Istanbul*****
Hey Mounties,
Still in Istanbul.
Lovely, yes, one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever visited (though I haven’t visited lots) but I am tired, in the throes of perpetual jetlag, and it turns out the Alhambra clue I thought I knew the answer to hasn’t led me anywhere. So I was wrong. And no new clues, no new passages. Just stuck. And even if I wanted to leave (I don’t, and won’t) the idea of getting on another plane right this very moment makes my stomach turn.
Feeling :emoji for frustrated and jetlagged girl who is stymied by the magical journal her dead father left her:
I went back and read the story I wrote to break the spell on me. The one where I said I was done with my father and was never looking back, blah, blah, blah…
Here I am, still chasing him. Still stuck, lonely, frustrated.
Am I ever going to be out of his shadow?
Am desperately trying to get used to the idea that you’ve all been here the entire time and I need to just go with it.
I need a nap.
7 thoughts on “Istanbul*****”
Please get some rest and take care of yourself. And if there’s anything we can do to help, we’re here.
Very much appreciated. Still at a loss. Still in Instanbul. Does Topkapi mean anything to you, besides the actual palace? I’ve scoured the place and haven’t found anything, with the not-changing journal reinforcing the fact. I’m working on a bigger post (with all my free time) but the last clue in Alhambra led me to a pillar added in the 16th century, but no luck with the palace here. The clue that led me here reads “A line of lovers offer a sorrowful rest in Topkapi.”
So I started looking into your clue, so far I can’t offer much. The song Long Line Of Lovers by Paul Overstreet comes up if you google the verse, but I’m guessing you already tried that… The harem seems like a very promising answer,
I wish I could be more help, sorry.
There is a movie Topkapi based off a book called The Light of Day by Eric Ambler. Basically this con man, Simpson, gets wrapped in a scheme led by a woman named Elizabeth Lipp and her male partner Harper. Simpson gets caught by the Turkish police and then has to spy on Lipp and Harper.
The movie is different in some ways, but the basic plot is still the same.
Hey Deirdre! We Mounties are looking into your clue. There’s a location in/near Topkapi called the Palace of Tears – a place where a Padishah’s harem would be exiled to when the Padishah passed away. It was said to be a sad and lonesome place, and the women were forbidden to leave it. Maybe you could look there?
While trying to help you, we have discovered that maybe that clue relates to the Istanbul University. The place where it is located today used to be where the Old Palace (Eski Saray) was located before it was taken down. That palace was nicknamed the Palace of Tears, because the Harem of a Sultan was moved there when he died and a new one took his place.
Hope you start feeling better soon! I grew up traveling and I know the toll it can take on body and soul.
You aren’t in his shadow because you are too bright to hide in the shade.
Love and Luck!