busy in bursa

not pictured: bread and tomatoes

after a great first day in istanbul i arose to an amazing sunday breakfast spread, courtesy of büşra's lovely roommate fatima. apparently she just likes to cook. a great quality in a roommate, i've always thought. the potatoes, cheese - really everything - was just delicious. a great way to start off another full day of sightseeing and traveling.

i bid farewell to büşra headed downtown to meet courtney. we hadn't planned every aspect of our trip (more exciting that way) so our first stop was to the information center - located, conveniently, in taksim square (how 'bout that) where we had a nice encounter with a very helpful employee. as it turned out we were able to take a boat most of the way to bursa, our first stop. we hadn't thought the boat schedule would work on a sunday but as it turned out, it was the cheapest and most direct route. and we got a boat ride out of it. so we hopped back on the tram, made our way to the little dock and had a few drinks at the little cafe while waiting. side note: our boat was continuously referred to as a 'bus', to the point that, when we were boarding, we weren't at all sure what we were in for. yeah, turns out it was just a boat.

surprise lunch companion

a very pleasant boat ride thanks to comfortable seats, dramamine and contraband chocolate (okay the chocolate wasn't prohibited in particular, just eating in the seats). before we knew it, we were in bursa. or at least on a short bus ride to bursa. we weren't exactly certain where to meet our couchsurfing host so we just went to the center and town and tried to find some lunch. we quickly found a place that fit the bill. we had some delicious iskender kebabs (the local specialty) and, as a bonus, an adorable puppy that popped out of a box and spent the remainder of our meal endearingly nibbling at our bags. i don't know what it is about lamb, tomato sauce, yogurt and bread that can be so mouthwatering. my money's on the grease. the people (in addition to the animals) at the kebab stand were very friendly and let us use their phone to contact our host. this whole not having a cell phone thing, very inconvenient. as it happened we had to get back on the tramline that we were on before (did i not mention that? right, we were on the tram) and head all the way to the end.

a hammam, perhaps? and that beautiful sky

our couchsurfing host, erdem, took us back to his place which as it turns out was filled with other students like him. they were from all corners of turkey and it was amazing how different they all looked, features-wise. courtney and i later took turns guessing which european country they could have each been from. we all relaxed and chatted a bit, and shared a meal they had prepared for us. erdem's surprisingly simple carrot dish was a sleeper hit. after our mid-afternoon meal we headed back into the city - with a short walk, shuttle and tram ride it was about an hour in all. then came the walking. from the center of town we headed uphill, enjoying sights of small brick mosques and a gorgeous sunset.

in a whirl

finally we made it to our destination, which ended up being the whirling dervish lodge, or karabish-i veli. (i say this because sometimes with our host's english/accent we weren't entirely sure where we were going sometimes. hm, that makes it sound weird) in any case, this ended being a fantastic outing. as we approached the building (which has recently been renovated and reopened) and surrounding gardens twilight was setting in and we had a few minutes to spare. so we enjoyed a leisurely a cup of çay amidst trees and roses (which seem to be everywhere!). then it was time for the ceremony. courtney and i were so delighted to get to watch - we had hoped to attend one of the whirling dervish 'shows' (as opposed to the ceremonies, i'm making the distinction) in konya but couldn't find a way to get tickets. luckily for us we had a host who took us to the real thing. we filed into the small building, taking off our shoes an climbing the stairs to sit in the women's section. our host stayed below, with the men (i'm still not sure who i think had the better view). the music began, and each of the devout began spinning, one by one. first with their arms folded, and then slowly raising them out and up. it really was mesmerizing - we were amazed at the way they could move so fluidly and in such perfect harmony. the youngest was probably no more than 13! truly incredible to witness. and i have seen quite a few religious rituals in the past year..

