Nancy Wakeman, San Francisco:
I first traveled to Istanbul in the mid 1960's. I've always wanted to return and see more of the country. The Tangents Music tour gave me an opportunity to do that. Dore and Clara are knowledgeable, compassionate, and friendly guides.
Several of my friends in San Francisco advised me to watch my purse and to take a money belt to protect my money and passport. I felt very safe the whole time and never used the money belt. When Clara and I went to the Roma (Gypsy) festival, we pushed through the crowd and were almost swept off our feet by the pressure of bodies pushing against us. Yet I felt safe. Everyone was joyful, enjoying the music -- some people even got up on stage with the different musical groups and danced.That was one of the highlights of the trip.
There were many others: experiencing many layers of culture and history; hearing the call to prayer; eating plum soup and those dark, soft, sweet apricots; discovering a wonderful musician at a small club in Istanbul; the cave concert, hot air balloon ride and buying carpets in Cappadocia; the delicious lamb stew with fresh vegetables prepared for us by the staff at the carpet shop; the ferry ride up the Bosphorus; walking through the ruins at Ephesus; hearing Sabahat Akkiraz in Istanbul and going to the Istanbul International Poetry festival.
There was time for shopping and exploring on our own. Our hotel was next door to the Blue Mosque, Aya Sofya, and many other cultural landmarks. Our group was interesting, companionable, friendly and sharing, and the Turkish people hospitable.