Day 37 – Noah’s Ark hotel
No. 23 Sultanahmet, Istanbul

Really there was nowhere else I could write. Noah’s Ark – Sinsamene’s 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 hotel’s 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 they’ve collected/pulled out of the ground, Istanbul (and Rome too) are where they’ve pulled the stuff from. We had dessert one night – the only customers there – and the owner told us a little of the history of the place. There’s gold everywhere in Istanbul apparently, whenever people excavate they find it. But there’s a big treasure missing. Apparently when Constantinople was conquered, the palaces were left deserted and empty and all the gold was gone. It’s 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 it’s apt that, as a fervent lover of history (which hopefully is evident in the novels), I’ve 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 (I’m in the airport sans wifi and can’t check my facts); to Istanbul 3000 years old plus. I suppose it’s only to Jericho from here.
Instead, we’re Sydney bound, a mere 200 years old. But the beaches are ancient and the land is ancient and I’ve got a good imagination. That will be enough to continue Roger Spoffin.

Today’s word count: 1,471
Word count to date: 84,276

PS In case you’re wondering, I’m midway through Act 3. Acts 3 & 4 are the shortest in the book.

  • The hotel – it’s actually not as crooked as it looks.

  • Noah’s Ark. (Not quite as evil as Sinsamene’s Ark.)

  • My desk in the lobby. (I pushed the guest computer aside and forgot to take a selfie).

  • The Author – marvelling at the wonders of the Orient.

  • Some of the beautiful Turkish sweets to be found everywhere.

  • The Blue Mosque (so named because of the tiles inside).

  • The view from the terrace of our hotel. Hagia Sophia in the middle.

  • Hagia Sophia – the world’s largest church for 1000 years. Now a museum.

  • On the Bosphorus looking back towards the old city.

  • Our hotel’s logo 🙂