Between

Between Poggibonsi, Serskamp (B) and Istanbul, between Christmas and new year...

Sunday 16 December, teatro dei Leggeri: the concert was nice, good public, a word of thank of the director and the President and afterwards the reception: spumante (sparkling wine) and panettone, Italian Christmas sweet. Pleasant atmosphere, and I got the best wishes. And also some gifts, I didn’t expect and it was really not necessary.

We close with a dinner with the choir members and their families. It was late when we went home.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are taken by packing books in boxes: what goes to Istanbul, what remains in Italy and what must I take to Belgium. A big job. Same dilemma with clothes, CD's, DVD's and videos and more. The number of "to send to Istanbul" boxes continue to grow, there are five now and I will make at least one more. But I haven’t found a courier yet. In the worst case I can send them by plane, it goes very fast, but is also much more expensive.

Packing is interrupted on Tuesday evening for an extra "open-house" at Claudia’s. With half a choir we repeat part of the concert, errors, rhythm impairments and irritations included. Thursday morning, 6:00u and 3 degrees under 0: with 24 hours delay I depart for Belgium.

I can drive smoothly, but there is a lot of traffic so it is 8 pm when I “enter” Belgium and according to the news there is a general speed limit of 90 km/h on the highway because of the air pollution. It seems though that speed restriction is valid only in Flanders and Brussels. So at 10.45 pm I am "at home".

Friday morning: it’s freezing since a couple of days, nice views but dammed cold! It’s time for the annual visits to friends and family, in-between I get a message of Filiz: it seems she has found a studio for me in Istanbul. But then I realise the message is over 24 hours old, and the studio is not that interesting.

I only have a couple of days and must enjoy Flanders before being worried about Istanbul.

Arrivederci Italia, Günaydin Türkiye (English)

Goodbye Italy, Hello Turkey

For some this will be a complete surprise, for somebody else the confirmation of a suspect and for the rest the confirmation of what you already knew.
By the end of this year I will leave la Bella Italia and go to Istanbul, bridge between Europe and Asia.

I found a job at TravelTalk (www.traveltalktours.co.uk), the travel agency where I booked my tours the last six years (see web.tiscali.it/ilse.vdk). From “Regular Customer” (that’s how they called me!) I become a normal employee. It’s nice when your holiday becomes your job!

For most of you nothing will change: we can keep in touch like before: by e-mail, skype,…
For those that came to Italy: you’ll have to change your destination if you want to see me.
And for those that didn’t manage to come to Italy the last 10 years: it’s a pity but it will be a bit more difficult to come to Italy.

In any case, I still have my references here so for those who want to come to Italy, I can still give a hand. But to meet, you’ll need to come to Istanbul. And take also a look at the other destinations TravelTalk offers: Turkey, Greek Islands, Jordan, Morocco,… who knows if I can give you a hand also for those destinations.

What happens the next days/weeks?
In this moment I’m preparing my bags and looking what to keep and what to throw away from my apartment, selling of my car, what about my pension savings,…
December 16. Concert of the polyphonic Choir in San Gimignano, followed by a good-bye dinner for my friends. If you are around San Gimignano these days…, just let me know, you are welcome.
December 25. Christmas in Belgium. It will be a reduced holiday (6/7 days?) so maybe I will not be able to make all the annual visits to my Flemish friends.
December 27: back to Italy for the last preparations
January 2: flight to Istanbul.

To keep in touch:
telephone or mobile phone: not yet… but I will let you know.
Address: not yet…

And for those who want to follow my adventures: I started a blog on http://travelIlse.blogspot.com but I admit I don’t know very well how it works.
Moreover I need to translate in 3 languages… please be patient.

If you want to be informed about my new life, I’ll send you from time to time a message with a link to my blog. If you don’t want to receive these messages or if you want them to another e-mail address, please let me know and I’ll cancel/change you from my mailing list.

Best regards and see you in…

Ilse