BBC Travel Show - Istanbul (Week 23)

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this week on the Travel Show I'm in a

city that spans two continents and 3,000

years of history also on this week's

Travel Show we're shaking things up in

Singapore we're at a bar in London with

stereo costs more than a house if you

like music it will blow your mind and

our mobile guru tackles the choice of

railroad or plane take the train

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Istanbul really is a city like no other

built on the banks of the mighty

Bosphorus Strait it was founded by the

Greeks who named it Byzantium later the

Romans made it the capital of their

Eastern Empire changing its name to

Constantinople in honor of the Emperor

Constantine and for over 500 years it

was the seat of power for the Sultan's

who ruled the Ottoman Empire built at

the crossroads of Europe and Asia

it's turkeys largest and best-known city

forgot in on the red-eye fly which is

about 11 hours from Singapore but had a

bit of a rest I'm ready to explore the

city so I'm going to meet up with a man

called seda who promises to take me

around following a spate of terrorist

attacks than the failed military coup

2016 was dubbed the year that to risk

forgot turkeys traditionally around 10

million people visit Istanbul every year

but those numbers have fallen

drastically now the city is keen to do

all it can to reassure tourists and

entice them back how are you you must be

set up

it's a meet you finally thank you very

much so of your plan for me well I'll

have you in exploring the city I'll take

you to some of the major sites so I some

different foods Turkish fruits and also

a hammam which is it expect but I don't

know if you would like to start up with

it freshen up I think I might be good

I've got a little bit of a versatile

coloring 5 o'clock shadow to this area

plug down many side streets here in

Istanbul you'll find plenty of old

school fathers like this one we can get

a haircut or a traditional shave with a

cutthroat razor and hot towels all other

knockdown price standing back to the

days when many homes in Istanbul had no

running water there's no popular with

the locals who come here to meet

socialize and freshen up I get a little

bit worried about that

now this is something I have an

experienced nostril hair cut so this is

the way to take the little head but is

probably even concrete

ow he's burning your hair in the ears I

can smell yes ha ha ha ha mother much

better brand new man

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as the center of the Ottoman Empire for

around 500 years Istanbul is wealth and

influence grew and each new ruler or

Sultan was keen to leave his mark on the

city said our has offered to show me

perhaps one of the most impressive

it is the most of Suleiman Suleiman was

the Emperor's and Ottoman Empire that

rule for 47 years this is the biggest

imperial mosque in istanbul these most

guitars financed by the sultan at the

time they are all built in seven years

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this stands on the slopes of the hill so

