31/07/2008

More about ice cream...


Another shot of the ice cream seller, this time serving the ice cream for a customer. As the ice cream is very sticky, sometimes they play games by keeping the ice cream on the stick when the customer tries to take it. This customer was lucky though and got his ice cream straight away.

30/07/2008

Row of Empties


These empty tea glasses were outside a jewellers shop. People from the tea house deliver tea to surrounding shopkeepers in their shops, then when they have finished they put them outside to be collected.

29/07/2008

Happy Choppper


Like Lamia explained in an earlier post, Turkish ice cream has quite a different texture to other kinds of ice cream. In fact it has to be chopped up with a big knife like you can see here. When I first saw these blocks I didn't realise they were ice cream, it even looks like it could be cheese.

28/07/2008

Pier at the Montanya hotel


During the summer the Montanya hotel in Mudanya sets up its restaurant on the pier behind the hotel. We wanted to go there at the weekend but as you can see the weather was a bit too wild! After a hot sunny day, the evening turned out wet and windy. Only two intrepid diners are braving the weather.

27/07/2008

Cooling Down


Everyone is trying to find a way to cool down at the moment, not just the birds from yesterday! These boys were playing in a fountain in front of the silk market in the centre of town.

26/07/2008

Having a bath


Cooling down in the hot weather. I think someone put the bucket out for them to drink out of, but the one with its wings out jumped in and took a bath.

25/07/2008

Warning


This sign was next to a building site. They managed to pack a lot of warnings onto one sign!

24/07/2008

Campers on Uludag


"uludag is the famous mountain 45 minutes from Bursa center...and now it is the camping season for who has the courage like the campers in the photo....they are saying that there are some bearssssssss..."

23/07/2008

Yesil mosque garden


They are relaxing in the garden next to the Green Mosque in Yesil. It is a very peaceful place to sit and shady with the many trees.

22/07/2008

Is Bank


"here is  one of the branch of The Turkish Republic first bank  called Turkish Work Bank..."

21/07/2008

Dondurma


"ice cream ;dondurma in turkish..there is a special one from the city of Kahramanmaras..and has got a sinewy texture..it is unique because it is made of  sahlep -finely ground dried tubers of locally wild orchids-the ingredient that provides smoothness and that makes ice cream chewy..you can see in the photo the wooden boxes of it..nest time we will take the photo "

20/07/2008

Bursa is still green


"bursa is still defending itself....it is still green not like before but still tries to survive..."

19/07/2008

Dikkaldirim market


Every neighbourhood has its own fresh fruit and vegetable market. This one in Dikkaldirim is held on Sundays and Thursdays. Going to the market is an amazing experience at the moment, every stall is overflowing with produce.

18/07/2008

Bathtime


A different view of the hamam in Çekirge, this time from the other side.

By the way we promised pictures inside the hamam... in fact we still didn't manage it because the inside is very humid with all the steam. We are still working out how to stop the camera from steaming up!

17/07/2008

Folk Dance Competition


These banners are advertising the international folk dance competition which is taking place at the moment.

16/07/2008

Borderless Çay!


"For turkish breakfast is important and they are eating a big one..especially for the weekends they are going out for bruch..here it writes: brunch every saturday and sunday for 15 ytl which is 7 euros and 50 centimes..you can drink tea without limit..we have 30 different types of mermelads,cheeses,eggs etc...

good price...let's enterrrrrrrr"

15/07/2008

Past Times


"beautiful antique objects from an old bazaar in bursa.....i miss my grandmother...."

14/07/2008

Another Tea Garden


This is an old tea garden in the heart of Bursa called Mahfel...maybe more than hundred years old..renovated so many times but the atmosphere is still the same...you can relax and drink a cup of tea under these old trees wishing that they can talk ,tell stories about what they have been witnessed all these years...

13/07/2008

Fields


I took this just outside the town, where there is still a lot of agricultural land. The fields look so neat and ordered. I think the trees on the right are olive trees - a lot of olives are produced around the Bursa area.

11/07/2008

Time for a rest


This corner looks like a nice place to sit for a while...
The benches are built into the wall and covered with carpet to make a perfect place for sitting outside in hot weather.

10/07/2008

Heykel


This statue is of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish republic. The square is called 'heykel' which means statue.

09/07/2008

Modern Street


To contrast with yesterday's old quarter photo, here is a street in a more modern area. This neighbourhood was developed around 20-25 years ago. Is this more like what you expect when you think of Turkey from abroad?

08/07/2008

Quiet Street


A quiet street in the old district of Yesil.

07/07/2008

Watermelon


The watermelon season has arrived and here they are on the market. The smallest ones weigh 8kg. I think you need a truck just to take one home...

05/07/2008

Green Tomb


This beautiful tomb is in Yesil, opposite the Green Mosque. It is closed for refurbishment at the moment, as you can see from this part which has been finished, they are doing a good job.

04/07/2008

Tram Stop


This is a station platform of the BursaRay tram. It is underground in the centre and after this station it emerges above ground. There is still so much light coming in at 8pm! I don't know when the BursaRay was built, but it still seems quite new.

03/07/2008

Çiçek Izgara


Besides kebab, another favourite Turkish food is meatballs (köfte). This restaurant is one of the most well-known places in Bursa to eat köfte.

The name means 'Flower Grill' because of its location opposite the flower market.

02/07/2008

Look no ropes!


Look carefully, there is a man on the roof of this building. It looks a bit precarious to me!

01/07/2008

Famous Bursa Peaches


Finally it is the season of the peaches. Bursa is famous for its enormous and delicious peaches, and in the past the Bursa plains were full of peach trees. Here they are in the supermarket...