Where East meets West: Istanbul

All of these empires left their mark. The Roman hippodrome was where the citizens watched the chariot racing and set up an obelisk imported from Egypt and made in the 16th century BC. Haghia Sophia - the dome is 100ft across and 180ft high - was the engineering marvel of the early Christian empire. Most of the original decoration has disappeared but there are a few remnants of the glowing golden mosaics that would have once covered the interior, magically lit by flickering candlelight. The Blue Mosque was built at the beginning of the 17th century to rival the splendours of Haghia Sophia and is named for the 20,000 turqoise tiles that decorate its walls and columns. There are yet more columns in the underground palace of a cistern built 1500 years ago to supply early Constantinople with fresh water. Low lights pick out the water, the sound of Vivaldi echoes through its cavernous interior and one column grants wishes - if you are brave enough to put your hand inside it.

And then, of course, there's the Topkapi Palace itself, home of the sultans and their courts and a place heaped in equal measure with treasure and gruesome stories. We boggled our way round rooms filled with evil looking weapons, jewel-encrusted golden thrones and precious stones - there's one room dedicated just to emeralds, some as big as a hand. One section contains the relics of the Prophet - his mantle, his swords, even his beard and his footprint. There are shady gardens, fountain courtyards and the best views - naturally - in Istanbul. Best of all is the harem - an interesting concept for an eight-year-old, particularly when the guide starts to explain about the intrigues, the poisoned turkish delight and the black slaves brought as eunuchs?

It's not just the history and architecture of Istanbul that inspire our sense of wonder - there is also the strange world of eastern commerce. The Grand Bazaar was built in 1755, the world's largest covered bazaar with around 4,000 shops. Christian's eyes grew round at the glistening brass and copper, silken carpets and sparkling jewellery. The fascination was mutual, small blond boys being in short supply around here. People stroked his hair, held his face, even kissed him with cries of 'Beautiful boy' which, after a period of acute embarassment, Christian decided was just the way it was here. But his favourite placs were the carpet shops, where he was enticed in with the patter - 'just come and look', 'special price for you', 'you're my first customer today' and even 'please buy it's my birthday'. The carpet sellers unrolled their rugs with a flourish or even twirled them in the air to show how they caught the light. Christian continually dragged me into carpet shops which he regarded as a brilliant entertainment. (Yes, I did buy one - guess whose room it's in?) There was one shop in the bazaar that horrified even Christian. It was selling knives and pistols. 'But they're illegal!' he said. 'No, no,' replied the vendor proffering a jewel-encrusted but nevertheless lethal-looking dagger, 'very nice for children.'

Anna and Christian travelled with Bridge Travel, staying at the 4-star Arkadia Hotel in Istanbul. Sample package price: 3 nights (5 January-15 March) at Arkadia Hotel from £426 per adult, £391 for children aged 2-11 sharing their parents' room, including scheduled flights from Heathrow or Stansted. 3 nights at the 2-star Ferhat Hotel from £404 per adult, £369 per child.

For more information please call Bridge Travel on 0870 727 5917