Enroute to Athens then Rome

After lunch yesterday I visited the Archaeological Museum in the old town which turned out to contain a very comprehensive collection from prehistoric times right through to the Ottoman era. The exhibit on the development of the alphabet was particularly interesting. By the end, I was pretty much finished with traipsing around and on the way back to the hotel decided to take a mini-train tour of Rhodes town. It turned out to be a bit of a dud but at least I  got to see the acropolis and 2500 year old stadium. Had a bit of a siesta back at my room then headed out for a swim at the nearby beach - very nice, clear water, not many people around by 5:30pm. I sat on the beach for a while writing down Italian phrases I might like to say once in Rome. Dinner was at Tamam, recommended by George, and it was a huge improvement on the night before - excellent bourec followed by the best mousaka I've had (next time I get rubbish in Melbourne, I'll complain). Complimentary Grand Marnier drink from owner. An early start this morning (up at 4am), bus to airport and now descending into Athens.

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.