Bursa

 Ottoman Sultans' Mausoleum near the Green Mosque in Bursa. It was lovely to see the beautiful green/turquoise tiles.



Outside the Mausoleum. The Green Mosque closed to visitors. It is called the Green Mosque becuase of the colour of the tiles used. We saw the same tiles in the Mausoleum next door. Our tour director took us to another mosque which was intersting to see. I had to cover my head and we had to take off our shoes.



We were taken through a mosque in Bursa , which was very interesting .We felt welcome, even though we were tourists.

 Lovely open spaces for the worshippers in this mosque. This is the Ottoman influence that is found in Turkey. The Arabic mosques (  with Moorish influence) that we saw in Spain, have lots of pillars and as a result, a much less open feeling.

Bursa markets

We spent some free time in this market next to the mosque in Bursa.

Turkey has a big textile industry. These were lovely shirts. Should have bought some but it was such an effort in the cold weather, for Rick to try them on and work out the sizes.

Leaving Bursa took longer than schedules because of the snowfall. The roads were congested as they are apparently not used to so much snow in this area. We were delayed about 4 hours in total today, but we were still  able to  fit in everything on the itinerary.

This is the hotel we stayed in Bursa. It was a modern  5-star hotel, designed in the style of an ancient caravansary on the Silk Road. This is looking out on the open courtyard where the traders would have gathered. The rooms are around the outside of the quadrangle area. The pool is a little snowed in!

Waiting to catch the car ferry across the Marmara Sea to Istanbul. We were amusing ourselves while waiting for the ferry by singing ABBA songs. By the time we reached Istanbul, the sun came out and the snow disappeared.