Day 37 - Noahs Ark hotel No. 23 Sultanahmet, Istanbul Really there was nowhere else I could write. Noahs Ark - Sinsamenes Ark - and Turkey being the home of Mount Ararat - my hotel overlooking the Bosphorus, that prized waterway the allies tried to conquer in WW1 (the backdrop to the series) and which cost so many lives (and formed the ANZACs) So I stayed in and wrote while the kids slept. From the terrace on the hotels roof there was a clear view of Hagia Sophia and further out on the point, the Topaki Palace. Istanbul claims to be one of the oldest cities in the world. While the museums in London and Paris are amazing for what theyve collected/pulled out of the ground, in Istanbul (and Rome too) thats where theyve pulled it from. We had dessert one night - the only customers there - and the owner told us a little of the history of the place. Theres gold everywhere in Istanbul apparently, whenever people excavate they find it. But theres a big treasure missing - apparently when Constantinople was conquered, the palaces were left deserted and empty and all the gold was gone. Its never been found. I like stories like that. This will be my last Roger Spoffin writing post outside of Australia. Day 1 at the Algonquin seems so long ago. Perhaps its apt that, as a ferment lover of history (which hopefully is evident in the novels), Ive stepped back further and further in time over the past month. From New York - about 400 years old; to Stockholm/London/Paris - a couple of thousand years old; to Rome - 2500? 3000? years old (Im in the airport sans wifi and cant check my facts); to Istanbul 3000 years old plus. I suppose its only to Jericho from here. Instead, were Sydney bound, a mere 200 years old. But the beaches are ancient and the land is ancient and Ive got a good imagination. That will be enough to continue Roger Spoffin. Todays word count: 1,471 Word count to date: 84,276 PS In case youre wondering, Im midway through Act 3. Acts 3 & 4 are the shortest in the book.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 22:34:03 +0000
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