from most parts of the city you can see

this most

the volume once and then if all the

world were one country then this city

would be its capital and running through

the heart of Istanbul is the mighty

Bosphorus on one side sits Europe on the

other Asia and for thousands of years

its carried cargo and passengers between

the two and also served as a gateway

between the Black Sea and the

Mediterranean making this one of the

most important stretches of water in the

world and last years off clear pepper

tragically it was here on the banks of

the Bosphorus that he terrorists struck

on New Year's Eve 2016 when they

attacked an open-air nightclub it was

just the latest in a series of incidents

that should confidence and badly

affected the city's already struggling

tourist industry but sadar says that

he's hopeful that things will improve

well those very unfortunate attacks made

everybody scared you know it scared us

as well it scared of people who are

thinking of coming here so the only way

I think we can overcome this is not be

scared and continue our lives that will

be the first starting point I think for

things to get better

Istanbul isn't the only capital city

that has suffered a downturn because of

terrorism hotels and restaurants in

Paris were badly affected following a

spate of attacks there which kept

harassed away although things are slowly

improving people here in Istanbul hope

that the introduction of a new tourist

police force will help to rebuild

confidence the number of hotels are also

offering substantial discounts to

encourage travelers to return

penniless to the spice market built in

16th century for trading of spices I can

smell all of that spice than me yes make

me a little bit hungry as well I should

introduce you maybe to my friend Hiro

and pencil axel Heiberg like this is

going to introduce your traditional

Turkish Jesus I have the best company or

I'll see you man okay this way yeah like

this

yeah about choice yeah and all of this

is from Turkish these are all from

Turkey different regions different

cities and they're all have different

Secretariat different tastes so this is

from Democritus the coach is in a bit of

a nerd it's like our main staple for

breakfast so this is our most favorite

cheese so breakfast cheese I would

imagine it being a little bit lighter on

the flavor a little bit to the PISA

never like no IRA with cheese brown and

the real wood totally wrong those next

shoes actually reminds me of like a

parmesan or some other this one is made

in July when we have a pathway twins

it's like the last milk they're things

for these I know it is little bit over

just just change the profile and this

one is usually made around springtime so

they are made exactly the same they are

different texture different pace okay

continues will be one more conversation

you I mean usually crunchy bread yeah

bit of olive oil imagine some awesome

olives perhaps perhaps a free nose even

if that was I as my day comes to an end

here in Istanbul cidade tells me that

he's got one last treat in store for me

we're off to one of the oldest Turkish

baths or hammams in the city coming okay

rather ground first opened in the 16th

century it's built on a site that dates

back to Roman times actually the first

thing you really notice is that the

thickness in here so humid in here

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stop what looks to be bad just over

there

squeeze it out come out

I've enjoyed my day here in Istanbul its

history food and culture are remarkable

but for me it's perhaps its location

which makes it special on the border

between Europe and Asia

there's undeniably something beguiling

about a place that seems so much changed

during its almost 3,000 years of history

but remains unique whatever current

problems in may face

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next on the Travel Show the first in a

series of films exploring the food and

drink of my hometown Singapore we're

starting with a taste of its most famous

drink to Singapore sling my name is

Leslie Denker I'm the resident historian

orifice hotel I've been with this hotel

for the last 45 years

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Singapore was founded by first temple

rebels and we have been under the

British administration we are British

colony so most of the British here came

to Rio circle for the meals and for the

drinks they were making very very

awesome

the British young men would sit under a

cast-iron Brander drinking the whiskey

water gin and tonic but the British

medics are not supposed to be seen

digging as call it beverages empathic

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the box and then gemstone booth

sobieszczyk I must do something for the

ladies if you can experiment here and

there

finally the conclusion will gene clearly

quick carry having this case going to

then absorb for apple juice lime juice

that's on the sub people can we use the

grenadine to give the pink hue it was

created an existing skin we just

celebrated the hundred years anniversary

in 2015

x-ray is camouflaged ringing because of

the grenadine a big suitcase six but

there if you take more and mostly then

you have the fling

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still to come on this week's Travel Show

we're pulling the plug on modern tech to

listen to music the old-fashioned way

this is like I've just flown first class

why would I want to go back to economy

now

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welcome to the slice of the show that

tackles your questions about getting the

best out of travel coming up

Memphis to New Orleans by train planes

or automobiles and the best European

City break at Christmas but first John

chaos we're planning our second trip to

South Africa this summer and want a

beach location as well as a trip to the

Kruger we were considering Mauritius but

have also looked at Mozambique do you

have any recommendations

even though Mauritius is south of the

Equator is at its best in the northern

summer and it's easily combined with

South Africa

thanks to frequent flights from both

London and Johannesburg but I think

Mozambique is also very accessible and

equally rewarding the eastern boundary

of South Africa's Kruger National Park

is the international frontier between

South Africa and Mozambique head for the

capital Marcos

one of the more attractive big cities in

Africa then goes northeast along the

coast to some of these Indian oceans

loveliest beaches without the crowds you

get more traditional destinations

accommodation with improving all the

time and prices are pleasing lilo from

London Michele Abel's asks in the summer

we need to travel from Memphis to New

Orleans

should we go by train plane for

automobiles Michelle take the train the

distance between these two great cities

is almost 400 miles you'd imagine

there'd be direct flights between

Memphis and your leaves but I can't find

any and a connection via Atlanta would

involve a big detour the road journey is

straightforward

due south along the I 55 freeway and

takes six or seven hours but it's not

one of the great American drives and

when you arrive in New Orleans the

parking can be challenging so instead I

recommend the Train south from Memphis

at six fifty any morning you like the

city of New Orleans rolling down beside

the Mississippi for most of the day and

arriving in theory at least under nine

hours later and you can experience the

marvelous American railroad

little as $49 available on most days if

you look in advance

finally mrs. Shekar tweets from Aberdeen

to ask about a Christmas trip where

would be a good place to go for a

European city break between the 23rd and

27th of December we thought Amsterdam or

Prague

Amsterdam is my choice because the

wonderful Rijksmuseum is open every day

of the year in many other cities of the

25th of December along with the 1st of

January of days off Christmas Day is an

excellent time to see the collection

without the usual crowd and for my money

the finest distillation of the Golden

Age on the planet with Rembrandt's Night

Watch rightly getting pride of place

elsewhere in the city many shops will be

closed on Christmas Day but in all the

usual tourist areas most cafes and

restaurants will be open and suitably

festive in terms of getting there and

sedan has excellent links from across

Europe and you also be able to travel

around happily Dutch railways operates

the same basic schedule every day of the

year and most City Transport will also

be working when you're watching in

Washington or raga dugu the Travel Show

is here to help so email your question

to the Travel Show at CBC co-taught UK

and I'll do my very best to find you an

answer from these Simon called us at

global guru siphon out and see you next

time

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finally on the Travel Show we're all

