İstanbul

The province does not behave like a single city. On the European side, old walls run through neighbourhoods where the ground climbs steeply from the Golden Horn, and the lanes are narrow enough that a delivery van can hold up traffic for minutes. Across the water, the Asian shore feels looser and greener, with waterfront promenades, fish restaurants and wooden houses leaning toward the strait. Further north, the Bosphorus narrows between wooded slopes and old fishing villages, and the shoreline becomes a run of small bays, stalls and hillside gardens. To the south, the Sea of Marmara holds the islands, where the pace drops to the sound of hooves on stone and the ring of bicycle bells. Each part has its own temperament, and moving between them by boat is much of the pleasure.

A day here usually begins on a ferry. Leave from Eminönü early, when the fish boats are still unloading and the water under the bridges is grey-green. Walk up through Balat, where the façades have been repainted in faded blues and ochres, and stop for simit and black tea in a café with bentwood chairs set out on the pavement. In the afternoon, cross to Kadıköy, where the market lanes smell of olives, sheep's cheese and grilled mackerel, and students fill the benches along the square. Later, take the slow boat to Üsküdar and watch the lights come on along the Asian shore while the call to prayer drifts across the water. The northern edge of the province offers a different day altogether: the forest comes down to rocky coves, the water is colder and darker than in the strait, and the fishermen mend their nets on the quay without looking up at visitors.

By evening the question is rarely whether to leave but how to stay longer. The last boat home carries people who have spent the day moving between continents without once needing to hurry. The province asks for patience, a little walking and an appetite for the ordinary, and in return it gives a city that keeps its past close and its sea closer. Anyone who has watched the ferries glide across the strait at dusk will understand the wish to come back and start the day again from the water.