The ancient ground of Ephesus, Turkey, was the scene late last month of an exclusive Regent Seven Seas Cruises concert under the stars, featuring a 15-year-old musical prodigy from Montreal, Quebec: Nikki Yanofsky.
Guests aboard Navigator enjoyed a tour of the important Mediterranean archeological site followed by cocktails and an opening act at dusk featuring Turkish mezzo soprano star Serap Ciftci. Yanofsky, meanwhile, dazzled guests with her vocal tributes to Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday among others. She has recently been touring with renowned composer and conductor Marvin Hamlisch. Navigator guests paid tribute to the youngster’s stellar performance by rewarding her with two standing ovations.
Navigator is in the midst of a series of Mediterranean voyages through early November.
Photos by Michael Coleman.
The inbound tour operator that ran all the tours of The Mediterranean Odyssey and operated the concert was Vanguard Travel Services of Istanbul. The owner of this company, Ferit Kayrak, is such a detail oriented travel professional that deserves his crown as the best travel experience provider of Turkey. The out-of-the-ordinary shore excursions that he built thanks to special permissions only he could get from government officials (such as enabling 125 guests of The Mediterranean Odyssey visit Dolmabahce Palace privately during public hours, having the curator of Topkapi Palace, Prof.Ilber Ortayli lecture the group aboard before starting the Two Palaces Tour of Istanbul) made the whole cruise program a truely unique one that other cruises could not reach very easily. You should hook up with Vanguard Travel Services if you would like your clients to be treated like royalty at Turkish ports-of-call. The website of the company is wwww.vanguard-ts.com and Ferit Kayrak’s email address is [email protected]