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Outside Tehran, the rest of the trip to Iran I did by moving around in the very comfortable buses. The cities are less chaotic and you get to breathe oxygen again. In August it is very hot, we are in desert territory, and I well remember a certain sense of suffocation when I got off in Kashan. But also the pleasantness I felt going to the Persian garden of Bagh – and ending up admiring the mastery these people had to make up for the heat by means of irrigation systems and the special construction with which they made the wind towers, a kind of air conditioning of antiquity.
We Westerners take our supposed supremacy over the rest of the world for granted. But after the collapse of the Roman Empire, for centuries we were the underdogs and these guys here were the ones ahead.
The gem of the Iran trip: Isfahan or Esfahan
The vast majority of Westerners ignore the existence of Isfahan, which I assure is wonderful.
In particular, the huge Naqsh-e Jahan (Imam) Square with everything around it is certainly one of the most beautiful in the world. Arriving there for the first time in the evening excited me, and it was the most beautiful moment of my trip to Iran. Especially thinking that back home so many people don’t even know it exists and it could be a super popular destination. Here I gorged on beautiful mosques and the typical interiors of Iranian ones.
Right in front of one of them I gave one of the 2 print lectures (the other in Shiraz), as I renamed the meeting I had with 2 groups of English learners. They were out together with their teachers to find some chatty tourists like me and practice their English.
The only two who don’t want to take a picture
Throughout the trip it was a constant exchange of greetings, selfie requests, and small talk. I even had three dinner invitations that I despite myself had to decline (one on the plane on the way home). They are so kind and at the same time curious and willing to relate that it was touching. I felt like a star, but they are simply not used to meeting Westerners.
At both press conferences, they politely asked if they could talk to me for a while. Sitting in front of me, they started asking me a series of questions. Where am I from, what is life like over there, do we have many cars too, what do I do in life, am I retired, the inevitable if I am married, etc., etc…..
Back to the city, the other fantastic area is the riverfront with a series of spectacular bridges that become fairy-like at night. Strolling here I happened to be the one asking for a selfie that was refused; 2 identical twins, made up like many Iranian girls and super-doomed with 2 lips like tires.
Home travel Ignorance in social media, especially about Iran
Previous leg Trip to Iran, meaning a real Italian in Tehran
Next stop Meetings in Iran, how is Bud Spencer?
Trips taken, travel stories divided by continent
Countries visited in my travel stories
Anecdotes, divided by type in travel narratives
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