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Published: September 18th 2004
Happy Fool
This is me on the ferry from Istanbul to Yalova (on the way to Bursa, a path I took many times while in highschool), looking like a complete tool and forming runon sentences.Bursa... It's changed somewhat since I went to school here back in '95: it's mostly gotten more crowded, but it's still teeming with charm.
Six of my classmates got together on this past sunday to visit the school again; I invited myself to stay over, and I stayed in my old room with the new crowd for 3 days. It's hard to believe these guys are 9 years younger than me; I guess I'm getting old.
The city has its back to a mountain so if you're willing to walk about 30 minutes uphill from the city center you find yourself in the middle of woods and streams. My kind of city. There's a big park (Kulturpark) which hosts many tea gardens which serve well-tended water pipes (my new-found favorite pastime). Everything is so central and close to each other that I haven't had to use any form of transportation to get around so far. Bursa was the first capital of the Ottoman empire so it's teeming with historical buildings such as the Ulu Camii and Yesil mosque. There seems to be the tomb of some saint/holy-personage or turkish bath around every corner. It's a pity the old unique "Bursa Houses" are falling into disrepair and being replaced by ugly concrete. I can't help wondering what happened to the artifacts from the Byzantine city of Brusa, though. Oh, and the girls here are beautiful too. I get stares from most everyone on the street due to my beard, and as I'm notoriously bad at discerning scorn from friendliness I haven't figured them out yet.
I've been hanging around here since last sunday, making a routine for myself and contemplating life. I'm unsure of my next move, but I'll probably be heading out towards Canakkale and the Dardanelles.
Bursa's a cool town; definitely worth a couple days' visit if you're planning a trip to Turkey, and wouldn't be such a bad town to settle down in either.
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anonymous
non-member comment
What, no pictures?
Hey, Ozgur! This is Andrei. Nice to hear from you. Did you finally get a digital camera for your trip? It would cool to see some pictures of places you've visited or still planning to visit. I've got your postcard from Turkey and posted it on your office door as you wanted. Looking forward to hear more about your adventures! Take care :-)