used to storing and streaming almost

endless amounts of music on our phones

for this week Tommy Sanders searching

our places in London where the records

themselves take center stage

Tommy fondue on BBC Asian Network this

is the wonderful the dark man with

really severe egg my matrix run on

attack stuff well I'm not on the Travel

Show this is my Monday to Friday I play

songs on national radio and talked in

between now the music that I plank comes

from a server there are two decks over

there but I use them and when I'm on my

way into the radio show I listen to

music on my phone but today I'm gonna

meet some people believe that music

should be appreciated and enjoyed the

all the uk's at the center of a global

revival in vinyl music last year sales

of LPS rose here by more than 50% but

why is the old tech really better than

the new

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this is gearbox records a studio where

they use vintage kit from the 60s to

make records today this retro equipment

all works it's not a museum so that we

are producing sounds from analog and

from digital which are really just

bestest one could do at the moment so

we're mixing the best of ancient and

modern to create the best cell there's

normally you have people saying oh vinyl

is best you know for sound quality you

won't get better than vinyl when we do

a/b between analog and digital in here

almost everyone can tell the difference

the music sounds slightly more bound

together Digital is quite crystalline

and immediately quite beguiling but over

time I think it's easier to listen to

talk I'm on my way now to the place in

Kings Cross with a classic in a vinyl as

well because I've heard that this place

has got a money no object attitude

towards sound system they've installed a

half a million pound stereo system I've

got to check that out

we've went into it with a no compromise

approach if it is going to improve the

sound with Tom crimp and that's that

every level that the amplifiers speakers

the cartridges so it's again it's a lot

of money being spent on you kind of go

through that satin Colinas I mean

there's an element of that and the

equipment is off the scale it defeats

the audiophile territory so unlikely to

ever hear anything or some or see

anything like this in in public but if

you like music it will blow your mind

there if you close your eyes and just

focus on one of instruments you can hear

just that it's absolute clarity it's

like you can move the way around through

the bag this is like I've just flown

first class why would I want to go back

to the economy now I'm just experience

the good life I don't want to go back

let's leave me here

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now Papa whistles and music is best when

it's a shared experience you think of a

concert or a nightclubs dark floor

nothing beats it but there's a bunch of

people that get together in one of

London's call it neighborhood Stillson

and they do it in different cities

around the world I may listen to an

entire album on vinyl but start to

finish in silence

I love vinyl I've been collecting

records for I don't want to tell you how

many decades but for a very long time I

wouldn't say it's all about audio it's

really about the music okay it's always

the music first and foremost what people

want to come here one of their favorite

albums or an album they don't even know

because they want to experience in a

different way they want to hear the

story behind it they want to get its

musical context they want to share the

listening experience with other people

we also want to take you to some time

out of their week where they can just

sit back turn their phone off and just

listen to music

well I should have been kind of often

listen to music that has a lot of

memories for me when I was growing up

and also it's really unusual to sit and

just really listen to this into an album

these days so normally you might listen

to a song or something but to listen to

an album from start to finish and just

really focus on that real tree I think

it's good to listen to it with other

people too why people go to live

performances you know it's quite

interesting to go to site going to

cinema really especially 1967 was a

completely transformative year in rock

and pop Piper at the Gates of Dawn by

Pink Floyd drew upon Wind in the Willows

which Piper at the Gates of Dawn is

named after one of the chapters

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in the Congo we might go to and taste a

menu in a restaurant for the flavor or

to a gallery in art people here gathered

together so share the music can be

stimulated through the rear

tomorrow I'll be back playing songs of a

computer server but as for today I've

never heard music sound quite so alive

as it died on these were good

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well I'm afraid that's all the time we

have for this week but coming up next

week Krista heads to Chile to visit the

Pacific coast town which was devastated

by tsunami and earthquake seven years

ago it has now been rebuilt and reborn

and is welcoming tourists

catch that if you can but for me Henry

Goulding and the rest of the Travel Show

team here in Turkey it's goodbye

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you

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