Bursa, dinner
Our stroll down the hill in Bursa brought us to the old Jewish district. The area is well preserved and its main street is lined with restaurants, seemingly belonging mostly to the same owner, Arap Sukru Cetin. As we enjoyed our dinner, across the aisle four men enjoyed their dinner that is so typical in Turkey. It starts slow, with small appetizers, small sips of raki, chit-chat; then the conversation moves either in the direction of politics or singing, in either case getting louder. Luckily for us (and quite possibly for themselves) they chose the latter and joined by two street musicians with their clarinet and the small drum, darbuka. I observed them as I enjoyed my meal and the conversation at our table.
In singing traditional Turkish music, the singer’s head, especially that of the amateurs, moves in predictable manner; down for low notes, up for high, occasionally moving side to side much more rapidly than the rhythm would indicate. The length of time of down or up state depends on the length of the note. Clapping occasionally enters the scene keeping rhythm with the drummer (at least some of the time.) The group certainly enjoyed themselves and I was interested in capturing the gesture, the movement of the music with my camera. They knew I was taking photographs but mostly ignored me, thank you guys. I did not know who they were, I will not meet them again in all likelihood. I hope they accidentally find their way to this page and remember the good time they had.
A walk in Bursa
After visiting the Ulu Cami (The Grand Mosque) and Koza Han (see the earlier post about them), we strolled through the streets of Bursa. With a detour to see where Ergun lived when he was a young boy, we walked down the hill to a restaurant in the old Jewish district. We left Koza Han from one of its highly ornate gates. In contrast to the one we used to enter the structure, this was huge and highly ornate. I am not sure which one is the main gate. Outside, the local merchants displayed a variety of wares for sale and the passers by showed interest in the items. It was late afternoon, early evening. People made stops for snacks, or walked at a quick pace towards home; at least I thought they were going home. Those who had time to linger found places to perch like the young couple under the very old tree outside the Grand Mosque (Ulu Cami).
As we walked down the hill, I saw one of the many fountains in the city. This was mostly spraying mist, creating a little comfort zone for those who want to pause to rest. I wanted to capture the water in different states, in frozen time with droplets visible and in slow motion where moving water becomes like cotton candy. This is normally a reasonably simple thing to do by using a fast or slow shutter speed. The first was easy, the second proved more challenging as I did not have my tripod with me. The slow shutter speed photographs are taken with camera hand-held at 1/2 to 1/8 of a second. I could still hold the camera steady at those speeds.
Then we passed a statue and a small area dedicated to Cemal Nadir Guler, a cartoonist of my childhood who entered the psyche of the population with a character Amcabey. Through his cartoon art, he commented on various aspects of life in his time. I did not know that he died at the age of 45.
Bursa
We left Tenedos on June 23, the ferry fares are paid both ways on the way back from the island. Not a bad idea at all. We drove through Çan (Chan), Biga (Big-ah), Karacabey (Karadja-bay), to Bursa with a lunch stop at Biga. Bursa is the original capitol of the Ottoman Empire and served in that capacity before Edirne, and later Constantinople. It used to be a relatively small city famous for its silk and Turkish towels. Now, its population is pushing 2 million and it has become a hustle and bustle city with heavy traffic. Ergun had made reservations at one of the nicest and oldest hotels, Hotel Gonluferah. Located in the Çekirge district, overlooking the rest of the city. For those interested (at least in the winter) it has thermal baths inside.
After a brief rest, we took a cab to one of the big attractions in Bursa, Ulu Cami (The Grand Mosque). It lived up to its name, both in size and in its appeal to many not only as a place of worship but also a social gathering place. Ergun told us that it had always served as a meeting place for people. I saw some men and women in prayer, some meditating, some chatting and socializing, one young boy was sitting down in a corner busy Read more
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