This woman walked around the palace grounds inexplicably holding an umbrella over her head, even though it was neither raining nor especially sunny outside. It wouldn't have mattered anyway, since most of where she was walking was indoors and covered.

I found this perplexing, and so I kept an eye on her throughout the day. I watch a lot of espionage and heist shows, where umbrellas are often used to avoid surveillance cameras, so I let myself imagine that she was involved in some grand machination of deception. Was she there to steal the priceless heirlooms of the palace? Maybe!

The palace was mostly a maze of dark corridors and shadows, but I snapped this photo at the moment she stepped into a small, singular puddle of sunlight. We can't see her face, but perhaps she is smiling to herself with vindication thinking, "Thank goodness I brought this umbrella! I knew there might be five seconds of bright, skin-ruining sunlight in this otherwise dark (and mostly indoor) palace."

Here are some more of Turkiye's beautiful mysteries: