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.

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.

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 with what appeared to be his cell phone. Binnaz and Jan bought headscarves to appropriately cover their heads. and we all took off our shoes before entering the mosque.

From there we walked to the nearby Koza Han, a very old structure built as a place for accommodations as well as for trade. Its architecture reflects early Ottoman sensibilities and displays beautiful masonry arches over the hallways. It is filled with shops of different sizes, focusing on textiles, mostly silk. After we strolled on the second floor, which is at the road level from the entrance, we walked down the stairs to go to the center courtyard. Under a large plane tree, we enjoyed some refreshments and walked down the hill to see the location where Ergun lived when he was a little boy.

The house he lived in was no longer there, neither was the bakery where he used to help at the counter. Continuing our walk down the hill, we ended up at the old Jewish district and settled at one of the famous restaurants there. The food was OK, just, bet the cool drink felt good. After dinner, a cab took us back to Gonluferah.

The next day, I drove us to Yalova and caught the ferry to Pendik. After that it was an easy ride home. Below are some photographs I took along the way.