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Just so that you don’t forget, this used to be a non-working day for some of you. And if you are in the mood for one particular song, click here.
On our way to Yazd, we finally got to see the vastness of the landscape, the greens of the irrigated farmland and the pale browns of the desert that vanish almost to the horizon lined with mountains of curious shapes. But I’m a naughty person and decided to keep the subtle desert colour palette to myself, all you get to see is black and white. But I’ll spare you the details of the two B movies from the five hour bus trip and show you this bus stop in the middle of nowhere and our little traveling star instead.
Yazd is a place to rest, to take it easy and the atmosphere and the covered inner courtyard of the Silk road hotel is just lurring you into doing it. Not to mention the almost deserted labyrinth of muddy wals of the old city. To us, it was also a place where we:
- climbed a hill to see the towers of silence
- were charmed by mud-brick ornaments
- seen the most obscene local sweet ever
- ate well (OK, this one is in colour because it looses too much in BW)
and bought another kilim :)
Esfahan might have acquired a negative ring to those who listen to US reports on Iranian nuclear programme. I spotted a few soldiers on guard as our train buzzed towards the city - freezing in the desert dawn and trying to keep awake and warm, probably thinking of the little joy of breakfast - only because I had a similar fate a few years ago (similar guns, similar boredom). But Esfahan itself is quite another story. With its tree lined avenues, green parks along the river crisscrossed by old bridges where people go for a promenade or relax over a cup of tea, it boasts itself with the second largest square in the world, beautiful mosques and a bazaar where you can wonder without being harassed by the sellers and vendors. Since it is an ancient trading city, it looked like a good place to buy a kilim. Some pics:
- inside Imam mosque
- by the bridge
- buying kilims
- street sign.
On the day we were leaving Teheran, you could see a thin layer of snow on the mountains above the city and this cold and crystal clear morning, as the clouds cleared away, the Alps were covered in snow. But this is as far as one can compare Kamnik and Teheran, a town of less than 15.000 with a roaring metropolis of 15 million people.
In brief, the strongest impression of the city is definitely made by the chaotic traffic, where a couple of million cars disregard any traffic rules and where traffic signs appear as mere urban decoration. Lonely planet’s advice on taking a taxi across the city with telling a driver that you are in a hurry is a definite highlight of the city, though you can experience high levels of adrenaline even with a “normal” drive. And then, after few days, there is an incredible sensation of getting used to the “drive as I please” mode. The sprawling city inevitably has some other highlights, such as the tranquility of parks and palaces, the glittering of the shah’s jewels or urban oases around apartment buildings. And the buzz of the downtown or uptown streets will definitely reveal more colourful dress code than in other cities across Iran.
Some pics:
- some more chaotic traffic
- White palace
- urban oases
- downtown (South Teheran)
- uptown (North Teheran)
Here we are, back in our flat in Kamnik, still under the impression of bewildering “I did it m way” Teheran traffic, handsome faces of friendly people, safran rice served with a pack of butter, black silhouettes of the south and vibrant scarf colours of the north, the taste of dates and geometry of kilims, the emptiness of bazaars at night and the smell of the roaring motorcycles, small grocery stores where you shop with your index finger and big plastic calculator, “oral” navigation of taxi drivers and khakis from the garden of Slovene embassy…
I could go on and on and probably will in the next few days; the pic is from the desert city of Yazd.
Going on a journey
Somewhere far out east
We’ll find the time to show you
Wonders never cease
Will be back in two weeks, hopefully with tons of pics and good stories to share.
I make no promises that I’ll blog during our trip but you can check from time to time for a surprise post :)
Yesterday’s news bulletin - Tamara started walking. For those who think “yesterday” and “news” is contradictory in terms, let me just point out that “news” is something you don’t know that happened, not just something that had just happened. I could go on with this elaborate excuse for not posting this yesterday, drawing in more theories of communication and standards of journalistic practice but the truth is, I was too tired to do it. But it was a proud tiredness. Anyway, we count yesterday as Tamara’s firs real “walking day” although some parents would classify as walking the one or two steps that she has been doing for past week or so. One thing is for sure, at ten months of age, she is no quitter. No matter how many times she falls, she always gets back up. She will now do about a meter or two at a time. And she also practices multitasking, like picking objects from the floor while balancing on her feet. I’m simply crazy about her.
As a short reference to my tiredness, it was partly due to the cooking seminar (fish) I attended yesterday with one of the best Slovene chefs Andrej Goljat and particularly its aftermath – stuffing ourselves with all the wonderful food. The cooking class was a very rewarding experience, learned a lot of the tricks of the trade plus got a sort of indirect confirmation that I’m quite a good cook myself. You can check his website but it’s only in Slovene.
Yesterday, Vienna was a cold and lonely place. Not counting the morning traffic jam, the streets I walked yesterday were more or less deserted and slightly under-dressed people were burying their heads between their shoulders and clutching to the collars of their jackets and coats. It looked like the city was in a brief hibernating mode before putting up fancy New Year’s attire. And my visit was of non-tourist nature - was searching for a photocopy store for about 45 minutes (only to discover later that they have a copy machine at the embassy which you are free to use).
Vienna sights under “standard” black-eye categories/motifs:
- doorways
- signs (must have been Italians; secondhand market; very Austrian; geschlossen; grill)
- unnoticed details (on the corner; found pattern; office rats)
- street scenes (graffiti; cafe; phone booth; preparing for winter; hideout; waiting; The car)
- mannequins
- numbers (see yesterday’s post or click here; number eight)
- pairs
Drove to Vienna today to get our visas. Must admit this is a curious concept – you have to make over 700km before you even start your trip. Anyway, there will be no tacky tourist photographs here (well, you might have guessed that already), today’s treat is Vienna by numbers, tomorrow you will see some familiar black eye shots and grasswire themes.
Click here to see Part one and Part two of the lucky combination. If you use it as a lottery ticket and win, you are kindly requested to share at least a symbolic part of your newly acquired wealth with grasswire.
Just another numbers curiosity, the number of my parking was the same as the cost of visas: thanks god I parked at the first and not at the third or fourth floor :)
Seventeen definitely isn’t the number of deep sighs and slow inhales I made during our visit to one of Tamara’s grandmothers although the pic was taken during the visit :)
Incidentally, the filename of this pic is IMG3317.
Anyway, beware of numbers and don’t let them become your obsession, they have ruined many good men and women.
