Istanbul - a night in the harem

I still remember the day when we booked our trip to Turkey - my very first time abroad! My dad was at the travel agency and he called us to help him choose a trip. "So there's a trip to Vienna-Budapest-Prague, and then there's a trip to Istanbul," he told my mom. "I don't know, we've already done the Vienna-Budapest-Prague trip before we had the kids," my mom murmured. "Hey, Danae! What do you prefer? Vienna-Budapest-Prague or Istanbul?" Honestly, I had no preference. "Istanbul," I said without much thought. Little did I know that my choice would lead me to a life-changing experience. I loved Turkey so much that I even began to learn Turkish when I came home!

One of the highlights of the trip was definitely attending an oriental dancing show. We saw all sorts of things, from traditional group dancing to mesmerizing belly dancers, all while enjoying local treats and beverages. My favorite part, however, was the finale. They did a little comedic show; one of the performers played the Sultan’s mother, who was holding an “audition” for dancers to join the harem. And here’s the surprise; they actually took girls from the audience up to the stage (including me!), dressed us up and had us dance for the “Valide Sultan”! The atmosphere was very warm and friendly so I felt really comfortable and put up my best performance! After that, they invited everyone in the audience on stage and we all danced together until we basically dropped - I remember being so exhausted that I almost slept on a chair!

(photo from the Facebook page Sultana's Dinner and 1001 Nights Show)

Tags: #istanbul #turkey #bellydancing #show #oriental #dance