Hidden Valley Cave and Şirince

Sakli Vadi in Turkish means “Hidden Valley” in English.

On Saturday, we were concerned about the weather, because the forecast called for a 80% chance of rain. Rain would normally be a blessing for local farmers, but for our purpose, it might mean that the concert would have to be canceled. We kept our fingers crossed as our van headed toward Sinasos (Mustafapaşa), a small town of approximately 2500 inhabitants in central Turkey, where Turks and Greeks historically lived side by side. We were scheduled to play that evening in a cave, which is located in a hidden valley. Is has been a popular tourist attraction for in the region for years – maybe it’s not so hidden!


As we entered the area directly below the “cave stage ”, we could feel the unusual energy of this breathtaking natural geological formation, which was to be the frame for our musical picture.

With little more than an hour before concert time, we moved our instruments up the steps into the cave and arranged our chairs and stands, so we could play a few notes to observe the acoustic of the cave.

Before had finished our warm-up, we saw that people were already coming into the area to claim their seats, and some joined us inside the cave, where several seats had been placed around us.


About 45-minutes into the concert, the wind picked up and we were struggling to keep the music on our stands. This was Mother Nature’s way of telling us that we had tempted fate by taking a chance on the 20% possibility that it would not rain.

The cave was actually large enough to hold most of the audience that had not found shelter under their umbrellas and/or under the overhanging rocky ledge below the stage. Magically, the uninvited rain played an integral role in making the evening memorable. It had cleared the air and seemed to have the effect of amplifying our sound, as it radiated from the cave.

After the concert we went back to Ziggy’s Café for a meal of mezzes and raki with friends. Tomorrow would come all too soon and we would have to drive back to Ankara and fly to Izmir. Şirince would be the next stop on our concert tour.

Şirince is a quaint, scenic and quite old mountaintop Greek Orthodox village, 12 km away from Ephesus. The winding roads take the visitor through lovely peach orchards and mountainside olive groves. The olives trees are so numerous, that they appear to be growing wild everywhere, and yet, we were assured that they were well tended. Olive oil is has great commercial value in the region, and rightly so – it is very delicious!

Our Sunday arrival and consequent performance was timed to coincide with the busy weekend tourist activity in the area. When we arrived, the cobblestone streets were shops packed with visitors. We passed an array of shops and stalls, which offered passersby everything from almonds to olive oil and local wine. There were so many racks and shelves of wine bottles on display in the full sun, that we were surprised that the merchants had anything other than vinegar to sell, and yet is was very colorful.

Driving along cobblestone streets, we passed an open-air bazaar and by the Artemis Restaurant, the best in town and where we looked forward to eating after the concert.


After a few twists and turns down the narrow streets, we arrived at the Güllü Konak Hotel, a beautiful small and very elegant boutique hotel, which had opened only a year earlier.
http://www.gullukonak.com/gk/en/

This is where Doris and were given a room for the night. Ellen, Husam and Akemi would be lodged at a local family residence in the heart of the village.


We had only a short time to settle in and change before the concert. Husam would return soon to lead us up the hill on foot, to the old Greek Church (built around 1832) where we would be performing that evening.






The concert audience was near capacity. In fact, there were not enough seats accommodate the enthusiastic people who wanted to attend, and looking out into the sanctuary, as the concert progressed, we could see a crowd that had assembled in the back of the church and up in the balcony area.

The only complaints (or maybe they were compliments) were from the swallows diving down from their nest in the church ceiling. Perhaps they were happy to welcome the Audubon Quartet!

Ankara and beyond

Everything in life doesn't always go as planned.

In our case, we had expected Akemi’s arrival Wednesday morning, but due to a last minute flight cancellation at Dulles on Tuesday, her travel plans were unavoidably altered. Even with the changes and delays she encountered during her journey, she managed to arrive Istanbul early Wednesday afternoon, but this meant we had to delay our departure to Ankara, a four-hour drive. We had originally intended to visit and meet with faculty and students of two of the conservatories in Ankara, but because it is exam time at the universities, our visit at Bilkent University could not be rearranged.




