I had a super busy day. First I discovered that I have a fabulous view of the Hagia Sophia from my balcony and from the outside breakfast terrace. I started by visiting the Hagia Sophia. It had been turned back into a mosque almost a year ago. Much of it cannot be toured, and most of the small amount left has been turned into a prayer area, the majority for men and a small section for women. The floor mosaics have also been covered by carpet.

Entrance: In the mosaic, Justinian is giving a model of Hagia Sophia while Constantine is presenting the city of Constantinople to Mary and Christ.

Hall Near the Exit

I walked through the Blue mosque which was under reconstruction and of which almost nothing could be seen.

Blue Mosque

Section of the Blue Mosque not under construction

On the plus side, there is a noticeable absence of tourists in the entire city with no lines to get into anything and no crowds. The restrictions into the country due to Covid had lightened up on June 1, so I was ahead of the crowds.Even in Greece which had opened mid May there were far fewer crowds than normal. Someone in Crete told me that they had only 20% of the normal volume of tourists because cruise ships weren't running.

Line for Tickets to Topkapi Palace

After that I went on a boat tour up the Bosphorus to the second Bridge and back again, about 3 hours total. I had lunch in Asia. The most interesting thing was the Rumeli Castle built by the Turks to support their seige of Constantinoble. There were only 8 of us on the rather large boat. I was the only person who spoke English, so I had my own guide. The other guide spoke in Russian. The people who spoke only French were out of luck. I had planned to take the public ferry all the way to the end but this tour started right outside my hotel which was way easier. And I probably would have been bored going all the way to the Black sea. The tour group was named Blue Brothers, and I would go with them again. Very friendly and helpful.

We only went to the second bridge and then back. If I go again I will consider taking the public ferry (using the Istankart) to the Black Sea. Stats for the day: 15.6 miles by boat, 3.0 miles by foot.

Galata Tower in Background

Rumeli Castle

Suleymaniye Mosque from Galata Bridge

Maiden's Tower

In the early afternoon I went to the Topkapi Palace and its Harem. It reminded me of a middle-east version of the Forbidden City in Beijing. It was simply enormous with rooms added on by each ruler for generations. I spent almost 3 hours there then did a quick dinner and limped home to put my feet up.