmabahce Palace, beside the cruise-ship pier. Tourists come directly on foot from ship into the museum. I'm not a fan of modern art. The building is excellent for the purpose, the art an education but not my cup of tea, especially not the installation and video art.

Good grief, anyone with a camera is an artist these days? Despite assurances that I would find a taxi on the main road, I had my doubts. Me? Stand alone on the street at dusk in a country where I can't speak the language? But after trudging through the dark parking lot in pouring rain, with my ever-ready travel umbrella, sure enough a taxi stops immediately and takes me directly to my hotel.

A good thing, too, because Beverley Levy told me I must see the Whirling Dervish Ceremony and we have reservations for that night.

Meditation

The mystical Sufi Group of Istanbul Galata Mevlevi Lodge, the only institution of its kind in Turkey which allows visitors, is renovating their premises, so Sunday evenings they hold a viewing of their Sufi music and meditation in the event hall of Sirkeci Train Station, built in 1889 and famous for welcoming the opulent Orient Express.

Stained-glass windows remain, though the otherwise Spartan room, with simple chairs, is all forgotten once the music and meditation begin.

Based on the teaching of Persia-born Celaleddin Rumi (1207-73), teachings of love and tolerance coming from Turkey's eastern city of Konya, dervishes undergo three years of intense training before they are ready to attain a higher union with God by whirling continuously in their white robes. To witness this spiritual journey is unforgettable. (www.rumi2007.net)

Next day, we finally visit the famous Grand Bazaar, a covered market of 4,000 shops spreading over 50 acres, across 65 streets in old Istanbul, but alas, having seen the splendours of India's Jaipur and Jodhpur markets, and those of Cairo, the Grand Bazaar is an anti-climax. Been there, done that, don't have any more desire to buy.

The ceramics are lovely, but no one has the ancient pattern I've seen in a museum gift shop. The leather is not expensive but how many handbags does a woman need? Silver, brass, carpets - many lovely things reside in the Grand Bazaar and bargains are to be had. The vendors are surprisingly polite, less aggressive than in either India or Egypt, so most visitors would enjoy the vast complex of shops with great pleasure.

One can use the local currency lira, euros, dollars, even credit cards. After walking miles back and forth, we leave the souks to check out the highly recommended Four Seasons Hotel with a late lunch there. The food is excellent, the garden lovely and no one would ever know about its prison past but this is when I realise a view of the Bosphorus makes all the difference. Four Seasons does have another hotel on the Bosphorus, next to the Ciragon Palace, but we never venture there.

Our final day precedes Turkey's national holiday. Starting at Taksim Square, the huge symbolic centre of modern Istanbul, we're greeted by a series of colourfully clad students and marching bands, all celebrating the upcoming Republic Day. People are jubilant. An ocean of red banners with the white crescent moon, Turkey's flag, stream past us.

Everywhere city streets are covered with these banners and portraits of Mustafa Kemal, Ataturk, 'Father of the Turks', who freed Turkey of foreign domination and helped modernise the nation. A virtual cult of personality surrounds his memory; a political tug-of-war takes place now as rising Islamic parties assert their differences with the secular republican constitution established by him in 1923.

Istanbul's population of 12 million has grown tremendously in the past decades, largely due to the influx of rural workers whose more traditional ways threaten Istanbul's cosmopolitan, and more tolerant sophistication, at least in the eyes of some. This, combined with the controversy over whether Turkey's forced evacuation, even elimination, of hundreds of thousands of Armenians during World War I should be called 'genocide' or not, has clouded its progress towards entry into the European Union. It seems Istanbul's reputation for historically being at the centre of intrigue will not cease anytime soon.

What is certain: Visitors have an unending store of experiences within this fascinating city. Jamaicans will love the tram running from Taksim Square through Istiklal Caddesi, a pedestrian broadway off which run narrow cobble-stoned streets in this Beyoglu district. We walk the pedestrian way, pausing at a statue of Pope John who visited a beautiful church set back from the street, past all kinds of stores and vendors, and enjoy a cafe latte at an open-air café on a terrace overlooking the city.

I leave hubby reading his newspapers to spend an hour across the street in the marvellous Pera Muzesi where an exhibition of British Orientalist Painting titled 'The Lure of the East', illustrates another aspect of Istanbul, when 19th-century Westerners tried to become part of it, adopting 'native' dress and recording in their paintings the landscapes and peoples of Egypt, Palestine and Turkey. A five-storey townhouse with muted coral coloured interiors and an exquisite Kutahya Tiles and Ceramics Collection, the Pera Museum opened in June 2005, a cultural endeavour of the Suna and Inan Kirac Foundation. A gem not to be missed!

The famous Pera Hotel is closed for renovations but the 61-metre tall Galata Tower, built in 528 AD by the Byzantine Emperor Justinianus, is open. Rising 140 metres above sea level, it's a major landmark and 360-degree lookout point by day. By night, it boasts a restaurant and nightclub. Our city walk ends with stunning views from the tower, then back up the hill to catch the tram to Taksim Square. An ancient gentleman insists on offering his seat to me and relents only when I say standing gives me a better view. Such chivalry!

On another visit, we'll explore Turkey beyond its famous city of Istanbul.

Mecidiye Mosque on Ortakoy Square by ferry landing beneath the Ataturk Bridge over the Bosphorus straits connecting Europe and Asia. - Photo by Laura Tanna