However, we were able to meet with colleagues at Ankara’s
Devlet Konservatuvari (Hacettepe Üniversitesi)
http://www.konser.hacettepe.edu.tr/



Doris and Ankara conservatory viola professor Bediz Koçak, share a passion for the music of Paul Hindemith, who was himself a violist.
As seen here, they pose in front of his statue located in front of Ankara’s Devlet Konservatuvari . In 1935, Hindemith was commissioned by the Turkish government to reorganize that country's musical education and this was one of the schools he founded.

After our conservatory visit in Ankara, we departed for Cappadocia, an ancient and historic region of Anatolia, where Husam and Ellen had prearranged a rooftop dinner at Ziggy’s Café, located in Urgup’s Esbelli Mahalle and owned by their close friends Nuray and Selim Yüksel.

Upon our arrival, we surveyed the surrounding hills from the top floor of Ziggy’s Cafe, where caves and more caves came into view. This region in central Turkey is a fantastic, almost whimsical place, where people have been cave dwellers for thousands of years, at least until the Turkish government banned cave dwelling in the 1950s and relocated those who had made these caves their homes. The caves are much more beautiful than the government development projects, but the caves provide a source of tourism revenue in modern Turkey!



Today, the Turkish govenment allows entrepreneurs, such as artisans and hoteliers, access to the caves for business. Ziggy’s Café has become quite well-known to the world-travelers visiting Turkey and his been included as a place to visit by the New Yorks Times.





Ziggy's Café http://www.ziggycafe.com/Site/Welcome.html was named for a beloved Airedale Terrier. Ziggy the Terrier was named after the David Bowie album (The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars), one of Selim’s favorites.

Ziggy’s Café owners Nuray and Selim Yüksel are originally from Istanbul. Two decades earlier, they made the move from the big city to central Anatolia, where they settled in Urgup’s Esbelli Mahalle. At that time, there was just one cave hotel and Nuray was one of the few women who drove a car in this region. Nuray, a former economist, found the region ideal for her work – she is a jewelry and clothing designer who also creates original Turkish handicrafts.





The Quartet supped on a splendid rooftop meal of mezzes and pasta, prepared master chef Ali Ozkan.











Afterwards, Doris and I were escourted to another cave establishment, the Esbelli Evi Hotel, where we were provided superb accommodations at, as touted in the ad, “a cozy cave inn”.
http://www.esbelli.com.tr/ Hotel owner, Suha Ersoz is a music-lover and was an extraordinary host during our stay at Esbelli Evi.


The "cave rooms" at Esbelli Evi Hotel were quite luxious, as is the entrance to some of the rooms, seen in the photo.










Since our Cappadocia concert is on Saturday, there would be time to explore this almost, but not-quite imaginary region of Cappadocia and Husam was a willing and
enthusiastic tour guide.





On Friday, we drove a scenic route, past formations of “fairy-towers”, toward our first destinations one of Cappadocia's most famous attractions, the Göreme Open Air Museum, a complex of medieval painted cave churches carved out by Orthodox monks.





Göreme Open Air Museum
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/turkey/cappadocia-goreme-open-air-museum.htm






The 12,848 ft high Mount Erciyes, is thought to have erupted as recently as 253 B.C.
The high-rise spires and the caves were carved out of rock called “tufa”, which was was created from the ash of massive volcanic eruptions in Turkey thousands
of years ago.




For thousands of years, people visited and settled in the region. They must have revered these natural wonders through awestruck eyes, before finding refuge within their excavations. Other ancient visitors known to visit these lands were the merchants traveling the Silk Road.

Trade across Turkey in medieval Seljuk times was dependent on camel trains (kervan, anglicized as caravan), which stopped by night in inns known as kervansaray (caravanserai), literally 'caravan palaces'. These buildings, built during the reign of the Anatolian Seljuk sultans Kilicarslan II (1155-1192) and Alaaddin Keykubat I (1220-1237), provided accommodation and other amenities for the merchants and stabling for their animals.


Our next destination was the Sarihan Caravanserai, built in 1249 and is the location of Sufi mystical ceremonies, the "Sema", featuring the music and dance of the whirling dervishes. http://www.goreme.com/whirling-dervishes-ceremony.php

When one thinks of Sufism mysticism and whirling dervishes the name of the currently popular Persian poet Rumi (Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī) comes to mind. He was a 13th century Persian poet, theologian, and mystic, whom I am excited to say shares the same date of my birth (only 675 years earlier!)

