Colin in Turkey, part II

More pictures from Colin's trip!

There was significantly less snow the second half of Colin's week here, but that doesn't mean there were fewer adventures.  Oh no!  We still had time for a trip to Bursa, a birthday party, and an evening on the town in Istanbul.

After our day in Yalova on Friday (when we went to Kipa, Fatih mosque, and had a movie night at home), we decided to take a chance and head to Bursa on Saturday.  The chance was that we may not be able to have dinner at Mustafa Bey Kofte--and we ended up not being able to do that because the family took the weekend off--but the risk was worth it. We had a lovely day walking around the first Ottoman capital, eating lokma, drinking chai, and (of course) having a Iskender kebap.  Our first touristic stop, though was Ulu Camii, "the Great Mosque".....

I have already included pictures of Ulu Camii in this blog (from way back in October?), but I wanted to add these ones, too. I am blown away by how beautiful this mosque and its calligraphy are.  Originally built in 1399 (!!!) it was greatly damaged in the 1855 earthquake.  The great thing is, though, that the Ottoman's rebuilt the damaged mosque--including most of its 450-year-old domes.  The massive rebuilding, though, helps to explain the ornamental embellishments over many of the calligraphic images. Debate is still open on how old the script/images are....

I love this picture because it captures how uniquely ornamented this great mosque is. The mihrab (gilded niche indicating the exact direction to Mecca) looks practically like an altar, the minbar (staircase on the right that the imam climbs to give the Friday sermon) would make even the most ostentatious priest proud. I know it's taboo to note, but how can't I?  This beautiful craftsmanship is art! It's absolutely beautiful, a bit shockingly altar-like, and totally unique among the mosques I've visited. 

After Ulu Camii, Colin and I went up to the Bursa Citadel.  There we visited the tombs of Osman Gazi (the first emperor of the Ottoman Empire, for whom the empire is named), his son, and some of their closest relatives. I didn't take any pictures there because there were many people praying inside the small space, and it felt too awkward.  After seeing those, though, we walked over to the clock tower and took in the sights of the city--a bit hazier than last time. Then, we got lunch at a surprisingly fancy restaurant on the citadel: a delicious Iskender equivalent and one of the best Kasarli pide's (basically pizza-sauce-less pizza) I've ever had. On our way down from the citadel, I got this pretty view of Ulu Camii's minarets in front of the foothills of Uludag (great mountain).

From the citadel, we walked through "heykel"--the old downtown neighborhood named for this statue of Ataturk. Not everything in Bursa is about the Ottomans, don't worry! The Republic, and it's father, are still cherished.

Our destination, though, was this shining building: the Green Tomb. 

We got to the Green Tomb as the sun was starting to set, and the colors were beautiful. It was (as you can tell) a perfect day to see the city--and actually not even that cold!

A close-up of the Green Tomb, with the Green Mosque behind it. The mosque is being renovated, but we got to go into the tomb...

Here is the tomb of Mehmed I, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1413-1421. Though he had a short reign, it was quite dramatic (read more here), and I must compliment him on his choice of decorating his mausoleum with blue and yellow tiles. 

Not long after sunset, after purchasing more lokma and a scarf at Koza Han, Colin and I hurried home to Yalova to try to catch the Musafa Bey family. Unfortunately, they were gone, so we had left-over pizza for dinner. Yum!

Our dinner Sunday was much fancier, though, because it was Megan's birthday so we all (Colin, me, and the Dilko crew) went to Cafe the Kaisen! Here I am with the birthday girl. 

This was also Colin's first chance to meet many of my friends, including Deven (seen with him here). They actually got along really well--I think they're just pretending to duke it out over which is worse, northwestern Indiana or southwestern Michigan. Kidding, guys! 

Monday evening, Colin and I headed to Istanbul.  We walked down Istiklal (above), did some shopping, and enjoyed our last little bits of time together. 

For dinner, we went somewhere even cooler than Cafe the Kaisen: Galata Tower. We got the fixed menu (all you can drink) meal with a fantastically touristic (but totally entertaining!) show afterward. What we really got, though, was this view:

Topkapi Palace, Aya Sofia, Blue Mosque, Suleymaniya Mosque, Yeni Camii, Rustem Pasha Mosque, the Egyptian Spice Bazaar, Eminonu Bridge, behind us the Bosphorus Bridge, and across the strait, the sights of Anadolu Istanbul. It was all there, totally beautiful, singularly Istanbul. 

As I was saying, after we ate dinner, we got a show--and it was interactive, as the best tourist shows are! I was one of the first victims...ahem!...lucky participants, and got to sit on the right-hand side of the Sultan as these orange-clad ladies did a little (subdued belly dancing). Things got racier, though, and soon they left, to be replaced by the tiniest, curviest, purple-bedazzeled-est belly dancer. 

Lucky me, I also got to dance with her! 

After the purple girl got done, it was time for some warrior man dances. Also note in this picture, our table had dual-flag holder: one flag for Turkey and one for America. :-)

We pretty much loved the show, as you can see here, but too soon it was over for us. After the warrior dancers, the grand-finale belly dancer came out, and then a 70-year-old Turkish Frank Sinatra. We stayed for a few of his songs, but soon they all became Turkish, and we saw that it was after 11 so we headed back up the hill to our Taksim hostel.   

Colin's flight left just before 6, so we caught the first bus to the airport from Taksim at 4 am.  After goodbyes, he was on his way back to Minneapolis, and I was on my way back to Yalova. It was a great week, though. And the good news is that there are still many more things to see and do the next time we're in Turkey together!