It's Wednesday, and Istanbul, is absolutely freezing. You may think of the ancient Turkish city overlooking the Bosphorus as Mediterranean, with glorious early springs and blazing summers.

Maybe, however, despite its latitude - the same almost as Lisbon's - they've had a much harder winter than have we. Not just a bit cold, but spine numbing cold; and snow everywhere.

But what a place. Our history (yes, ours) before your eyes. A different century on each street corner. And then there's "Hagia Sophia", the Church of Holy Wisdom, which, in the odd way my mind works, got me thinking about the new Wembley Stadium - read on.

Hagia Sophia was built as a Christian cathedral (though now a museum and having been a mosque) and ranks as the fourth largest cathedral in the world.

After diplomatic meetings and an official dinner, my party was taken through the snow to see Hagia Sophia late at night.

It was vast, empty, cold and extraordinarily spiritual.

Those who had conceived and built it really must have received something like divine guidance, for how else could such a place have been created out of stone, timber and paint? More than that. Its construction was an astonishing feat of architecture, engineering, mathematics, craftsmanship and, above all, organisation which puts some of our "modern" approaches to shame.

Hagia Sophia was built 1500 years ago, by hand, with only horses, oxen and rope to provide any power. Yet this place, breathtaking and vast, took just 5 years 10 months and 4 days from start to the finish on 27 December 537.

The new Wembley will be impressive in its own way. The big arch is so large the London Eye could be rolled underneath; and (little known fact) I am told that there will be 2,618 toilets in the building, which is probably about 2,617 more than in Hagia Sophia.

However, its already much more than 5 years, 10 months and 4 days since the original idea for a new Wembley, and we're still counting. (Indeed, it all started in 1996!)

I am sure the new Wembley will be a great success.

I can't wait to get back there, as there is no other place on earth for the magical atmosphere it generates.

Aside from the 1966 World Cup, there have been some exquisite moments there, including Rovers' win against Charlton in the 1987 Full Members' Cup; and the best goal ever, when Gascoigne flicked the ball right over a startled Colin Hendry, ran found him, hit the ball again and scored (in the 1996 Euro England v Scotland match).

But learning about a place like Hagia Sophia does give me some humility about this idea that all change has been progress for the better.