This deeply ineffable experience of chant, dancing and music will remain in my heart until the end of my days.

“Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.” ~ Rumi
Thank you music, thank you Rumi and thank you Turkey!

Day 8 Şişli (finding Doris' birth place)

Days 6 and 7, were devoted to relaxing by the pool, some practicing and publicity work for the Turkey project.
On Tuesday, day 8, Ellen and Husam took a break from last minute preparations for the festival concerts, to take Doris (and me) to Şişli to find the small birthing hospital where Doris and Husam were both born. Husam easily located the old hospital, which is actually more of a house (a business site)and no longer operated as a medical facility. Doris and Husam pose here on the steps of the hospital where their mothers probably entered and departed. The modern high high-rise building (see link), which towers in the hospital background, certainly did not exist in he 1950s, nor did the knowledge that two children born here would meet one day and become good friends years later. Follow the link for more photos of Şişli.
http://gallery.me.com/clydeshaw#100050




After our visit to the hospital, Husam took us a bustling neighborhood, where Doris lived with her parents until they moved to Seattle in 1959. We don’t know the exact location of their apartment today, but Doris believes she could recognize it from old family photos. Their apartment is pretty close to the location seen in the photo, because of the proximity of the mosque close to the row of apartment and office buildings. Doris's mother remembers the Şişli mosque being very near by.

Husam left our company, to run other errands, while Ellen guided us to the Istanbul Grand Bazaar (Kapalıçarşı ("Covered Bazaar")).
With more than 58 streets, over 1,200 shops, it has between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily. This is one of the largest and possibly the oldest “shopping mall” in the world (constructed between 1455 and 1461) and we knew that we could not miss this golden opportunity to explore some more. Navigating the crowded isles along the many corridors of the Bazaar proved to be a very athletic experience – not the kind of experience gained by modern-day “mall-walkers”!

There were no many temptations, from stall to stall, each more exciting than the next, but I was on a mission to find a Turkish coffee pot for Tony Miller. Before leaving Winchester, he (Ting-Yu was on a recruiting trip to Taiwan) joined Doris and me for dinner and we chatted about possible experiences in Turkey. As we finished our coffees, it suddenly occurred to us that Turkish coffee would have been served, if we were sharing this moment in Turkey. So, Tony, with a wide grin, said, “bring me a coffee pot”.


If Tony sees this photo, he will see the place where we found his pot and the coffee vender across the way – the oldest in the Bazaar and possibly the oldest in Istanbul. Yo, Tony!,we are looking forward to you serving Turkish coffee in your home, and of course, your grin!!!







Missions accomplished, we boarded a ferry and headed to Çengelköy, where we would begin the long packing process before leaving for Ankara on Wednesday, after Akemi’s arrival.





However, the packing would have to wait for us to share a final meal of grilled seabass, sitting on the Bosporus, with our hosts Ellen and Husam.





...Husam, please pass the salt!

Day 5 Istanbul (the work and fun unite)

The day got off to an early start! Husam invited Doris and me to join one of his tours in Istanbul. Because Ellen, Doris and I were scheduled to give master classes at 2:00 at Mimar Sinan Güzel Sanatlar Üniversitesi (in Istanbul) and there would not be time for a full tour, Doris opted to sleep in, since Husam had to leave early to catch the ferry and meet his group in the old city.


Wow, was I happy that I experienced Husam in all his glory! He is one of Istanbul’s most sought after tour guides and anyone wanting to experience a firsthand and personal look at this great city, should make arrangements to retain his service. He had led tours for large and small groups, scholarly expeditions, tours to the sea, the mountains and around the famous historical sites of Turkey.

Husam's biographical sketch can be found on his Website: http://www.suleymangil.com and he may also be contacted by email: husam@suleymangil.com
I knew I would have to leave Husam’s tour, but I spent almost four hours in the old city, being directed to some of the most important architectural wonders of the ancient world. Husam does not only guide you to these sites, but he is a walking encyclopedia of knowledge.


