One city in Europe?

Z

z_zapper

Changui
Hi - I'm about to take a long (and long-overdue) vacation, heading to Europe for a month. I'd like to travel to 3-4 cities over two weeks, and then park myself in one city for 10-14 days. For that last stop, in deciding where to make it I'm definitely going to consider access to salsa, and I thought I'd ask the board for recommendations. Ideally, I'd like to find somewhere where I can dance at least four times a week, where the salsa crowd is welcoming to foreigners (I haven't generally found this to be a problem in most places, though I did struggle a little in Spain a few years ago), where a reasonable number of the dancers speak some level of English, and where the salsa venues are easy to get to from a central location. (Also, somewhere with a high ratio of followers:leaders would be a nice bonus!). I'm leaning towards Eastern Europe, with the notion (perhaps false) that it will be less expensive to spend time there, though I'm open to anywhere...

(If it helps, here's some info about me: Male, late 30s, been dancing avidly for a decade, comfortable on1 and on2, currently living in Raleigh, NC, and before that in SF).

All thoughts will be much appreciated!

Thanks!
Z.
 
Hey zapper! Long time no see :)

z_zapper said:
Ideally, I'd like to find somewhere where I can dance at least four times a week, where the salsa crowd is welcoming to foreigners (I haven't generally found this to be a problem in most places, though I did struggle a little in Spain a few years ago), where a reasonable number of the dancers speak some level of English, and where the salsa venues are easy to get to from a central location.
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I'd say:

1. London
2. Amsterdam

Both meet all the criteria. London's great Sun-Wed but weekends can be a matter of luck. I think Amsterdam has weekly Tues/Wed/Sat/Sun plus often events on Fri.

Paris may be good too salsa-wise (from what I heard - no personal experience), but English can be a problem there.
 
Hey Z.!
I would vote for Amsterdam and Paris. Those will certainly be a good fit. Just to be fair though: I've never been to London, it might be totally awesome. I just know I tend not to like British leads' style that much, so Paris and Amsterdam (or Amsterdam and Paris, I am not sure about the order) it is for me! Maybe you'd like to have a look at that "Best congresses in Europe" thread as well, we have discussed where particularly strong salsa scenes are in general there!
As far as pastime beyond salsa is concerned Amsterdam might be more English-native-speaker friendly than Paris, where people can act like morons sometimes towards tourists.

Anyway, looking forward to hear about your experience!

Update: Just read Mac's post above - I swear I wasn't copying it! :D I guess we've discussed this topic so often by now, we come up with the same line of arguments :)
 
I`ve been living in London for 1,5 years by now and I`m going back to Turkey in 2 days.
I would totally recommend London for the longer period of your holiday. Our girls are super friendly and welcoming. While in Paris, rejecting a dance offer is quite natural, in London people dont have rejection habit. In 1,5 years, I was rejected less than 10 times I guess.

London scene cant be generalised as `british leaders/followers` since there are more foreigners than british people in the scene.

you can set your dates that you can attend our nice monthly parties.
 
Thanks for the tips! I'm definitely going to include London and Amsterdam based on this advice, and will probably spend extended time in London.

Olamolam, what's the scene like in Istanbul? I'll be heading there for a few days for sure, but wasn't expecting to find much in the way of salsa.

I'll probably add another two cities to the itinerary, and will search through the other Europe dance threads for ideas...
 
First of all as a city istanbul, it's the most beautiful place I've ever seen. it takes 4 hours from london but it worths.
youtube "istanbul salsa festival" see turkish girls dances with instructors. it'll give you some idea. I can say that istanbul scene better than many other european cities. we have good parties on wed, fri, sat. scene is mostly xbody on1.
 
z_zapper said:
I'll probably add another two cities to the itinerary, and will search through the other Europe dance threads for ideas...
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When are you making this trip? Be sure to check congress listings for Europe (e.g. festivalsero dot com) and see if there are any events during your stay. There's one almost every weekend.
 
Prague is cheap, the salseras outnumber guys. Don't know how many nights of salsa there are now. Vienna is close by also, fantastic for Cuban, no slot dancers though. I don't recommend Budapest due to severe economic issues, I have heardgood things about Warsaw. Sidenote: In all cities the cuteness factor of the salseras is only surpassed in Latin America and they are very friendly too.


z_zapper said:
Hi - I'm about to take a long (and long-overdue) vacation, heading to Europe for a month. I'd like to travel to 3-4 cities over two weeks, and then park myself in one city for 10-14 days. For that last stop, in deciding where to make it I'm definitely going to consider access to salsa, and I thought I'd ask the board for recommendations. Ideally, I'd like to find somewhere where I can dance at least four times a week, where the salsa crowd is welcoming to foreigners (I haven't generally found this to be a problem in most places, though I did struggle a little in Spain a few years ago), where a reasonable number of the dancers speak some level of English, and where the salsa venues are easy to get to from a central location. (Also, somewhere with a high ratio of followers:leaders would be a nice bonus!). I'm leaning towards Eastern Europe, with the notion (perhaps false) that it will be less expensive to spend time there, though I'm open to anywhere...

