Safir Hotel Esfahan

... te stavili v Esfahánské Arménské ctvrti Jolfa a<br>nav&#353;tívili místní katedrálu. Byla to taková smes islámské architektury a krestanské výzdoby,<br>ale hodne zdobná a hezká. Hodne pusobivé bylo obzvlá&#353;t vyobrazení pekla<br>vcetne vytrhaných strev a ukousnutých hlav.<br>Do práce za Mohammadem jsme se vydali taxíkem, ale ten i poté co dvakrát<br>projel cílovou ulici nebyl schopný najít na&#353;e císlo popisné. Tak nás<br>vyhodil a zkusili jsme se hledat sami (iránské císlice u ...

... The final touches were made with shaving the carpet to ensure it was even. Following this we went to Hamid's little shop and went through the carpet selling process. Again prices seemed reasonable but there was nothing that really grabbed us. The carpets we were after were the nomadic carpets, made (and often used for 40 or 50 years) by various Iranian nomads. We were quite specific on colour, style and size and Hamid promised he would search for what we wanted and we'd come back ...

... and outside. The interior seemed enormous and its dimensions quite stunning &#8211; the dome 54m high, twin minarets both 42m, and the entrance portal 30m tall. <br> <br><br>It gave the architects a unique challenge, as the Shah required the portal and minarets to face the Square, and Islam required the mosque itself to face Mecca which was in a different direction altogether. Solution? Place the mosque at the appropriate ...

... ze skoraj dve noci nisva spala. Sedezi v Turkisu so kriminalno natlaceni... Torej po aldrenalinski voznji sva prisla v hotel s super prijaznim sefom, ki nama je rihtal vse rezervacije za nadaljevanje poti v Esfehan. Teheran je drugace smrdece, natrpano mesto zato upam da prav veliko noci ne bova vec prezivela tam. Naslednji dan sva se torej usedla na avtobus proti Esfehanu za 8 evrov po osebi za 7 ur voznje in usla ven. Ko sva prisla v hotel, nama takoj ...

... chemin, c'était surtout histoire de faire le tour de la ville avant de retrouver la place en fin de journée. Du coup, quel plaisir ! Une eau sans trouble traversée par quelques sublimes ponts et ces iraniens tellement nombreux sur les rivages, à discuter parfois, à se perdre ...

... off through the desert again. I've never really travelled through a desert. Going for a bit of a giggle on a desert safari in Dubai in an air conditioned 4x4 didn't quite match up so driving for ages through a flat, blazing hot, almost featureless landscape. Lest this description deter you from heading this way, I can say that the desert has a certain allure. To my left was a range of low level moutains ...

... ate some ice cream. Delicious. Shiraz is beautiful, but it's another city. It's modern and fashionable for it's age, although I wasn't able to spend much time there. The next day was to be my day in Shiraz to see all the other sights besides Persepolis, but instead I spent the whole day looking to buy a new camera. I just wanted to cheapest one I could get to last me the next couple of weeks, throught the rest of Iran, then to Italy and London. I found one for ...

... me. The man was Iranian and the woman was English. The man dragged his girlfriend over so they could talk to me. It was strange to see them together. The English girl explained to me that she was living in Tehran for 2 months and this is where she met her Iranian boyfriend, Mike. I asked if they had problems travelling together as they weren't married and it was also obvious that she wasn't Iranian. I wondered how the general public reacted to this. This is when I learned all ...

... then got re-directed to a man in a military uniform who told me that it was too early for me to ask for an extension. True enough, but can't I get an extension if I paid for my fees and applied for one? No, no, no, no, no..... Okay, back I went to Imam Square, with an extensive detour of the other old bridges spanning the river. <br><br>I had a full lunch at a fancy restaurant on the open terrace with a view of the Sheik Lotfollah Mosque. By this time I had learnt ...

... a vibrancy and optimism. I strolled through the riverside park by the Zayandeh River at dusk, crossing the old Si-o-Seh Bridge with its 33 arches lit up at night. Reaching the other side of the river, I continued toward the busy Armenian quarter, where it seemed to be a wealthy enclave filled with fancy shops and endless streams of shoppers. I wanted to see the Armenian churches nearby, but they were closed already. So I ended up wandering aimlessly through the ...