As was expected, the first stop was the magnificent Hagia Sophia (Aya Sophia), which was completed in 537 A.D., on the orders of Byzantine Emperor Justinian.


The next stop on the list was the Basilica Cistern, located to the west of the Hagia Sophia. This is a large subterranean water storage facility, created by Justinian in the 6th century as a water source for the city, especially in the event of sieges on the city. This insured the continued supply of water.


No tour of Istanbul would be complete without visiting the Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Mosque), constructed between 1609 and 1616. The Blue Mosque is impressive even if you do nothing other than walk around the large courtyard, but the grandeur of this holy place is best experienced, when you enter and stand beneath the sanctuary of cascading domes. It I well worth the inconvenience of long lines and the removal of shoes!

Tempus fugit, especially when your mind crosses the imagination barrier of what is and what was. I was continually obsessed and distracted with the idea of millions of people taking so much history for granted, as they hurry along busy modern streets, jump into taxis, and board ferries. How much has really changed over the last 2000 years in Istanbul?


Fortunately the basic urge to eat has not changed much during the last two millennia - it was time for lunch! Husam led the tour group to lunch at the beautiful Garden House garden restaurant, where we were happy to rest our feet and sip cooling beverages. Husam is seen helping his tour order lunch. I was lucky to be seated with the tour guide.

After a quick lunch, reflecting the many awesome things I had seen during the morning, I departed Husam’s company, grabbed a taxi and made my way to the Mimar Sinan Conservatory http://www.msgsu.edu.tr/msu/pages/devlet_konservatuvari.aspx several miles away, where I was scheduled to meet Ellen and Doris for afternoon master classes, which we were offering to some very talented Turkish string students.

We were greeted by Professor Çiğdem İyicil, head of the conservatory string faculty and introduced to a group of energetic, very talented and very polite young string players. They were assembled to perform Felix Mendelssohn’s octet for strings. Following this large ensemble’s performance, the students split into smaller groups for individual lessons. We were very honored that they gave us time out of their busy pre-examination schedule to play for us and receive comments.

During the class, we had a special surprise visit form a Turkish violin student, Zeynep Karacal, who studies with David Salness at the University of Maryland. She met Doris last year, while Doris was serving as visiting professor at the University of Maryland.


After the class, Zeynep joined us for the ferry ride back to the villa, where Husam had already begun preparations for a Saturday party, hosted by Ellen and him for close friends, local professional musicians and other members the Istanbul’s artistic community.




Including Doris, there were three violists at this party. However, I was very honored to be part of this celebration, regardless the number alto-clef dwellers! In this picture, the three violists are obviously sharing viola jokes!






I leave the highlights of this vivacious gathering to your imagine! Turning in early was not the foremost thought on people’s minds and the night ended with several partygoers taking a very cooling swim in the Bosporus. Where there are Turks, there is fun and there is Raki!

Day 4 Taksim

This was a busy day of preparations for the Klasik Keyifler Chamber Music Concerts Project http://www.klasikkeyifler.org, begins this Saturday. Husam took an early morning flight down to Cappadocia to get permissions to perform in Turkish historical sites. This turned out to be a very long day for him, traveling back and forth between local and state government offices. Later in the day, we learned his efforts paid off.

The opening event for the 2009 summer project takes place this Saturday at Mimar Sinan Güzel Sanatlar Üniversitesi) in Istanbul. Ellen, Doris and I will hold master classes for string students of university of fine in arts (in Istanbul). Akemi will join us later, due to a previous engagement back in the United States and after she joins the Audubon Quartet, we will give concerts in Cappadocia, Sirinçe and Bodrum.

A few hours after Husam's morning departure, Ellen, Doris and I hurried to catch a Bosporus ferry from Çengelköy to Kabatas. Taking every opportunity to make errand-running a sightseeing event, Ellen took us to Taksim Square, a busy intersection of modern-day Istanbul life, with all the hustle and bustle one would expect from a large city of more than 12 million people. When Doris left with her parents in 1959, the population of Istanbul was a modest 1.5 million habitants.

