Tea Garden

A tearoom in Yesil, next to the famous Yesil Cami (green mosque) which Queen Elizabeth entered on her visit to Bursa. From the tearoom there is a fantastic view of the Bursa plain (to follow tomorrow). The metal thing you can see on the right side of the picture is an old tea urn.

What struck me about this tearoom is it was the first place for a few weeks I have seen people smoking. There is now a smoking ban in many public places and you can really notice a difference. It will not be implemented in bars and restaurants until next year, but already many places have become smoke free.

View towards Mudanya

"another view from beautiful hills of mudanya ..."

Sunset

"finally hot weather came (really hot) and beautiful sunny days and lovely sunsets...

Commute

Driving home after a busy day at work.

Corn

"here is a typical corn seller ..a sunny sunday from Mudanya....normally heree they eat boiled salty corns...yamyamyam.."

Ferry to Istanbul

Today I came to Istanbul to meet some friends at the airport. The quickest way to get to Istanbul from Bursa is this ferry, which takes 1hour 20 minutes. It leaves from a place called Güzelyali, which is next to Mudanya and about 20 minutes driving from the centre. This ferry route opened last year and has made getting to Istanbul much quicker.

Mountain view

Bursa has many corners with views like this, as it is built on the side of the mountain. It's nice to be able to see some green even from the centre of the city.