the city of Istanbul, Turkey

I am 19 years old, year 1991, August, GKChP (coup) in Moscow, I am in my first foreign service. We crossed the Bosphorus under the flag of the USSR. Both sides of Istanbul were like in the palm of your hand. And bridges, I think, would cause me a lot of emotions even now. It was symbolic... because we were moving into another reality and back to another country... in the literal sense of the word.