I am back in Europe. Albeit by about a quarter of a mile. In the city of Istanbul.

Turkey straddles Europe and Asia … and Istanbul, the former Constantinople (as well as the former capital), is where Turkey creeps over the Bosphorus and has a foot on European territory.

Why are we here?

–To escape the UAE heat. That’s No. 1. Every day you can spend out of the UAE at this time of year is a good day. We lost about 30 degrees by making the 1,800-mile trip.

–Because it’s the closest major city to Abu Dhabi that offers a somewhat temperate clime as well as relatively cheap airfare (about $450).

–But also because we had gotten several favorable reports on the city from co-workers. It may be a monster trip from the States to Istanbul, but from Abu Dhabi? Closer than NYC is to Los Angeles. And this is a place that was perhaps the greatest city in the world for centuries at a time.

After one day … we like it fine. Actually, Leah likes it a lot.

We arrived at about 6:45 a.m. after a five-hour flight from Abu Dhabi. Hard to sleep, in a packed Airbus 321, so we were groggy when we hit the ground. We took a cab into the city, and we found our hotel in the tourist neighborhood, Sultanahmet, in the oldest part of the city.

We are approximately 500 yards from the Hagia Sophia and less than a mile from the Topkapi Palace. Which is why we chose this handy little two-star hotel, the Albion.

We arrived at about 8, and even though we weren’t scheduled to stay until that night, they allowed us into our room and let us have continental breakfast, two gestures which put us in a good frame of mind. We were able to eat a bit, and crash for about three hours of catch-up sleep.

We were a bit concerned about how well we would get along speaking only English, but so far it has not been a problem at all. Almost everyone involved in the tourist industry speaks more than a little English, including cops. Also, the alphabet is in Latin letters, at least giving you a shot at pronouncing place names — unlike in Arabia, where Arabic script is just about impenetrable without long stretches of study.

The ride into town, and then the setting for lunch and dinner, gave us a good idea why this is a popular tourism site — though more with Euros than with Americans.

Istanbul has great views of water all over the place. This part of the city is a peninsula. North of it is, on the other side of the Gatata bridge, is another neighborhood with views everywhere. Across the Bosphorus, to the east, is the Asian side of the city … with more views. And off in the distance we can see the Prince’s Islands, and settlements are built into the hills there, too. Water, water, everywhere and a pleasant sight, indeed.

We had lunch at the Topkapi Palace. Each of us had doner kebab on a big sandwich roll, with fries, and as we sat on a terrace we looked right across the strait to the Asian side of the city. It’s barely a mile away, across the water. Seems close enough to swim, if you can dodge the merchant fleets navigating the channel, going up into the Black Sea, or south, into the Mediterranean.

For dinner, we ate at a rooftop hotel just up the street from where we were staying, and again we had sea views — of the Marmara Sea — as well as nice looks at the Hagia Sophia, and the Blue Mosque.

The sun was out for most of the long day (it wasn’t dark until about 8:30), but it wasn’t at all hot. Maybe 80 as a high. Just really nice. And all the green, things growing without midnight irrigation, and blooming … roses everywhere at the Topkapi Palace, expansive lawns, huge trees … the sorts of things you don’t see in the UAE.

The palace is an interesting place, a spread of big, old buildings over a expansive plot on the plateau that also contains the Hagia Sophia and offers a view of the strait. It was interesting to consider that where we were sitting has been the focal point of the city here for about 2,000 years, going back to the ancient Greeks.

The best part of the palace (at least, the parts that were open) was the harem enclosure. “Harem” apparently means “private” in Turkish … and this is where the sultans lived, along with their families and dozens of concubines and eunuchs.

We are on the cusp of the major tourist season here, and the crowds were significant. We lost a batch of them, however, in the harem enclosure, for which an additional fee is charged. It was worth it to be able to wander leisurely through the area.

Nearly all the buildings in Topkapi are covered with decorative tiles, much of it a powder blue with ornate patterns. Some of the buildings are a bit run down, and several buildings were closed for refurbishment, and it does need to be done. This part of the city isn’t as old as the Greek part; maybe 500 years, most of it. Built by the Ottomans. But it’s still old.

We were back at the hotel by 5. We went light with dinner, a plate of Turkish appetizers, with their spin on the familiar Mediterranean “meze” concept. Stuffed grape leaves, cheese, yogurt, tomatoes, cucmbers, hummus, etc. We also slowly drained a bottle of Turkish white wine, which was surprisingly nice. Turkish white: Who knew?

Most of the rooftop tables were taken by large groups of German tourists who were feeling “gemutlich” … and it was fun to listen to them, and watch them going through huge glasses of the local beer.

We descended back to the ground level and went a bit further up the street and bought ice cream cones, and walked around the neighborhood a bit. It was ultra busy during the day but surprisingly quiet by 10. A few guys around, and some feral cats.

If we had been coming here from the U.S., it would seem exotic. An overwhelmingly Muslim population, the calls to prayer, more than a few women in scarves and conservative dress … not what you see in London or Madrid.

But having spent nearly 20 months  in the UAE, the place seemed dramatically western. Beer on sale on the streets, alcohol for sale at nearly every restaurant, a pride in the city, a self-awareness and a taste for the refined that brought to mind Paris or Rome.

So far, so good, for Istanbul.

We have a few more days here, on our “European” vacation, to see if Istanbul can continue to impress us.