bursa

we really enjoyed our little getaway to bursa this weekend, where some good friends were married on friday night.

we arrived at the hilton - which was only a month old - on friday afternoon and had some time to relax in our beautiful room and get ready for the wedding.  this was emre's first formal event, so we made sure to dress him for the occasion!

adorable in argyle

the wedding was absolutely beautiful.  it took place at the altinceylan - a venue for weddings and gatherings that is set inside a park in downtown bursa.  one thing i loved about this city - the original capitol of the ottoman empire - was how  green it was, covered in old trees with parks everywhere.

yay safa & allison!

safa is one of ben's best friends from binghamton - they met when they were both working on their mba's. safa is from bursa, so he and allison decided to have their wedding here, and they'll also have a celebration this fall in san francisco, where she's from.  we wish we could attend both!  

the excited father of the bride

we arrived just in time to say a quick hello to safa and allison before the ceremony began.  allison's dad was seated at our table, so we got to meet him as well as some of allison's co-workers who came from new york.  ben and i really enjoyed chatting with them throughout the evening.

groom about to make his entrance

saying evet

i'm not sure if it was the beautiful ceremony, watching two awesome people get hitched, the exhaustion or the simple fact that this was my first adult outing in far too long, but i was a total WRECK at this wedding.  i cried when they walked out to van morrison's 'crazy love,' and then some more when they had their first dance to bobby darin's 'somewhere beyond the sea' (give me some credit - it was incredibly romantic with their choreographed steps and the fireworks going off outside).

a fabulous first dance

when i went to kiss safa on the cheek, i tripped and we bumped faces.  every time i saw allison, the only words i could manage were 'BEAUTIFUL!' and that was not spoken, but sung.  luckily i had a chance to explain, and act a little more sane, at brunch the next morning.   and it did give both ben and i a good laugh.  he thought i should have continued popping up with 'beautiful!' throughout the night and at brunch the next morning, with the addition of jazz hands.  again - we hadn't been out in a long time!

greeting their guests

showing off the ring

emre actually slept through the entire evening, so we got to enjoy our dinner and conversation, which was amazing.  he woke up just in time to make an appearance before we ducked out early to put him to bed back at the hotel.  

binghamton buds

the next day, after brunch, we explored downtown bursa a bit before heading to the hotel.  ben had noticed they had a 'game floor' the night before, where there are 4 formula one style racing cars set up with hydraulics and three screens.  he of course had to try it out.

like a kid in a candy shop

and he's off

hanging in the room while daddy finished his 'race'

we then hit the road to visit with a colleague who recently retired - someone we respect very much.  he and his wife invited us to their home, in the hills above bursa, for coffee. we had a lovely visit with an incredible view!

atilla bey & serpil hanim - she baked all of this for us - incredible!

after our visit we decided to head over to the coast.  we took the long way around, through a bunch of beautiful orchards.  it reminded me a bit of california... definitely a different turkey from the brown & dry ankara where we live!

plum, pear or peach trees?

poppies were growing everywhere in bursa

so green

we ended up at the marmara sea, where we stopped at a fish restaurant recommended by a friend for an early supper.

marmara sea

felt like big sur

mama is exhausted

the dinner was delicious - the perfect end to a relaxing day.  actually - the perfect end was my foot massage back at the hotel spa, a mother's day gift from ben!

we spent sunday driving home.  emre took a 3 hour long nap...

...before ben decided it was his turn to take the wheel for a bit!

look ma, no hands!

it was the perfect weekend away, and the perfect first mother's day!