MUSIC, DANCE AND CULTURAL TOUR TO ISTANBUL, TURKEY March 26-April  4, 2007

Dear friends... if you have been hesitating to sign up for this years' fabulous
tour to Turkey, it's time to do it now.
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 "Turkey Tour."

(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 specıal 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 Topkapı 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, İnşallah, 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 İstiklal 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 Pasajı {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 İstiklal 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 Kaıköy 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 Kapalı Çarşı, 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 Kapı, 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 Caferağa 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 stay in the medrese to 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 Topkapı 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 Caferağa 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
Badehane, a little hole-in-the-wall bar/restaurant with good home style
cooking and one of Turkey's most famous Roma clarinettists -- Selim
Sesler.  Be prepared to dance!


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 İlahi (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 Fasıl music.

Day 9
On our last day we will hire our own boat and have a party with all our
friends and Roma musicians, while sailing along the Bosporus and
munching on snacks baked by Sinan's mother.  In April 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 1,300 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. 1st.  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

www.helene-eriksen.de