MUSIC, DANCE AND CULTURAL TOUR TO ISTANBUL, TURKEY April 30-May
Dear friends… if you have been hesitating to sign up for next
years’ fabulous tour to Turkey, it’s time to do it now.
This year we will be in Istanbul for the fabulous Roma
Celebration of Hirdellez.
Here is a link to a video about Hirdellez:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLNXb2FVs7E&feature=related
and here is a link to read up on what the festival is all about:
http://www.hidrellez.org/english.asp
Reserve your space now! If you would like to read descriptions
of the tour with PHOTOS then go to my web page
www.helene-eriksen.de and click on “Music and Dance Tours”…you
will also find a link to a tour to Armenia!
(Falls Sie diese Information auf DEUTSCH benötigen, sagen
Sie bitte Bescheid).
ITINERARY:
First of all, the hotel where we will be staying is worth the
trip all on it’s own. The Kybele is a little gem of a special
category hotel in the middle of the old Ottoman/Byzantine part
of town Sultanahmet. It is a 2-minute walk to the Aya Sofia and
4 minutes to the Topkapi palace.
The hotel is run by my Turkish friend “Mike” that I have known
for 15 years. He is a collector of Anatolian and Central Asian
textiles and the hotel is stuffed with antiques, textiles,
little lamps, etc. It’s even more special to me because 23 years
ago, before Mike’s family bought it, I worked and lived there.
We will be accompanied on many of our activities by my dear
friend and colleague Sinan Erdemsel, an outstanding musician and
our connection to many of the exciting events that are taking
place in the Istanbul music and dance scene.
Here’s the program I have set up for us and, Insallah, we will
be able to take advantage of all these wonderful opportunities.
However, please allow for some spontaneous changes especially in
the order of events.
We may also provide extra opportunities at an extra charge as
they come up or make substitutions in the program if a special
event is taking place. If you would like us to set up private
lessons for music just let me know.
Day 1
Arrival (preferably by the early afternoon).In the evening we
will walk down to the Train station Sirkiçi by the docks to
attend a Mevlevi concert (sufi music and whirling dervishes with
women) in the grand salon of the train station. This will be
followed by a welcoming dinner in our hotel.
Day 2
We will take a short introductory stroll around our
neighbourhood. Then we will have a folk dance workshop with a
folkdance teacher. In the afternoon Sinan and I will give us a
small talk introducing us to the various different styles of
Turkish music…particularly those that we will be encountering
on our adventure and some basic rhythm theory, which will
prepare us for our dance classes. The talk will take place in
Mikes “hangout”. It is so filled with interesting textiles,
carpets and jewelery that I hope you will be able to concentrate
on the lecture! In the evening we will stroll down Istiklal
Caddesi, the grand European center of 19th century Istanbul.
Today it houses fashionable clothing stores, exclusive
confectioners, nice restaurants and….lots of good music stores!
In the evening every one is out for a stroll and a good time.
We will have dinner in the çiçek Pasaji {Flower Passage},
famous for its strolling Roma musicians and wonderful meze
(Turkish appetizers). A great opportunity to get up and dance
or watch the locals show their stuff.
Day 3
This morning we will head up to the end of Istiklal Caddesi called
Tünel which is full of music stores…instruments and
recordings. Sinan will be glad to help people in buying
instruments. We will then go to the Galata Tekke (dervish
monastery) for a Mevlana Sema…this is sufi music in it’s
original setting. Tünel gets it’s name from a little tram
in a tunnel that goes steeply down the hill. Built in 1875 it is
one of the oldest metros in the world. We will take this little
tram down and hop on a ferry to take a stroll in Kaiköy on
the Asian side of town. Then if wemanage to time it right we
will do my favourite thing: come back on the ferry, drink tea
and watch the sun set over one of the most incredible skylines
in the world: the minarets of Aya Sofia and the Sultanahmet
mosque. In the evening we will go to a Gazino with a floor show
including Oryantal and Folk dancing…this is your chance to see
what kind of dancing tourists are usually presented.
Day 4
In the morning we will have another folk dance workshop. In the
afternoon we will have the special opportunity to accompany Mike
into the depths of the Kapali çarsi, Istanbul’s grand bazaar.
Mike will lead us away from the tourist traps to the special
places where he buys his treasures. If we have time we can
also visit the booksellers and miniature paintings. The main
drag of the bazaar is also mind boggling with its dazzling TONS
of gold jewelery on display. In the evening we will go to Kum
Kapi, a part of town full of special fish restaurants and
Roma musicians. Time to dance again!
