Imagine these tango memories on your walls!

Its been a week…

It’s been a week since we arrived in Turkey.

10 hours from Buenos Aires to Miami and then 10 more hours to Istanbul, and then on to Antalya in 1.5 hours.

So glad we flew over a few days, as sitting on a plane makes my body crazy. Plus no matter how many homeopathic sleeping pills I take, cannot sleep more than an hour or two. My neck hurts from the angle of the seat, and my bottom complains about not enough padding on the seats. Even though my companion gave me his blanket to sit on. Not complaining, just saying.

Still the thrill of going somewhere new is awesome

Along the road from Antalya to Kemer

Why Antalya you ask ?
The city is located on the Mediterran Sea with lots of history embedded into its soul. But it is also the home of a sweet tango festival called Cozy Tango Festival, held 2 times a year in May and in October.

Seven Seas Hotel

The location is at the Seven Seas Hotel in Kemer, Antalya.  This all inclusive hotel knows the meaning of word service, and has amazing tasty Turkish foods.

Another view of Seven Seas Hotel

There are many pools, the sea to swim in many restaurants and bars. The ground are beautifully landscaped and very clean.

Antalya at night

We arrived at the hotel exhausted from travel, so sleeping a few hours was the answer. Though that night we attended the Milonga  with only 4 hours sleep, danced for many hours to send great tango music just felt so good.

We arrived at the hotel exhausted from travel, so sleeping a few hours was the answer. Though that night we attended the Milonga  with only 4 hours sleep, danced for many hours to send great tango music just felt so good.

Dancing at Cozy Tango Festival

With this in mind, we attended a couple of workshops taught by good instructors. One was the basic about how to walk in tango and the other musicality in milongas.

Class at Cozy Tango Festival

That evening was an outdoor Milonga, lovely but a bit cold except when dancing.

Dancing in Antalya

There were afternoon practikas and a few evening Milongas. One night, we went into Antalya to dance at 2 local Milongas, thanks to the folks with cars.

Dancing in Antalya

With not speaking Turkish, there was somewhat of a challenge to communicate but tango is language. So the abrazo works in all locations around the world.

There were a few English speakers, and no Spanish speakers. Turkish and German were the predominant languages.

There were a few English speakers, and no Spanish speakers. Turkish and German were the predominant languages.

We spoke in many languages about each other’s stories of how we came to Tango and about our lives.

Máximo and me dancing the night away

The festival ended earlier than scheduled because the few folks who attended left to return to their lives, but we decided to stay longer because a beach  chair called our names, and besides this resort is great location to recover from traveling and build up the strength for the next travel adventure. A blue cruise on the Mediterraneo Sea for a week in a traditional Turkish boat called a gulet, a two masted wooden sailboat.
Until later, disfrutas tu vida.
Abrazo

Some of the wonderful teachers, DJs and dancers we met

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Published by Ruth Offen

I chose tango as my dance because I love the lifestyle, embrace, and, yes, dressing up. In my tango series, I share images shot worldwide, in the places where I have danced: Spain, France, Germany Turkey,Canada,Italy Greece, and the USA, but mostly in Buenos Aires, Argentina. With my written stories, I try to share some of the experiences that have stayed with me... An amazing embrace, a beautiful meal, a slightly uncomfortable life moment at a stay a train station or airport. These are the moments we remember. As to my personal info, I was born in New Jersey eventually, after living in New York, Boston, and San Francisco, most recently on San Juan Island in Washington state, I moved to Buenos Aires in January 2020. For 38 years, years I curated a contemporary art gallery, where I refined my skills and became a visual editor. Always with a camera or some picture-capturing device in tow [including much heavy equipment], I started my travel at approximately the same time, was introduced to tango about 12 years ago. VIsual storytelling begins with a moment. Some internal mechanism is triggered by a scene or event or movement and ...there's your photo. Other times, it’s about a sliver of color or something else odd or ordinary that captures the eye. As I am now fluent in Spanish, it is my desire that my stories and photos reach the broader tango community and other travelers. Travelingtango offers translations into Spanish, Italian, and German. Abrazo!!!

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