in the mihrab looking up

the next day it was another trek back into bursa and a full day of exploring. while at times it was odd having our host with us all the time, planning our day, ultimately he was indispensable in leading us to great sites in the city and navigating all over. we started off walking through the downtown and over a little bridge of shops, much like a smaller ponte vecchio (where we scored some cool jewelry!). then farther into the old city. oh did i mention bursa was the first capital of the ottoman empire? hence its appeal as a destination, famous kebabs notwithstanding. when i hear ottoman capital i automatically think beautiful architecture, so i was particularly excited. when we approached the first of our architectural sites i was pretty giddy. i mean, just look at those beautiful turquoises! (if you know me, you understand how i feel about tiles) the picture at right is from the mausoleum known as the green tomb, or the 'yeşil türbe'. it's a small octagonal building covered in glazed tiles. inside the tombs, walls, and niches are all covered with beautiful geometric tiles in turquoise and gold. we spent a good while exploring every one of those eight sides, probably to the chagrin of our good-natured host.

catnap

just across the way was the yeşil cami (cami, pronounced jami, meaning mosque - interesting because in india the jami masjid is the friday mosque. fascinating right?), a 15th-century mosque. outside was a lovely wooden fountain, complete with sandals for ablutions. and to cap off the picture, a cat taking a snooze on a carpet draped on a wall overlooking the city. we shelved our shoes (nice little cubbies, and everything. a welcome change from the massive piles in india), scarf-ed ourselves and went in. there was a friendly man inside who gave us an impromptu little tour. the building is an unusual t-shape, as opposed to the normal rectangular mosque. and the giant, tiled mihrab - exquisite! as it turns out the man has a ceramics business and has done renovation work for various sites and museums.

mosque and mihrab

naturally, he had a shop which we were invited to (i know, i know) but he seemed on the level and it wasn't far. plus, we're always up for shopping. it turned out to be a worthwhile stop. the building itself was several hundreds years old and just lovely - bright yellow walls, carved wooden ceilings. we got to see all the floors, including the top one which was devoted to only the finest carpets (his own personal collection, for the most part). there were beautiful ceramics, some hand-painted, some factory-made, all over the bottom two floors. we enjoyed perusing and left with a purchase or two.

tomatoes, pre-iskender

my mouth is still watering

 more walking, up hills and down, fortunately led by our trusty guide. past some newer smaller mosques and courtyards, near old cemeteries and through markets where we saw shining red tomatoes and cherries (a town nearby is famous for them), dripping honeycombs and that thin stuff they make knafeh with. finally we arrived at our next destination: lunch! another iskender kebab from one of the most famous establishments, bursa kebapçisi, or as we called it, 'the pink building '. the kebab was delicious but not tons better than the (much cheaper) one the day before. the view, though, on the garden terrace, was quite pleasant. after thoroughly enjoying our piles meat we continued on.

han by night

on our way back down the hill we made a stop in the balibey han. hans are markets, formerly known as caravanserais (one of my favorite words) and this particular one is quite impressive, primarily for its three-story arcade. we had passed it on our evening walk the night before and it looked quite impressive all lit up. this time, though, the little shops were open. it's now more of a collective of artisans' workshops. that makes it a coveted (read: expensive) space, but also a nice place to see a lot of turkey's traditional crafts in one location. we saw a lot of nice examples of ebru, or marblized paper (originating from turkey!), wood carving, calligraphy, puppets and more. we even shopped into a small glass studio where i got to make a bead. it was.. unique. swirly and orangey/blue. much harder than it looks, naturally.

karagöz and hacivat

we wound back through some of the other markets, including the larger covered one. we were on the lookout for karagöz shadow puppets. they're usually made of leather and were traditionally used for puppet shoes during ramadan. the show itself is named for one of the two most prominent characters (much like punch and judy shows) who are often making mischief. the puppet shows apparently began in bursa (as the story goes, during construction on the ulu cami) and not surprisingly the most famous puppets are from bursa. like many old cultural practices, their production seems to be fading (although the practice itself is now on the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage list). we had heard that there was one shop in the bazaar where we could find a family that's been making the puppets for generations. we managed to find the stall, karagöz anitkaci, only to find the owners missing. apparently the elder brother was out. this time when we went through we managed to track down a brother - or at least someone who indulged us with a brief show. short though it was, we could see the intricacy of the puppets' cut outs and how nicely the subtle colors shone through the white sheet. and, despite the language barrier, their antics made us chuckle too.

