Today we began to look at the modern day city of Istanbul. It is a booming metropolis that straddles both Asia and Europe with a rich history. The city was once known as Byzantium, then Constantinople under the Roman Empire and Istanbul under the Ottoman Empire and today. We looked at how Istanbul is divided across a body of water called the Dardanelles Strait that connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara. We took a virtual tour of modern day Istanbul, from its market places to shopping, restaurants, historic ruins and the heavy traffic from Asian to European Istanbul via ferry, water taxis, bridges and tunnels. Tomorrow we will continue to look at this incredible transcontinental transportation crossing network.