Rooftop terrace, Istanbul

The sun is falling behind the houses in the west of the city, I'm sitting here at the top of the Deniz Konak hotel, all alone on this roof terrace except for the noise of traffic and the cawing of gulls. The Sea of Marmara stretches before me, minarets puncture the glowing sky, a fresh wind blows cool from the north. What a place. And what a perfect time to come here, when it seems there are so few other tourists around.

There is an edge of sadness to this, though...

On the plane over Greece, I  looked out the window at the mountainous peninsula stretching into the sea near Thessoloniki and thought, my God, this is Greece for f***s sake! Not just someone's tinpot backyard, but the home, the cradle of so much that our culture and all that goes with it was born from.

On the way from Rome to Istanbul

Photos here

It's taken me a little while to reconnect with that dormant, nearly-deceased part of me but it's coming back lentamente, slowly - just like the way you should heat the water when making a proper Roman coffee. I've recovered quickly from the jetlag, in fact I'm feeling completely normal after an excellent night's sleep. Not sure when it'll hit me again.

Had a nice time with Ennio - he is a gentle, quiet man and I like him a lot. We spoke a lot of Italian this morning, or better said: he spoke a lot and I fumbled with the odd sentence.

I'm still coughing and I'm thoroughly sick of it. Otherwise I'm feeling fine. Listening to music on the plane is what finally broke through the wall yesterday. Living in the suburbs in Melbourne, working 40+ hours a week, commuting, thinking about Mum's welfare, chasing things for the building project, doing all we can in our other endeavours:  all in all, this adds up to too much for me to juggle successfully. It overwhelms any parts of me that aren't integral bits of the immediate to-do list. So, my European side, my soul, my connection with nature, my love of the outdoors, my relationships with family and important friends - all these things start to slip away. And after a long, sustained period, all these things suffer greatly.

Listening to Almeno sta volta, tears welled in my eyes as I felt just how alientated I'd become from all these important things. It was somehow carthartic, because now I'm feeling much better. During my travels, I'll do my best to nuture all these parts of me, to slow down, to resist distractions, to remain in each moment with all my being.

In an hour I'll land for the first time in Byzantium, Constantinopole, Istanbul. Probably the only city on Earth that could possibly rival the city I  just left, Caput Mundi herself. What an embarrassment of riches, how overwhelming, how very much that which I lack and long for in that sunburnt, prisoners' island at the bottom of the world, that place I very gratefully call home. Caput Mundi, il centro del mondo, il cuore della cultura e della civilisazione.

Photo Album

 Photos here