(If it helps, here's some info about me: Male, late 30s, been dancing avidly for a decade, comfortable on1 and on2, currently living in Raleigh, NC, and before that in SF).

All thoughts will be much appreciated!

Thanks!
Z.
Click to expand...
 
As everybody else answeres on the salsa and language level, it's time for me to step in and answer the cost index question. I'd say London and Paris are more expensive and Eastern Europe is generally cheaper. In some countries you can stay for a fraction of the cost in comparison to the US or Western Europe. See for yourself, you can stay a week in a good hotel in Sofia in Bulgaria for about $400, whereas that would be much more expensive in say London or Paris.

Here are some statistics that I gathered for various capitals in Europe about the price level:

www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=cost+of+living+london%2C+paris%2C+warzaw%2C+vienna%2C+prague%2C+istanbul%2C+sofia
 
MacM - I've never been a huge congress/festival fan (I find them overwhelming and exhausting). I prefer going to places and checking out the general day-to-day salsa culture.

Olamalam - I'm sold on Istanbul, and am going to plan to spend 10 days there in early June You'll have to let me know where the parties are!

All - Moving away from Europe a little, what do you know about the scene in Israel (I'm having a hard time finding information though I've heard rumors that it's a strong community)? I'm now thinking of spending part of my trip out there.

Thx!
Z.
 
z_zapper said:
, what do you know about the scene in Israel (I'm having a hard time finding information though I've heard rumors that it's a strong community)? I'm now thinking of spending part of my trip out there.
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Met some great cross-body dancers from there at various congresses. Sorry, never asked what city. But dance quality wise, the leaders were great (on2). So there must be a decent scene in at least one place.

No facebook group?? If there's been a recent congress there, might be worth asking a question on that fb page or via the promotor?
 
z_zapper said:
MacM - I've never been a huge congress/festival fan (I find them overwhelming and exhausting). I prefer going to places and checking out the general day-to-day salsa culture.

Olamalam - I'm sold on Istanbul, and am going to plan to spend 10 days there in early June You'll have to let me know where the parties are!

All - Moving away from Europe a little, what do you know about the scene in Israel (I'm having a hard time finding information though I've heard rumors that it's a strong community)? I'm now thinking of spending part of my trip out there.

Thx!
Z.
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Cool, we can go to parties together. let me know exact days, i can also help you in accomodation ;)

last weekend of may, there's antalya congress. a bit expensive but worth considering.
 
z_zapper said:
All - Moving away from Europe a little, what do you know about the scene in Israel (I'm having a hard time finding information though I've heard rumors that it's a strong community)? I'm now thinking of spending part of my trip out there.
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Well, if you don't get any responses here, I would suggest you contact our member El Che, since he's from Israel and would hopefully be able to give you some more info. :)
 
chrisk said:
Well, if you don't get any responses here, I would suggest you contact our member El Che, since he's from Israel and would hopefully be able to give you some more info. :)
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el_che dances cuban not XB, and is extremely negative about XB dancers because we're not dancing authentic salsa...remember? Do you really think he knows where the actually good XB nights or cities are as he clearly doesn't care about this style?

I mean Israel is a big enough place, and you have be in that style scene and well connected in any country to be able to advise people where to go....for example, I could only do it for XB in my region, not for the whole of the country I live in - though I could probably find people who would know; but certainly not for Cuban at any level beyond giving the names of a couple of Cuban teachers that I have no idea if they are any good or not.

Basically, the only person I would trust to tell me about nights I would enjoy and what nights are good is a person who dances the same style I do to a high level and likes the same type of music.
 
londongirl said:
el_che dances cuban not XB, and is extremely negative about XB dancers because we're not dancing authentic salsa...remember? Do you really think he knows where the actually good XB nights or cities are as he clearly doesn't care about this style?
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While I remember the discussion that you're referring to here, I don't think that El Che is against crossbody salsa as much as you mention here. And although he's dancing Cuban Style, I can imagine that he's got some info about whether the other styles are present in Israel and whom to best contact for more info. Also where did the original poster asked for good XB nights rather then info about the scene at all?

londongirl said:
Basically, the only person I would trust to tell me about nights I would enjoy and what nights are good is a person who dances the same style I do to a high level and likes the same type of music.
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Which only works if you've been to the country before and have met that person not just for dancing, but also some chats about types of salsa you like. In case of travelling to a country where you've only heard rumours, your best bet is in my opinion trying to get in touch with at least one person living there and having them help you with resources to find out more.
 
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