Day 5
This morning we will visit the Byzantine Cisterns, which are
right next to our hotel and then visit the Aya Sophia, built
in 537 by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian, then converted to
a mosque in 1493 by the Ottomans and converted again in 1935
by Atatürk into a museum. Afterwards we will relax over
lunch in Caferaga Medresesi, a Quran school built in 1559 by
Sinan, theOttoman Empire’s most famous architect. Today it
houses a school for traditional arts. Following lunch we will
have a workshop in Roman dance with Reyhan Tuzsuz, a very,
very sweet woman and wonderful dancer and wife of a violinist.
She is the best of the real thing and has become a favorite
with visiting dancers from around the world…a kind of secret
celebrity!!! The evening will be free to explore our lovely
neighborhood on your own…perhaps döner kebap in a fast food
restaurant or a more elaborate meal in one of the open-air
restaurants lining the Hippodrome?
Day 6
In the morning we will visit the Topkapi Museum, Treasury and
Harem. Prepare to be overwhelmed by such treasures as a pair
of gold candle sticks as tall as me, set with 6,666 diamonds
each, or emeralds as big as your fist, or hairs from the beard
of the prophet Mohammed (PUH). Following lunch we will return
to the Caferaga Medresesi for a practical lesson in making Ebru,
the Ottoman art of paper marbling. Since we learned the basics
of Roman the day before we will spend the evening in at the
Hirdellez festival surrounded by music, dance and parites!
Be prepared to dance, make wishes and have lots of fun!
Day 7
We will spend today in Eyüp Sultan, at the upper end of the
Golden Horn. We will start by visiting Minia Türk, where we
can see all of Istanbul in miniature. We will visit the holy
mosque of Eyüp Sultan. Eyüp was the banner carrier of
the prophet Mohammed (PUH) and is said to be buried here. It is
the most holy place in Istanbul and many important personalities
of the Ottoman Empire have been buried here. Turks make
pilgrimages to the mosque to ask the saint for special blessings.
Then we will visit the cafe that the French writer Pierre Loti
(1850-1923) used to frequent on the hill overlooking the Golden
Horn. In the afternoon we will go to Sinan’s family’s house…
a very special place. It is a Türbe (mausoleum) and Tekke
(Sufi monastery) of the Sinani order. Sinan’s family has lived
in this spot for 450 years. The house is full of paintings by
his grandmother, the wife of the last great sheihk of the
order…a sweet lady who we will meet. In the house
we
will have a singing workshop with Sinan’s brother Faruk, also a
professional musician with a golden voice. Following a dinner
cooked by Sinan’s mother we will have a house concert of Ilahi
(devotional songs).
Day 8
Finally a free day! You could sleep…but there are more corners
of the bazaar to explore, palaces to visit, delicacies to taste!
In the evening we will convene for a dinner in an elegant
restaurant on the Istiklal Caddesi with Fasil music.
Day 9
On our last day we will have an excursion sailing along the
Bosporus and munching on snacks baked by Sinan’s mother. In May
this should be spectacular! Then it’s on to an evening of great
food in the caverns of the Victoria restaurant…with very
special house musicians…including our very own Sinan!
Day 10
Even though we now realize there are still a million things to
see it’s time to leave…
Conditions
The tour to Istanbul costs 1,350 Euros.
(It’s easy to convert this into your currency at: www.xe.com)
Included are: Airport transfers, Hotel with breakfast and
refreshments all day, one main meal per day, all activities
mentioned above.
Not included are:
airfare, airport taxes, travel insurance, visas (20$ for US
citizens,
available at the airport, free for EU citizens), extra
activities, private music lessons, extra taxi, ferry or metro
rides (very inexpensive), extra meals, tips for musicians at
your discretion. And don’t forget the mind boggling shopping!
The trip is limited to maximum 15 participants (to keep it cozy)
An immediate deposit of 500 Euros is due upon registration.
The full sum is due by Feb. 15st. In the US you can send me a
personal check in dollars. If you live elsewhere you can make
a bank transfer to my German account. Pay Pal is also a
possibility. Contact me for details. If you don’t pay in Euros
we will calculate the exchange rate at the time of the trip…
so be prepared to adjust for any fluctuation in the exchange
rate. I will send payment information with the registration
forms as an email attachment at your request.
If you would like to arrive early or depart later and would like
some help with booking accommodations or other travel, don’t
hesitate to ask me for assistance!
Looking forward to seeing you in Turkey!
Helene