My Adventures in Bursa!

Yesterday I went to Bursa with the Exchange Program and it was so much fun. We took a huge bus with about forty or so students. Thankfully it had plenty of leg room as it took about three hours to get to our first stop. However, first the bus went on a ferry which was really cool. We were able to get off the bus and hang around the ferry. Since it was quite chilly, I didn’t stay outside too long.

We arrived to Cumalikizik, which is a village that is close to Bursa and it is at the foot of Mount Uludağ. This villages’s history goes back to the Ottoman Empire foundational period. It was a nice little village where we had a traditional breakfast and it was so delicious! It had bread, several types of cheese, honey, olives, a red sauce with peppers and more. I really enjoyed a potato with cheese stuffed inside. And of course Turkish tea! People here drink so much tea. I do need a few sugar cubes before I can drink it. We had about a half an hour of free time after we ate. A group of us went a direction, which I’m not sure why as the shops were the other way. But we followed a Turkish student. We ended up going up and down very icy and hilly roads for twenty minutes. I did not fall though one of my friends did. It was just the beginning of an exciting and interesting day.

We then went to Yeşil Türbe, which means Green Tomb. It is a mausoleum for the fifth Ottoman Sultan, Mehmed I. It was a very beautiful inside with many patterns though it was much more blue then green. Our last stop was to Ulu Cami, which is the largest mosque in Bursa. All the women had to cover their hair and everyone had to take off their shoes. Thankfully my sweater had a hood on it. This mosque was huge and so beautiful. It had twenty domes in four rows of five. Thanks to my Islamic Art and Architecture class and Women and Gender in Islam at Beloit, I was able to appreciate this and the other mosques greatly. We then had time to walk around for about an hour. My group ended up walking to a mall and got Turkish ice cream. It was so delicious, one scoop dark chocolate and one scoop Turkish coffee.

We were doing well on time. It was about five thiry and we were suppose to be back at eight. We got on the road and it was great until all of a sudden we pulled off to the side of the road. I look outside and see smoke coming from the bus! I wasn’t alarmed but then all the Turkish guys went outside to check it out. They were going to fix the problem themselves with the bus driver. At first they said it was the heater but then I heard it was the engine. They eventually collected everyone’s water bottles to cool something off. They had to fix several pipes also. I still really don’t know what happened but it delayed us about three hours. On the bus I talked with a variety of people which was nice. Though I was getting quite tired as it had been a long day. We got going again and we then stopped for some food. We then got to the ferry but it took a very long time to get on it. We got one and I got a toasted sandwich with cheese and salami which was quite good. However, I started chocking. I was coughing for a good five minutes. My face was so hot and I had tears. Finally the piece of bread went down but it was a bit scary!

We finally got home about midnight. It was a really great trip and it was wonderful getting to know more people. There is a weekend trip to Cappadocia in a few weeks which I am also excited for. My experiences here has been so amazing and it has only been about two weeks!

Such a wonderful breakfast

Inside the Yeşil Türbe

Inside Ulu Cami

Friends and Ice Cream!