bursa to iznik to istanbul 10 november

Bursa to Iznik to Istanbul - 10 November

We had another leisurely beginning to our day and didn't have to be on

the bus until 8:30. None of this 2:30 stuff for us, thank you very

much! We checked out of the hotel and made a quick stop in the city at

the Green Mosque which is considered one of the great works of Ottoman

architecture. It was built between 1419 and 1423. The walls are

covered with bluish-green tiles - ipso facto, the name. While we were

in the mosques, sirens sounded throughout the city to alert people

that it was 9:05 am. The was the exact time on November 10th that

Ataturk died in 1938 (he died of cirrhosis of the liver due to heavy

drinking). Every year, on the 10th at 9:05 the city comes to a halt

and observes two minutes of silence in his honor. Bora told us what

was going on but continued to tell us about the mosque rather than

observe the two minutes of silence.

We left Bursa after the mosque and drove for two hours to Iznik. The

countryside was gorgeous and we enjoyed the scenery - especially the

many groves of olive trees. Iznik is a farming community that was once

the seat of empires founded in 316 BC. It was once a celebrated place

for tiles (as seen in the Blue Mosque in Istanbul) during the 16th

century. It is trying to make a comeback as a tile center for Turkey.

We stopped at the Turkish Tile Museum and saw some beautiful examples

of the tile that used to be made. Then we went to a small workshop

where tiles are being made using the 16th century methods. The owner

gave us a fascinating overview of the process and then made his

showroom available to us even though they were supposed to be closed

today (Saturday). It was stunningly beautiful but expensive. It takes

45 days to make a tile so the prices are reflected in that fact.

After the tile workshop, we made a quick stop in the city center of

Iznik to see the ruins of St. Sophia church which was built in the 4th

century. We were only able to walk around the perimeter of the

structure since it was closed due to the weekend. After St. Sophia we

headed the bus towards Istanbul for a three hour drive back. We

stopped at lunch at a place that was still equipped to handle tourists

and enjoyed a tasty meal of chicken and tomatoes. A quick ferry ride

across the Marmara Sea and we settled in for a long ride back to the

city.

The rain started to pour as we approached Istanbul. This was

unfortunate because many students on the bus were being dropped off at

the Grand Bazaar so that they could experience it. They hadn't

realized that the bazaar was going to be closed on Sunday and this was

their only opportunity to visit it. The rest of us went back to the

ship and stood in line in the pouring rain to get through the security

check on the ship. Once on the ship, I changed into warm, dry clothes

as soon as possible. It felt wonderful to be warm again. The rest of

the evening was very low key getting caught up on e-mail and having