November 10, 2011

Isfahan

someone said Isfahan has 4 million inhabitants. but honestly I think there is a mistake there, it seems like a 300 000 people town. smaller than Helsinki. very cute, lots of parks and a river. our hotel is on the single main street. the other streets are dead empty, no nothing. there is a beautiful bridge crossing the river. and a tv channel is showing footage of the lit bridge in the night, with classical music in the background.

we found 2 restaurants and a couple dozen fast food places. the fast food joints offer hamburgers or pizza, and a brand new KFC copy (Kentucky House) also has chicken wings. the local youth hang out in these places. but their parents must have money as 2 meals (pizza, burger, 2 cokes) cost about 20tl / 8€). there are no cafes of any kind.

the locals look at us, or me, a lot. pink Nikes and green tights especially seem to gather attention. and my ankles were showing a bit, its allowed for tourists. most women wear sports shoes or black flats or perhaps very low heels, and they are almost covered by jeans. point being, footwear is nothing to be noticed, and the (in my opinion) sad selection in shoe shops supports and/or explains this. in Tehran the situation was the same.

what also surprises me is that although u can wear a scarf of any color, especially in Isfahan women only wear black scarves. there are also more chadors here. it seems a little more conservative, although fairly rich.

there is a lot of industry around Isfahan, and I hear the nuclear stuff is near here. the opinion of educated people seems to be that the nuclear knowledge exists for threat/war purposes only, not energy. the people don't trust in government giving them anything good, the opposite, life is just getting harder.

we did go and see the old stuff, the is the Imam square, surrounded by bazaar and mosques, built around 1600. fancy stuff, no doubt.

I think november might not be the best month to see Isfahan. I could imagine its prettier in the summer. but it is definitely a resort for peaceful resting or historical excursion, not much more. since there are no cafes, barely any restaurants, not much/any shopping (unless u like local styles) and cinemas show only Iranian movies (without subtitles), I honestly can't think of much to do. I am wondering though, since besides a small kiosk we didn't see any grocery stores, where do the locals get the food from?

1 comment:

amandarini said...

Useless info of the day: every now and then I hear the phrase "Ispahan rose" but I was never quite sure what is about. So I google it and as it seems it's just a type of rose and you are in its city. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ispahan_%28rose%29