From Kütahya to Eskişehir … and a Stroll in Kent Park

Saturday, 13 October (Part I)

The usual routine for a trip Mui and I take to Turkey — assuming we travel together — is to fly into İstanbul and then go our separate ways … he to Ankara; me to İzmir.  We do this because with limited vacation time, we each want to spend as much time as possible with our respective families.

A one hour bus ride for 10TL (~$5) is an inexpensive and easy way to travel from Kütahya to Eskİşehİr.

This year, we flew to İzmir together because Mui’s mother was at the beach house in Narlıdere, a suburb of İzmir.  Two days later, he went to the coastal Mediterranean city of Antalya with his mom and aunt; and I traveled to Kütahya with my mom a couple of days after they left.  (See posts previous to this one for that portion of the trip.)

Mui’s trips to Turkey always include a short visit with his sister and her family.  They live in Eskişehir (literally, Old City — with a history that dates back to the Phrygians, who settled the area in 1000 BC, it’s an appropriate name).  This year was no exception.  Since Eskişehir is a mere 48-mile (77 km) bus ride from Kütahya, mom and I included it in our itinerary.  After all, the last time I was there was for the wedding of Mui’s niece — that was many, many years ago.

the route for our bus trip … A = İzmİr || B = Kütahya || C = Eskİşehİr.
(we are in the metropolitan municipality of the city, which is the
seat of government for the province by the same name.)

With the background in place, on with our day.

Mui and his mother were going to take the 8:00a fast train from Ankara to Eskişehir, arriving around 9:30a.  So, Mom and I opted for an 8:00a departure from the bus depot in Kütahya, arriving a half-hour before them and giving us time to settle into our overnight accommodations.

Shortly after 7:00a, we left the Hilton Garden Inn with our luggage in tow.  Simit Sarayı, where we’d been enjoying breakfast every morning, had barely opened its doors when I walked in to pick up a couple of açma to-go.  (Click the photo to visit the source site for more information on this yummy pastry; it’s great with a slice of beyaz peynir [feta cheese].)

We showed up at the Kütahyalılar (the bus company) ticket office at 7:15a as directed.  In hindsight, we could have delayed our arrival by 15-20 minutes and it wouldn’t have been a problem since the shuttle to the bus terminal didn’t show up until well after 7:30a.  At that hour of the morning, there was little traffic and 10 minutes later we were boarding a comfortable coach for the ride to Eskişehir.

Işıl had told us to ask the bus driver to drop us off on the roadside near the main entrance to Anadolu University where she teaches.  So that’s what we did.  She was already waiting for us in her car and quickly whisked us to the on-campus guest lodge where she had made reservations for our overnight stay.  After a light breakfast together in the dining room, she left us to get settled in and went home to greet the rest of her guests — Mui and their mom.

Left: Don’t be fooled by this picture; the guest lodge is built into a hill and goes down
two stories in the back.  There’s also a hotel on the university grounds.

Right: my room; mom’s room is a twin of this, but at the other end of the building.
60 TL (~$33) per night; downright cheap for a clean, en suite room with a balcony.

One of the two lounges where one might enjoy a drink and conversation.

It didn’t take us long to settle into our rooms.  With an hour to spare before Mui was scheduled to come by, Mom and I went for a stroll around the university campus.  What a great place!  Certainly nothing like the university I went to in Ankara back in the mid-1970s — no garden there to sit outside and enjoy the sunshine.  Here we found manicured grounds, meandering pathways shaded by trees, wide open green spaces, a terraced fountain, and sculptures installed around the campus.

The tea garden is located in a park-like setting across from the guest lodge.

Scenes from the university campus.

Around 10:30a, Mui and his nephew, Kerim, showed up with the final member of our party — my nephew, Hakan, who is studying electrical engineering at Hacettepe University in Ankara.  Having taken a day off from his studies, he had come to Eskişehir to spend the day with us.

After chatting for a few minutes, we piled into Kerim’s car and drove to Kent Park (City Park), the first stop of the very full itinerary Işıl and Mui had planned for our visit.

Covering nearly 75 acres (300,000 m²), Kent Park is one of the major projects undertaken by the city’s beloved mayor, Yılmaz Büyükerşen.  The dammed up portion of the Porsuk River — with the addition of sand, lounge chairs, and umbrellas — serves to give the people of this land-locked city the beach experience they crave … artificial though it might be.

Aerial view of Kent Park and the 1,150 feet (350 m) long artificial beach area.
[scanned from the brochure]

We weren’t there for the beach experience, however.  Meeting up with other members of Mui’s family — his mom, sister, and niece — we strolled around the extensive grounds, following the paved trails that run throughout.

The perimeter fence encircling Kent Park is said to be inspired by the great parks of England.

left: The flower girl who greets us just inside the gate gets a kiss from Mui.
(the statue was sculpted by Mayor Yılmaz Büyükerşen himself.)

Right: the paving stones can be a bit dizzying if you look at them for long.

The island in the center of the pond is home to a ‘Bathing Beauty’.

Photo Op at the Kent Park beach with mom (far left) and Işıl.

Eventually, we found ourselves in a section of the park that held interactive scientific experiments that turned out to be quite popular with many members of our group.

Mui and his mom check out the water wheel that diverts water in two directions.

In the absence of an experiment that would allow Hakan to utilize his electrical
engineering skills, figuring out how the sand scooper works will have to do.

Kerim takes a hands-off approach while mom works a water-drill (left),
and later assists hakan with ‘added weight’ to get the piston pumping.

Having had our fill of fun — for the time being — we set out to sate our grumbling tummies at Has Kırım Çibörekçisi, a popular restaurant on the grounds of Kent Park.

lunch at Has Kırım Çİbörekçİsİ.

Börek, in general, is a baked or deep fried turnover filled with a variety of savories.

Çibörek is a traditional dish that was brought to Eskişehir by the Crimean Tatars who immigrated here (hence the name of the restaurant).  It is often misspelled as “çiğ” (raw) börek.  Trust me there is nothing raw about these turnovers.  Yes, they are filled with raw ground meat and onions, but they are then flash-fried in huge cauldrons of oil heated to a very high temperature, thus ensuring the filling is cooked, and the thin pastry shell is crisp.  In the dialect spoken by the Crimean Turks, the word “çi” actually means delicious/tasty — a more appropriate description for the meal we enjoyed.

The portions at this restaurant come five to a plate; seems like a lot, but it isn’t.  In fact, while some of us opted to split a portion, several members of our party — who shall remain nameless — doubled up on their portions ;-)  I neglected to take any photographs of the meal, or of the kitchen when we later stopped by to take a peek at how the handmade turnovers are made and fried.  A picture from Wikipedia will have to do.  (You can click the image for more information about çibörek.)

Left: Mannequins dressed in Crimean Tatar folk costumes greet patrons at the door.
Right: beautiful mosaic murals decorate the walls of the restaurant.

Tummies full, it was time to get on with the rest of the day.  We could have easily stayed at Kent Park for another hour, but that wasn’t what Mui had planned for us.

Where we went and what we did is for the next blog post ;-)