A city of substance will grab you right away. As soon as you put foot to pavement, it will take you by the shoulders and say, "Look at me! There is no place on Earth like this!"

Istanbul is such a city.

Unique geography is part of the allure. Istanbul is the only city on the planet that straddles two continents. The western section sits on seven hills and is part of Europe. Across the sparkling and fast-moving Bosphorus Straits sits the eastern, or Anatolian, section - in Asia. Indeed, the straits are so narrow that when Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror built Topkapi Palace on the European side in the late 1400s, he could see Asia from his house!

To the north of the city, the Bosphorus spills into the Black Sea. To the south, it joins the Sea of Marmara, which narrows before meeting the Aegean Sea, which, in turn, opens into the Mediterranean. Want even more water? Istanbul's European section is bisected by a lovely natural harbor, the Golden Horn.

If this sea-connecting-to-sea and continent-overlooking-continent stuff sounds like Istanbul's location might have strategic importance to, say, virtually any civilization of the ancient or modern world . . . good thinking! Starting with the early Hittite tribes in 2500 B.C., the envious and ambitious have coveted, schemed and sailed into battle in hopes of conquering the area. The Persians, the Greeks, the Romans and the Turks are just the big guys - the ones who held sway long enough to build churches, mosques, palaces and parks, as well as ancient city walls and underground cisterns and, more recently, lovely Ottoman-style summer homes stretching along the banks of the Bosphorus.

The geography and history, ho-hum in high school textbooks, combine on the ground to set a spectacular stage for a truly captivating people. Who are the Turks? Our guide, Attila, explained: "Many of us are descended from the Turks who came from the east around 1100-1300 A.D. and later established the Ottoman Empire. But we also came from Europe, Asia and even Africa as the empire expanded."

"My own ancestors were born in Albania when it was part of the Ottoman Empire, but I am a Turk!" Attila beamed.

As Attila introduced us to Istanbul, our preconceived notions simply vanished.

Islam came first. Turkey is predominantly Muslim, and we arrived in the middle of the month-long annual fasting period, Ramazan. (This is the way they spell and pronounce Ramadan in Turkey.) Ramazan is the fourth of the Five Pillars of Islam, Attila explained - the cornerstones of Islam. The first is that there is one God, Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. The remaining Pillars include praying five times a day, giving charity to those in need and making a pilgrimage to Mecca once in a lifetime for Muslims who are able.

We began with a visit to the Blue Mosque (so dubbed by the British for the interior blue tile work - it is officially Sultan Ahmed Mosque, after Sultan Ahmed I, who commissioned it in 1609). As we approached, men were performing ablutions: washing their faces, feet and hands at the dozens of faucets built into the exterior of the mosque. The call to prayer (recited or sung live by the mosque's muezzin) was being broadcast from the minarets. We removed our shoes, I covered my head and we entered. The interior was sunlit and magnificent, the scene moving and serene.

But wait! Back outside, the city was in motion. People scurried onto mass transit, stood in line at roasted corn carts, pushed baby carriages and held hands as they strolled past carpet shops. Some women wore headscarves, many didn't. The population had not stopped in unison and knelt on prayer rugs. Attila chucked at our puzzlement. "You can be a Muslim by declaring your belief in Allah and Muhammad. Observing the other pillars . . . well, it is like some Catholics. You believe in God and Jesus but maybe don't go to Mass every Sunday."

"What about, uh . . . extremists?" I asked.

Attila was firm. "This is Turkey. Our Islam is not the Islam of other countries. We believe in separation of church and state. Turkey has no place for extremists."

Religion and politics settled, we relaxed and roamed the city. Since we had arrived on the Turkish equivalent of 4th of July, bright red Turkish flags were everywhere. Stylized images of tulips (which originated in Turkey, not Holland) ran second only to images of Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey. Istanbul's icons, the Grand Bazaar, Topkapi Palace and its legendary harem, the Blue Mosque, Dolmabahce Palace, the Galata Tower, all lived up to their stature. At almost every turn, you could catch a glimpse of the waterways. The streets were shaded by broad plane trees and trimmed with bright flowers. This was no dusty Middle Eastern city with goats in the streets or barefoot boys grabbing at my camera.

Indeed, Istanbul is a stunning natural beauty. But it's her people that give the city an aura of charm and contentment. As we rode the trains, trams and funiculars, people of all ages smiled and young people got up and gave us their seats, time and again. Imagine. We saw row upon row of young and old sipping tea or beer and playing backgammon by the hour at shady sidewalk restaurants - no need to bring your own backgammon set. The restaurants supply them.

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