Bosphorus Tour

To end my second long day of travels, I decided against a rather expensive tour of the other major palace built by the Ottoman in the 19th century and instead bought a ticket for a boat tour up the Bosphorus! After a summer where the most water I have seen is that which puddles outside my door after the daily thunder storms, it was nice to get out and have some cool sea air in my face for an hour or so. For the equivalent of about $8 I was able to get passage on a boat that took us up the Bosphorus from Dolmabahce palace, under the Bosphorus bridge, to the Rumeli Hisar, the castle built by Mehmed II to facilitate the conquest of Constantinople. While we didn't disembark to see any of these sights, it was a good opportunity for a quick drive-by tour of a number of places that I otherwise wouldn't have been able to see in my short stay. Next time, though, I would much rather take out one of the many sail boats out on the water that day. Maybe I can talk my friends in Boston into making this the destination for the sailing trip next year instead of Maine.