Day 18 - Istanbul to Bursa

We woke up to a wet miserable day today so our tour director decided to put off our cruise of the Bosphros until we come back to Istanbul in a couple of weeks. After navigating some very busy traffic we visited the Haghia Shophia. The traffic is worse than anything I have experienced in Asia. The Site is now a museum first it was a Christian church for 1000 years then converted to a mosque for 480 years. It is interesting to see the two religions combined in this one building. 

Istanbul is huge and the Europe side seems to be a lot poorer than the Asian side. We drove through both continents and saw some depressing and also some wonderful sites. Although Turkey is 99% Muslim it is illegal to wear a turban/headscarf if you are working in a public service, school, university, police etc. you also cant be married in a mosque it is illegal. In the past 85 years they have change from Islamic law and calendar etc which apparently 80% of the population are now happy with. 

We drove to Iznick, famous biblical Nicaea and on route stopped for lunch. We caught the ferry across the Bay of Izmit which took about 40 minutes. The First Council of Nicaea was the first ecumenical council of the Church. Most significantly, it resulted in the first, uniform Christian doctrine, called the Creed of Nicaea.

 

 

In Bursa we visited the Grand Mosque before strolling around the Grand Bazar. Bursa was once the capital city of the Ottoman Empire. All up today we travelled 240km. Our hotel is very nice and has hot springs and a Turkish Bath. Dinner was wonderful, a selection of Turkish dips and meze dishes.

 

 

Early stat tomorrow as we drive 400km to Ankara. J&N