Our weekend of adventuring began Friday night at midnight, when we all met at school and got on our busses. Not long after we left the school, music began blasting over the radio and true to Turkish form, a dance party broke out. On a moving bus at 1 in the morning. Now, my initial thought was, "Are you serious? 1 AM is not the time for a dance party." But one of the biggest things I've learned since coming here is just going with whatever is happening so that's what I did. I was content to just sit and watch because I have yet to master the art of dancing like a Turk and always end up feeling (and looking) really stupid, but the boy sitting in the seat across from me took it upon himself to make me dance, despite my protests. I ended up enjoying myself, although I definetely still can't dance, until I was able to slip away. The party finally ended around 3 when everyone fell asleep. I only managed to get about 3 hours of sleep that night and woke up just as we arrived in Bursa. I got to look at this new city in fascination as we headed up into the mountains for the start of our long day of sightseeing.
Our first stop was a village in the mountains that was over 600 years old, built and used in Ottoman times. It was exactly what I imagined when I thought of Turkey before I came here and I loved walking around and taking pictures. After we headed back into the city and headed to our next stop. We got to visit the tombs of several Ottoman leaders, including the tomb of the man who started the Ottoman Empire, which also housed the tombs of their children and wives. These buildings looked a lot like mosque from the outside and were intricately decorated and absolutely beautiful on the inside. It was interesting to realize just how much history I was standing in front of. We also got an incredible view of the city from these buildings, as they are on the top of a hill. Next we headed to a museum all about clocks and after that we visited a museum about the history of automobiles and their manufacturing here in Turkey. Both of those museums were interesting and had lots of cool stuff for us to take pictures of. We then went to a mosque/cemetery that was gorgeous and also had a beautiful view. We walked through some of the city on our way to a museum about the city of Bursa and its history and then continued on our walk until we reached our restaurant for lunch. We had Iskender Kebap for lunch, which is the famous kebab of Bursa. We then headed to our hotel, where we were told we could do whatever we wanted until dinner at 6:30. Because me and Priya were rooming together, we dropped our stuff off in our room and then headed out into the city together.
Our first stop in the cute little village in the mountains.
One of the tombs we visited.
The inside of one of the tombs. They were all so beautiful.
The tomb of the founder of the Ottoman Empire.
The entrance to another tomb. They were all just so beautiful.
Ottoman Turkish over the windows in one of the tombs.
Bursa looked exactly how I always imagined Turkey before I came here.
There were some pretty incredible views of the city.
We were just wandering with no real destination, exploring whatever we happened to stumble upon. As we were walking we saw a large glass pyramid and decided to check out what it was. Upon entering it, we realized it was an absolutely enormous mall. We had an extremely American moment as we both freaked out at the sight of a Starbucks and proceeded to wander around the many different floors of the mall for a bit. We then proceeded to wander the streets for the next two ish hours, seeing many beautiful and interesting things, getting very excited when we heard some people speaking English, and just talking. (I also had a random guy walking by tell me I was beautiful. A lot nicer than the usual catcalls and stares I get.) After quite a bit of wandering, we decided to head back to the Starbucks and be stereotypically American for awhile. My reunion with chai was wonderful and we thoroughly enjoyed the feelings of America that came from being in Starbucks again. We talked and laughed until we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.
Interesting spelling of my name at Starbucks number one.
Dinner was good, although I was still full from lunch, and soon another dance party began. I was once again dragged into it, but I enjoyed myself and impressed all of the other students when I knew one of the traditional Turkish dances. After we left, everyone hung out in various rooms and hallways, talking late into the night. Me and Priya joined various different groups and I really enjoyed talking with people and meeting many people who I probably wouldn't have otherwise met. We finally headed to bed around 1, in preparation for another big day.
Me and Priya all ready for the party. I love her so much and am so glad to have her with me to go on all these adventures.
After breakfast, we all loaded onto the busses again and started up into the mountains to Uludağ. We stopped on our way at a little town that houses an absolutely enormous, 600 year old tree, that is supposedly where the man who started the Ottoman Empire had a dream that told him to start it. We then continued up the mountain, more and more snow appearing after every turn and with Turkish pop music blasting. Seeing snow was very exciting, but not nearly as exciting as when I got to go skiing. As I absolutely love to ski, I was a little sad to be missing the ski season at home this year, so getting the oppurtunity to go, and in Turkey no less, was really awesome. We were able to rent jackets and pants and met some very nice guys who helped us get our boots on. After we bought our tickets, and after excitedly introducing ourselves to the guys in front of us who were speaking English, we headed up the mountain. The lifts for the easier slopes were a little different than what I was used to (you stayed on the ground and put the bar behind your butt and then were pulled up the mountain) so we had a little difficulty. After having the lift operator yell "Oturma, Oturma!" (Don't sit!) a few times we figured it out and only had minor troubles as we attempted not to fall over the rest of the way up. We went down various runs and eventually got onto some harder runs with lifts like what I was used to. We were gifted the most incredible view I have ever seen at the top of the loft and had to take a minute to stop, take it in and realize how incredibly lucky we are. We stopped on our way back from Uludağ and got lunch before going to another enormous mall for a bit. Me and Priya again wandered and then headed to the Starbucks before returning to the his for our 6 hour ride home.
The really big and really old tree.
There was a lot of snow!
A gorgeous view as we drove down the mountain.
Interesting spelling of my name at Starbucks number two. Apparently we are now Brye and Ke? We laughed for quite awhile about mine.
From when we went higher up on the mountain. It was gorgeous!
This picture does not even begin to do the view justice. It was so gorgeous. Also I got to look like a pumpkin in my rented jacket. Between me and Priya (who had neon green pants), we made quite the sight.
The ride home was long and somewhat brutal, but we spent it talking with some of the students in an interesting combination of Turkish and English until we finally arrived back in Aydin just after 2 AM.
I had so much fun on this trip and I am so glad that I went. Seeing all the history contained in that city was amazing,feeling the vibrancy of life there while walking around, seeing incredible views, and just talking for hours was such a wonderful experience. I would love to return to Bursa sometime, but I doubt it will happen this year, so it will definetely be on my list for when I come back again. I will never forget this trip and I am so glad I decided to go.
As always, thank you for reading! I hope you have a good week wherever you are! Hoşçakal!