Speaking of Doris’ parents, we were excited to visit Taksim, because this is the location of the Mamara Hotel and Casino, one of the places Doris’ father played piano during the family’s 11–years tenure in Turkey. None of the current hotel staff had recollections of the casino from those bygone days, probably because a new hotel was family in the 70s. Failing to make any substantial discovery, by retracing Doris’ roots in Istanbul, we decided to have lunch at a bistro on the street outside the Marmara Hotal. Ellen excused herself, leaving Doris and me to eat alone, while she ran to a nearby photocopy place, to print posters for the Klasik Keyifler Chamber Music Concerts Project, which begins on Saturday.

After Ellen returned to join us, we took a nice long walk through the crowded streets of the Taksim shopping district, veering down cobblestone streets, lured by the sights and smells of connecting open-air markets and street cafes. Later that same afternoon, we took an elevator-ride to a breathtaking panorama view of Istanbul from the top floor of the 360 Restaurant, post-modern, degenerate, trendy bar/club, catering to a newly rich, upwardly mobile, jet-setting clientele, and tourists who simply want to “check out” the view.



From our eagle's perch, we could see the Galata Tower, built by the Genoese (Italians) in 1348, the entrance to the Bosporus from the Sea of Marmara and the old city of Istanbul, with the Aya Sophia and the Blue Mosque clearly visible.





We really wanted to visit the Galata Tower, but by the time we left the 360 and made our way on foot, the museum had closed for the day. Down the street was another hotel where we thought Doris’ father might have worked, while in Turkey. It was an older establishment and we were happy that the stairs took up to a restaurant at the top floor. Even though it did not offer the same spectacular view we had just experienced, we were treated to stunning sunset in the western sky over Istanbul.

Not daring waste this special moment, we decided to have a pastry and tea before starting our trek to the ferry, but before we could order, the muzak from the restaurant loudspeakers stopped and we were "treated" to the sunset installment (Maghrib) of the call to prayer. Minarets are everywhere! There are around 3000 mosques in Istanbul, of which 600 of them belong to the Ottoman period. Of these 600, most were built between the years 1850-1900.

Exhausted from a busy day and wanted to time our return back to the villa, to meet Husam, we opted to take a taxi over the bridge back to Çengelköy, about a 20-minute ride at that time of night.

We arrived before Husam, so we had time to set out a light dinner of salad, bread, cheese and wine, and naturally, we planned to sooth our aching muscles with a wee bit of Raki…



…Sweet dreams!

Day 3 Çengelköy (Village on Asian side of Istanbul)

…well, the pre-dawn call to prayer rang out loud and clear on day three, but I managed to return to the sleeping world of the "un-faithful" on this early morning. I suspect that I will grow increasingly desensitized as my stay lengthens.

When Doris and I awoke, it was quite late and we made our way downstairs to see what Ellen was doing. She had been active for several hours already and was concerned that we had not shown up at the breakfast table.

After a light meal of bread, cheese abd coffee, we made plans to explore the village of Çengelköy. This is the village (on the Asian side of Istanbul) where Husam’s family villa is located and also the location of Ellen’s winter apartment. Ellen wanted to take us there to gather some dishes for use during the summer at the villa and she also needed to collect some music needed for the Audubon Quartet concerts next week.

While we were there, Ellen thought it would be fun us to explore the village, do a little food shopping and grab some lunch, which we happily agreed to. The village down below her apartment was only 50 yards away or so, walking down the narrow cobble stone streets. Passing by a very old Greek Orthodox church and former church school, we emerged onto a busy and crowded street, filled with people darting in and out of shops and generally appearing to go “somewhere” at an up-scaled tempo.

Our pre-lunch errand was to buy eggs, bread, cheeses, olives, and naturally, some yummy Turkish pastries. The fruit and vegetable bins of the neighborhood markets were overflowing with an assortment of vegetables and fresh fruits, including piles of both red and white mulberries. I mused over many happy boyhood fights with over-ripe juicy mulberries with my buddies, in my childhood years growing up in Florida.


Probably the most interesting vegetables on sale were the famous specialty of Çengelköy, the gherkins, very small and very delicious cucumbers. We were allowed to sample them right out the bins and did not hesitate to buy a bag of them on the spot! Amazing food, these small cukes!

After a brief shopping spree and bags in hand, we blended back into the stream of people and navigated our way to the Erbap Café, a popular local eatery overlooking a stunning view of the Bosporus.

