Larry's solo travels - December 2009

Erzurum

While I headed back to the States in December, Larry traveled to two Turkish cities to deliver lectures, courtesy of the U.S. State Department.

The first of his travels involved a plane trip to Erzurum, in the eastern mountainous region of Turkey. As this was a December trip, and winter there essentially begins in October, he was expecting snow, and was not disappointed. Erzurum is a well known ski area for Turkish and European winter sports people.

Ataturk University was the site of his first lecture, entitled “The Meaning and Challenge of the Declaration of Independence.” One of the graduate students attending his lecture later emailed Larry, informing him that she and her colleagues refer to Larry as the “cool man.”

After his lecture, Larry was able to visit two historical sites in the old city, which was the location of Ataturk’s 1919 rallying cry for Turkish Independence. Photos of the two medrese (theological seminaries) can be located at: www.anatolianphotos.shutterfly.com under “Larry’s solo travels.”

The first medrese, Cifti Minareli Medrese (Twin Minaret Seminary) dates from the 13th century and served as an Islamic theological seminary. It is an example of symmetrical Seljuk architecture, with minarets decorated in elaborate small blue tiles, an open courtyard, large central dome, and multiple arches.

The second medrese, Yakutiye, is somewhat more recent, dating from 1310, and served as a Mongol theological seminary. Its tiled minaret, also blue, is a fine example of early elaborate tile work.

After his visit, Larry watched the sky as it turned steely gray, fully expecting to have some unwanted adventures in this cold, mountainous area. Having just finished Orhan Pamuk’s book, Kar (Snow), in which a journalist gets stranded for several days in a blizzard in Kars, a city not that far from Erzurum, I understood Larry’s concern. As there was, in fact, a snow-related delay at the airport, Larry settled down to some people watching, observing that the large number of conservatively dressed people (including some women in shadoor) seemed to be grouped in large families, or “clans.” They were praying, drinking holy water, and otherwise seeming to observe religious and close family rituals as they, too, waited at the airport. As it turned out, large groups of people had come to greet family members returning from the Hajj, or religious pilgrimage to Mecca.

Bursa

Not long after his return from Erzurum, Larry headed by bus to Bursa, the first capital city of the Ottoman Empire (before Edirne and Constantinople). Larry, Anna and I had visited Bursa on our last trip to Turkey in 1995. It is particularly known as a central resting/meeting/trading spot on the Silk Road. Today, it is still a textile center for the country, one I am sorry to have missed this time around.

My memory of Bursa, beside the snow and the cold (it was winter then too), is of elaborate tombs of early Sultans, as well as an ancient silk trading center, the Koza Han, still home to small shops selling colorful silk scarves and other textiles. In ancient times, the Koza Han was a bustling center particularly for the purchase of silk cocoons. A “han” serves not only as a commercial center, but as a resting place for merchants and their pack animals traveling along the Silk Road. They were constructed within one day’s camel trip of each other.

Outside the Han, the city center is particularly beautiful, with cobbled walkways and elegant fountains. The year we were last there, the center had recently won a national award for renovation of a city municipal center. At some point, I would like to visit again on a warm, sunny day.

Larry, alas, had little time for sightseeing on this trip. Instead, he focused on his talk at Uludag University (named after the looming mountain nearby), entitled, “The Meaning of Barack Obama’s Election.” Larry was particularly impressed with the depth of the students’ questions after the talk.