Gemlik, Iznik and Bursa - Part 3 Monday

Our stay in Bursa and most of this trip was sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Turkey through their American Corner program.  This program sends select universities in Turkey speakers as they request.  Uludag University of Bursa had requested me and my topic of Publishing for Academics.  We were put up at the best hotel in Bursa - the historic Celik Palas Hotel.  This hotel was built in the 1930's although most rooms including ours are located in a modern wing.  It is famous for its hot springs (as is Bursa in general).  Our room had a balcony and overlooked a busy street and a city park beyond.  The best thing though was the king sized bed!  What a treat after the small beds of Turkey.  It also has an interesting bathroom - a big window with built in blinds separate the bedroom and the bathroom.  The bathroom was extremely modern and had a separate toilet room and a separate shower with rain shower head.  The buffet breakfast was also pretty amazing in its choices and included brewed coffee (also a rarity in Turkey) and a whole honey comb.

View from our Celik Palas Hotel room in Bursa where we had a nice balcony

Our high tech bathroom with its separate shower and toilet rooms

The weather on Monday was not so great as it rained a lot.  Alice was picked up by the American Corner coordinator in Bursa with a car and taken to the campus.  This was not the main university campus but one of their branches (I never understood which one).  I met briefly with some faculty members and the branch president (whose English was very limited).  Then I gave my talk to a full room of faculty members (who were very engaged) and students (who were much less engaged).  I was presented with some gifts and a wonderful golden thank you plaque.

My audience at Uludag University

Myself with the faculty after the seminar

Meeting with a small group of faculty, mainly instructor of English, in the President's office

Some of the faculty and myself ate lunch at a food court at a nearby mall and then I met with a group of about 12 faculty for an informal session.  This took place in the president's office.  Afterwards a few of the kind faculty took me on a brief sightseeing tour of Bursa and I got to see the Green Tomb and the Green Mosque, both of which are wonderfully located on a hill and very beautiful with their tile work.  We then went to an unusual museum - the Hunkar Pavilion - which was a hunting lodge from the 1800's and then was Ataturk's residence when he visited Bursa.  The place has been left as it was when Ataturk died and was recently renovated.  The site is located on a high hillside of Bursa with nice views.  The lead faculty, Mehmet Deniz, arranged somehow to get a special guide to come to the museum even though it is normally closed on Monday to give us a special tour.  This was nicely done and then we drank refreshments at the nearby cafe.  I was persuaded to try salep, a wonderful warm concoction of milk, sugar and cinnamon but somehow gotten thick.  I don't want to think about the calories involved but it was pretty tasty on a cold, rainy afternoon.

The famous Green Tomb of Bursa

Entrance to the Green Tomb with its spectacular tiles

Myself outside the Green Tomb which is almost more blue than green

Inside the gloriously tiled tomb of Ottoman Sultan Mehmet I

The tiles were done before the artists of Iznik discovered how to make red

The Green Mosque which is next door to the Green Tomb (of course)

The entrance

The plaque

This shows in interesting aspect of the Green Mosque - it was never finished!  Note that some of the window side decoration is complete and some is not

The interior dome of the Green Mosque

Tile work in an alcove

Reused ancient columns inside

The Hunting Lodge museum in Bursa

The exterior of this small but charming building

View from the patio of the lodge

The lavish living room

Ceiling detail - suitable for hunters of deer

Ataturk's bedroom which include his slippers next to the bed

Ataturk's study off of the bedroom

The dining room

Detail of the dining room ceiling with a lion that reminds me of Ataturk.  Supposedly the lion's eyes watch you wherever you go

Mehmet Deniz's lovely daughter Serra who is also a teacher of English.  She order Turkish coffee which came in a beautiful covered cup

My salep - very restorative on this rainy, cold afternoon.  It might even be improved with a shot of Irish whiskey or Scotch in it

I tried out the hot spring pool at the hotel when I got back - I went to the women's pool as the mixed pool was totally men when I saw it and I decided to try to the spring in my natural state.  It was very hot and brought to mind the hot baths of Japan.  Randy had tried the mixed pool earlier in the day which he thought was a men's only pool so it is good that he did not go in his natural state.  He had walked and shopped and bought two doner kebabs (a chicken and a beef) which he ate as a snack as we lounged in the hotel.

Yunus was to meet us for dinner but was delayed because a ship of his company's goods was sinking en route to Africa.   He arrived eventually and we headed to the old Jewish section of town where a series of fish restaurants reside on a pedestrian only street.  This was a wonderful place with plenty of fresh fish (we had a big levrek), booze (I had white wine while the boys split a half bottle of raki) and live music.  Wandering bands of three or four guys playing traditional instruments and singing traditional drinking songs were working the series restaurants.  It was boisterous and cheery.   When we left well after 10 PM things were just getting going!

Our restaurant in the Arap Sukru of Bursa, supposedly the old Jewish quarter.  I don't know how he did it. as to me all of the fish restaurants here looked alike, but Yunus apparently picked the best one because when we left it was by far the most crowded

At the outside table (luckily there was a heater right behind me which kept me warm)

The meze including the very tasty octopus which we made Yunus taste for the first time in his life

Alice and Yunus chill out

Our waiter partly debones the large levrek we selected

The musicians near us with their traditional instruments and songs

The guys getting down

The Arap Sukru area - strongly recommended for good fish and good times in Bursa

The next morning before leaving Bursa we feasted on the Celik Palas's huge breakfast buffet and then walked to the sight that John Ash recommended above all others in Bursa - the tombs near the Muradiye Mosque complex.  Two of the three tombs were open - the plain one of Murat II which has a hole in the center dome so the "the rain, the sign of the benediction of God, (can) fall on me."  This is quote in the Ash book from Murat II.  The Iznik tiled tomb of Sehzade Mustafa was sadly closed for renovation but the more decorative tomb of Cem Sultan was open.  It was a lovely morning and the gardens surrounding the tombs was nice however the amount of construction all around as parts of this complex were being renovated certainly detracted from the atmosphere.  We will have to visit again to get the full effect.

The Muradiye Complex of Bursa

The nice garden with its graves

One of the tomb rooms housed all of the lesser members of the royal family

The simple tomb of Murat II with its opening in the ceiling

Exterior of the tombs site

To summarize our trip, we saw the best of the region and especially got up close and personal with Iznik, a town that is underappreciated by Turks and tourists alike.  Bursa is not a wonderful city - it is smoggy and industrialized.  But there are some glories to find.  The best part, of course, was reconnecting with our special friends, the Konaks and Yunus.  In particular, Hakan and Yunus were great to devote their weekend to our well being and happiness.  They were certainly successful in ensuring our trip to this Gulf of Gemlik region was the best it could be!

A good summary photo - Alice taking herself and Yunus at Arap Sukru