by Dennis | December 30, 2014 | Culture and History
As 2014 comes to a close, we can confidently say that it’s been a good year in Bursa. A lot of good things have happened this year that are helping to put Bursa on the map as a must-visit destination in Turkey. For example, the newly reconstructed cable car...
by Dennis | December 26, 2014 | Friday’s Fotoğrafı
In this week’s featured photo, members of a traditional Turkish marching troop (mehter takımı) stand in downtown Bursa with bells in hand. Called çevgan, this musical marching instrument consists of rings of bells attached to a long stick. These men are part of...
by Dennis | December 22, 2014 | Thoughts and Musings
There are times when living as a foreigner among Turkish people is really enjoyable. Like when they stop you in the street, shake your hand, and ask you to sit down for a cup of tea. Or when they bend down to greet your children with a kiss and a pinch on the...
by Dennis | December 19, 2014 | Friday’s Fotoğrafı
The clock tower at Tophane proudly stands in Bursa’s old citadel near the tombs of Osman Gazi and Orhan Gazi. First built during the reign of Sultan Abdülaziz (1861-1876), the original clock tower was destroyed. The existing clock tower was rebuilt in 1904 and...
by Dennis | December 16, 2014 | News and Events
Last week, it seemed like every professional and amateur photographer within a 3-country radius had descended on Bursa. The streets were full of people with big cameras hanging around their necks snapping photos in all directions. This, of course, included me—except...
by Dennis | December 15, 2014 | Miscellany
Good news, fellow pinners! You can now follow The Best of Bursa on Pinterest! It’s our attempt to pin all things Bursa in one place—or at least it’s an attempt to pin many things Bursa in one place. Please check out our boards, repin a couple of our pins, give us a...
by Dennis | December 12, 2014 | Friday’s Fotoğrafı
There are more than a dozen hans scattered throughout Bursa’s downtown bazaar complex. Çukur Han is one of my favorites. Maybe one of the reasons I like it so much is that it’s a little hard to find. Tucked away among the bazaar’s booths and shops, the front...
by Dennis | December 9, 2014 | Bursa's Delightful People
“You can taste it if you want, but I don’t recommend it,” my friend Arif warned me in Turkish as we walked through one of his olive groves. Or at least that’s what I thought he said. I had just pulled a green olive off one of his trees and was closely examining it,...
by Dennis | December 5, 2014 | Friday’s Fotoğrafı
This woman sits along the shore of Uluabat Lake in Gölyazı, happily making nets for the village’s fishermen. When I asked if I could snap her picture, she warmly agreed. “Lots of people like to take my picture,” she said. “I walked into a place one day in Bursa and...
by Dennis | December 2, 2014 | Bursa's Neat Places
We’d been hearing from friends and neighbors for some time that we needed to take a night and visit Arap Şükrü, the famous seafood alley off of Altıparmak Avenue in the shadow of Tophane. The problem we’d been having, though, is that when the clock strikes...