symmetrical calligraphy

by then we were quite close to the very mosque that gave birth to the puppets, the ulu cami. the mosque is quite large and rather spacious inside. it has an impressive twenty domes capping its ceiling and many windows. with the afternoon sunlight streaming in the center of the mosque was quite bright, while niches along the walls were more in shadow. also in the middle of the mosque was an ablution fountain, which i found very unusual but also strikingly pretty. we leisurely took in the quiet spaces of the mosque and i enjoyed deciphering the monumental calligraphy on roundels and plaques (which wasn't really that hard.. pretty much all of them said 'allah', 'muhammad' or the bismallah).

at this point we were pretty pooped from tramping all over. luckily erdem was there to decipher the bus schedule for us and pretty soon we were on our way back west. we weren't entirely sure what our destination was, although courtney and i had tried to express some interest in visiting a traditional hammam. there's a natural hot spring just outside of bursa, making it an ideal spot for turkish baths. there was a bit of a miscommunication which became apparent when we got off the bus. we were near a big fancy hammam/resort - not exactly what we'd had in mind. our host was confused as to why we wanted to see such a modern hammam and eventually we explained that we wanted to actually go in the hammam and use it (we even had swimsuits all ready). we got it straightened out and somehow - again, thanks to our friend - managed to find a women's hammam not too far down the road.

our ottoman hammam

this place certainly fit the bill. an old, unassuming brick building that had steps leading down to the entrance. and at 7TL (≈ $4), the price was right. our host took us to the door and did a little talking with the owner and her daughter, who spoke english and promised to call him when we were all finished. we felt guilty about leaving our host but, honestly, at that point he was probably anxious for a break from us. we went in to the large, tiled changing room that had three big stepped areas and hooks along the wall. we maneuvered into our bathing suits (we're all for authentic, but we have our limits), took some sandals from the floor and made our way through to the caledarium. well, that's the roman equivalent anyway. a small, steamy room with small marble tubs lined along the walls. each one had a small pitcher and a stool nearby, so we picked our spots. there were several older women who were already well into their steam baths, and they looked over at us with kindly smiles. they even indicated when we sat down at a faucet whose cold tap was broken. each had both hot and cold so you could regulate the water temperature that you're pouring over yourself. it was delightfully warm - i do love a good steam room. after maybe 30 minutes (it was hard to keep track of time) we popped out for a breath of cool air and back in for a few more minutes. once we felt nice and refreshed we made our way back into the changing room. on our way out we chatted with the mother-daughter pair who said the place had been in their family for hundreds of years. oh, and the hammam? seven hundred years old. it dates to the ottoman era! how's that for an authentic experience! (and i have to say much more comfortable than my last one..)

objects in picture may be large than they appear

when we met back up with erdem we discovered he had also made a visit to a men's hammam so everyone was feeling totally rejuvenated. and thirsty! i don't know that i've ever been so thirsty. i bought us two liters of water at a nearby convenience store and we quickly gulped down most of them. we hopped on the next bus and headed well, towards home we figured. we continued up into the hills, through woodsy areas and even past a few horses. we were utterly confused when we got off the bus at what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. we followed erdem up a little street, past a few informal vendors and arrived at the tree. ohh, the tree! we understood. earlier erdem had mentioned a famous old tree just outside the city - it was even pictured prominently on the map. we hadn't realized we were going there but it turned out to be an absolutely perfect outing. the tree itself - 600 years old - is, of course, enormous, with giant, sprawling branches and boughs that spread out low over a wide area. the locals have capitalized on the famous tree by making the space below into a lovely outdoor cafe. we saw families visiting from all over the middle east.

summer spread

and the snack of choice? summer fruits. red-yellow cherries, grapes, plums, apricots, strawberries and even what i think were gooseberries. they looked so delicious, gleaming the golden afternoon sunlight. the perfect way to rehydrate and refresh ourselves after our hammam visits. we washed our fruit down with some tea and enjoyed a nice conversation as we looked out over the valley. i think all that fructose made courtney and me a little giggly, but erdem took our goofiness in stride.

then it was back on the bus and towards erdem's place. by the time we got back we didn't have much time for dinner. we grabbed our suitcases and headed over to a nearby cafeteria. we managed to have a somewhat decent meal before hopping back on the bus. this time we were headed towards the station where we would catch our overnight bus to konya. though our time in bursa was quite brief we were able to see so much of the city - and lucky enough to visit unique places we would never have known about. all thanks to our friendly host. so thanks, erdem!