This morning Murat,our guide for the next fortnight,gave us an orientation walk in the old city. A short stroll from our hotel across the tram lines and up in to the Topkapi Palace gardens,the museum will have to wait for our return as closed on mondays. Plenty of London Planes to give us shade from the sun as we passed Aya Irene,the first church built in the palace,through the gate with Aya Sofia before us. Across the way was the Blue Mosque,covered in scaffolding for restoration and under us the water cisterns. We paused in the last Ottoman cemetery where one of the last members of the sultans was recently buried. Strangely there are so few parks that that cemeteries are pleasure places and this one had a vast tearoom shaded by the trees. Further along was the grand bazaar,a giant ancient covered shopping mall. After lunch in a roof terrace overlooking the blue mosque we visited Aya Sofia. A truly magnificent building. Sadly for us it too is in the throes of extensive restoration but we were able to see the mosaics. 

 A short walk downhill to the hotel for a refreshing cold beer before we boarded our minibus for a four hour drive to Bolu for an overnight stop before passing through Ankara tomorrow on our way to Capodocia.