When Sultan Selim the Grim conquered Tabriz, Persia in 1514, he brought all the ceramic artisans back to Turkey and installed many of them here, in Kutahya. For the past five centuries, they've been cranking out some of the most fantastic hand painted porcelain, pottery, and tiles in the world.  You can see brilliantly colored tiles everywhere - decorating public fountains, the facades of public and private buildings and even the bus station.  The road into town is lined with huge porcelain factories, and tiny shops stuffed from floor to ceiling showcase intricately decorated plates, tea services, and vases. 

Kutahya is a small, provincial capital only an hour from Eskisehir, so we've been here a couple of times and plan to return many more.  Like Afyon, there's an ancient fortress atop a huge hill in the middle of town, which makes for a lovely if strenuous walk and provides great views of the city and the surrounding countryside.  There's also an excellent tile museum, an archaeological museum, many wonderful old Ottoman houses and lovely window shopping.

When we first came here, it was possibly the coldest day in history, and the snowfall was recent and fresh.  When we went into the museums and cafes to warm up, we were at first surprised, then shocked, then scared when we realized nothing is heated. After about six hours of touring the town, Erin-Kate and I were frozen to the bone and worried about frostbite on her feet and cheeks.

Above is a picture of the outside of a private house, completely covered in tiles; a salesman showcasing a richly detailed fish plate in one of the little porcelain shops; and a public fountain of turquoise tiles and flower motifs.

This is Edward McQuaid, our most proper British colleague, with his lovely Turkish girlfriend, Nihal , enjoying a local bus ride in Kutahya.  Nihal, also an English teacher, is on her way to work at a private language institute.  On the bus, we saw this poster announcing an anti-war protest, which had apparently taken place the day before.  "Savasa Hayir" (No war) was the word on the street, not to mention this shopkeeper's head.  After a brief but heart felt appeal to his American guests to join in his anti-war sentiment, our host invited us to sit for tea and borek, a sweet pastry.  Later, his friends escorted us around town, making sure we missed none of Kutahya's highlights.  It seems even the Great Satan doesn't put a damper on Turkish hospitality.

This should give you an idea of the weather here that day: everything was buried under a fresh layer of snow and only the hardcore were wandering the streets - including two Americans in search of a good time.

When we got to the archaeological museum, the temperature was hovering around minus 20 Celsius, so it was hard to appreciate even something as amazing as this ancient Roman sarcophagus.  However, Mehmet cordially invited us into his little office and served us the ubiquitous and delicious hot Turkish tea.  Guardian of the museum, he stayed in that room with the TV on and the heater cranked, watching the tourists shake and chatter.  He was also in charge of the Hungarian house, which served as the home to a Hungarian aristocrat in the last century and is kept open as a museum - pictured on the left.

In the middle picture above, Erin-Kate is standing in front of the Ulu Cami, or Great Mosque - the side and interior of which you can see below.  These ancient tombstones, jutting up out of the snow, were just to the left of the mosque, in front of the archaeological museum, and on the right you can see one of the reconstructed towers of the fortress.