Day Tripper

Dear Diary,
A day to remember when Robin and I played tourist. 

Up early for a Sunday, to be in Ortakoy by 9am, waiting for the mini bus coach tour to collect us for our day out to Bursa!  Weather calm, but not very sunny.  After about 40 minutes on the road, we took the ferry to Yalova. I love the way seagulls hover so close to catch the crumbs thrown into the air by fellow passengers....(extra).  

Past Yalova, another hour in the bus before we arrived in Bursa and drove straight to nearby Uludağ mountain.  Driving up the long and winding mountain road we stopped to visit an organic chestnut honey making place and the famous 600 year old Chestnut tree (extra), and a jam making place (I bought some rose jam!) and lunch in a, well, large mountain shack really - before finally arriving at the area of the mountain where all the hotels are; - Uludağ is a popular ski resort in Turkey - though of course in late May all the slopes were bare of snow, though still noticeably chillier than in Bursa itself.  

For me the highlight was riding in the cable car all the way back down the mountain and in to the town of Bursa, though none of the photos were up to much as they were taken through smoked, scratched and dirty cabin windows - hey ho - but today's pic gives you the idea...   

Once in Bursa we visited the Green Mosque, had a wander, and ended up in the prettiest tourist shop I think I've ever seen, before finally getting back on the bus and heading home to Istanbul, as we had come.

(There is a good entry on Wikipedia for both Bursa and Uladag mountain but I can't add a link because Wikipedia is banned in Turkey.)