Esfahan, Iran was really nice experience for us! Once we reached the city, our CouchSurfing host took us for a walk to show us the big and famous Naqsh-e Jahan Square. This is the place with one of the biggest bazars in Iran. We saw very skilled creators doing the nicest and so unique things! And they are eager to show how they do everything. We also took a tea in an interesting place where the owner loves lamps (check the photos :) ). There were so many attached to the ceilings!
Day 1: The Square, the Handicrafts, and the Lamp Shop
It was a fast and good start thanks to Hamid :-)
Day 2: Chess, Palaces, and the Mosque Shah
Next morning, we came back the same way and stopped by in the Rajayi park where a lot of old men play cards and chess. There is also the beautiful Hasht Behesht Palace. One of them super kindly invited William to play. He loved it, but lost 2 times... William hates losing!
We continued by visiting a big palace (Chehel Sotoun) and the Mosque Shah. We ended in the bazaar to admire all the handicrafts :-)
For evening, we walked along the dry river (sad result of climate change and poor environmental politics) to see the famous bridges (Khaju Bridge) and came back home to have a fun evening with our hosts!
Day 3: Shopping, the Armenian Quarter, and Crêpes
We slept long for once, relaxed and did a few French papers... Hamid and Bahare were so nice and generous with us that it was difficult to payback and show how grateful we were. So, we managed for evening to invite them in a really good restaurant close by (Shahrzad Restaurant) where we tried Fesenjoon, Kabab Koobideh and Khoresh Mast.
Thanks to them we spent really good days in Esfahan and learnt again so much about Iran and its people. We finished our evening by another walk in the city and we saw the Armenian quarter which is maybe the corner of the city we loved the most.
Next morning, we came back to the park. William met again with the same man. He won 3 times but the kind man played easy (too kind!). We came back to the bazar where we found good presents (Iranian red tea, small camel box...). And William bought a Chess board! We just need to manage shipping them to Europe... (it's way too heavy for the backpack).
We also did some crêpes for our host for our last evening with them and taught them how to flip it in the air :-)
From Esfahan with love :-) Thanks a lot Hamid and Bahare for everything. See you in Europe next time!
July 4–10, 2018