My body celebrated as I left Amsterdam for Istanbul. The binge had been fun, but a scratchy throat signaled that it was time to depart. On Monday morning I dropped my passport and visa application off at the Indian Consulate in Istanbul. I would be invited to return for the passport a week hence.
Now I had one week to spend in Turkey. Although Turkey is an amazing country to visit, I had spent a total of one month exploring most corners of the country four years prior and so didn’t feel to pressured to sightsee.
I opted to take refuge three hours south of Istanbul in Bursa, a mid-size town known for its textiles and auto parts production. It is not on the tourist trail and so a good place to experience an alternative taste of Turkey while I nursed my cold and minimized my Turkish Lira outlay.
I wandered Bursa’s centre in the evening void of any agenda or direction. Momentarily inspired, I entered a ‘cultural centre on the main drag’, appropriately named – Ataturk Caddesi.
There was a cool art exhibition. I spent several minutes browsing the frames in attempt to decipher the contest prompt or theme. My best guess was that artists were told to: ‘create a caricature of the irony of consumerism’.
My monopoly on the display was soon broken by the entrance a young woman. She was will dressed and walked around snapping shots of cartoons with her iPhone. We exchanged smiles and as quickly as she arrived, she was gone.
Now I had one week to spend in Turkey. Although Turkey is an amazing country to visit, I had spent a total of one month exploring most corners of the country four years prior and so didn’t feel to pressured to sightsee.
I opted to take refuge three hours south of Istanbul in Bursa, a mid-size town known for its textiles and auto parts production. It is not on the tourist trail and so a good place to experience an alternative taste of Turkey while I nursed my cold and minimized my Turkish Lira outlay.
I wandered Bursa’s centre in the evening void of any agenda or direction. Momentarily inspired, I entered a ‘cultural centre on the main drag’, appropriately named – Ataturk Caddesi.
There was a cool art exhibition. I spent several minutes browsing the frames in attempt to decipher the contest prompt or theme. My best guess was that artists were told to: ‘create a caricature of the irony of consumerism’.
My monopoly on the display was soon broken by the entrance a young woman. She was will dressed and walked around snapping shots of cartoons with her iPhone. We exchanged smiles and as quickly as she arrived, she was gone.