Overview

• Having traveled to more than 130 countries, the BBC presenter recently concluded filming his three-part series 'Scandinavia with Simon Reeve'.
• Reeve describes Istanbul as “spectacular” and says visitors can “smell the history and the culture” throughout its streets.
• He highlights the city’s division between historic and modern districts on the European side and Asian neighborhoods across the Bosphorus.
• Reeve calls the 1,600-year-old Hagia Sophia one of the world’s most stunning buildings.
• Inside the Hagia Sophia, he was struck by ancient Viking runes believed to say Halfdan carved these runes, which he sees as a symbol of the human impulse to leave a mark.