After a meal of kabobs and salad, we return to the street and headed to the tea garden, located next to the café, where planned to have coffee before returning to the villa.



In the courtyard between the café, I saw the next most amazing sight, after the view of the Bosporus from the deck of the Erbap Café and the stalls of cucumbers on the street, an 800-year old sycamore tree, with limbs so large, they needed to be held up by iron support bars.

This magnificent tree would have been more than 200-years old during the siege of the Constantinople in 1453, which led to the fall of the Byzantine Empire. I can’t wait to share this story and images of this magnificent tree with my music literature classes, when I talk to the class about the “Fall of Constantinople” and the Greek scholars who fled the city and found refuge in the Latin west, bringing with them knowledge and documents from the Greco-Roman tradition that further propelled the Renaissance.

Not only did the size and beauty of this tree take the breath away, it was an historical wonder. Its history earned the nickname of “murderer plain tree” (sycamores are referred to as plane trees in Europe), because a man drinking tea under its shade was struck and killed by one of its falling branches.

Safe from falling branches and full shopping bags in hand, we headed back to the villa for a cooling afternoon swim.

Istanbul Day 2

One might think that drinking enough raki (Turkish alcoholic drink) would ease jet lag and be conducive to a good sleep after a long trip. Sometime before pre-dawn, during our first night in Istanbul, I was awakened by the first call to prayer from the nearby mosque. The muezzin, a man appointed to make the call to prayer, climbs the minaret of the mosque, and loudly cries out in all directions to, "Hasten to prayer." Be sure his call is not ignored by the unfaithful, a loudspeaker magnifies his message, as his “call” wafts over the village streets and onto the waters of the Bosporus, directly into our villa windows.

Unable to continue my sleep, I hastened to the window to take in this virtuoso performance. Much to my amusement, choruses of dogs on (probably) on both sides of the Bosporus were completely enchanted by this pre-dawn melody, which rose and fell with a greater and greater sense of devotion.

At the conclusion of the first “call to prayer” session, which awaited my promised stay in Paradise, quiet had returned as suddenly as it had begun, but was replaced by new sounds outside my window – the putt-putt of small fishing boats, trawling for an early morning catch, in the waters closest to the villa and the churning sounds of propellers of sea-going freighters, as their bows plowed through the waves, out in the deeper channels of the Bosporus. These giant vessels formed an endless line, traveling to and from Istanbul from the Black Sea.

Watching the freighters pass barely less than a half mile from the villa had the same affect on me as counting sheep might have on others, and I found my way back to bed in a semi-conscious, and completely jetlagged state and slept until late the following morning, with no further disruptions.

Despite the extraordinarily fine meal we ate the night before, Doris, who woke before me, convinced me that we should go downstairs to Ellen’s and Husam’s apartment to make tea and forage for breakfast. Husam had left early in the morning to guide a tour in the heart of Istanbul’s history-rich ancient city and Ellen had left the villa for a mid-day luncheon.

After breakfast we were own until the afternoon, but was clear to me that the first order of business was for me was to figure out the passwords for the household Internet network, so we could reestablish our communication with the outside world. Old habits die hard, even in paradise!

Determined to discover the secret password, I worked myself in to a frenzy of typing and resetting passwords I imagined were the key to Internet heaven.

OK, I admit it! I gave up and went outside for air. I found myself underneath a cloudless sky, with lapping waves on the edge of the edge of the swimming beckoning with their own call – a call to swim.

This saltwater pool is fed by water pumped in from the Bosporus, less than 50-yards away. I will never understand why people living near the ocean have fresh-water pool at their homes. Saltwater feels so great on the skin!

Sometime in the afternoon, Ellen way her way back home and we were eventually joined by Husam, who was ready to show his hospitality by making refreshing glasses of cooled “lion’s milk” (raki and iced).

While we sipped our drinks, Husam slipped into the village to purchase some fresh fish for grilling and Ellen made a beautiful arugula salad and potatoes coated with pesto.

Again, another beautiful magical evening drew to a close and off to bed we headed.

I wondered if the next morning’s call to prayer would awaken me from my dreams.

We’ll see…