Tales from the Dark Side: Day 8

Today, I got up early, in time to have a decent breakfast and change money.

My view

Breakfast with tea Pastries and juice

On the way back, I saw two guys practicing boxing.

And then we were off to an old bathhouse that was now a museum, which was not originally on our agenda. It was very nice, and the water spigots for the pool were pretty cool. Click here for a video.

I got some soap and accessories from a woman selling them in the bathhouse, then got hopelessly lost. Some women sitting in a room inside helped me out. There were comics posted on a wall adjacent to the museum, some about generational differences.

Reading right to left, it's how things used to be, and how they are now.

Our next stop was back to the Naqsh e Jahan Square, where I got some photos of these birds that have plumage similar to a pigeon, but are the size and shape of a crow. I call them "crigeon".

We then went on in to Ālī Qāpū Palace and went up all 89 stairs to the music room. But we stopped about half-way up for a view of the square from the third floor.

Stylized photo from my phone.

We couldn't go into this mosque while we were there because the mullahs declared it a holiday and forbid any non-Muslims.

Then it was time to go up the rest of the spiral staircase to the sixth floor music room.

A very short door for the entrance to the main room up here.

After the palace, we went across the way to the mosque to see it before the time for the noon prayers. But first, I took some photos of the palace from the other side of the square.

And now it was time for a masterpiece of Safavid architecture, the Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque, constructed about 400 years ago.

In the dome of this mosque, the sunlight creates a peacock's tail that closes in time for the noon prayers.

Click the image for a video.

We then walked to a Meenakari workshop where they made the beautiful kettles and plates. Upon learning that these were copper and not ceramic, I decided to buy something.

The beginning of the end of my shyness on this trip: A group of schoolgirls were saying "hello" to us and I asked for a selfie.

After that, we went to lunch at the Restaurant Little House. One of our servers had some really bangin' hair, and overcame more shyness.

Salad

Soup

Delicious stews

Desert

Our next stop was to a miniaturist, where we observed this ancient art of Iran. I didn't want to buy a small portrait unless I bought a set of them, but I was able to get a piece that was made into a letter opener.

Example of the inlay work done for the frames.

Then, everyone got to have a ride on the horse-drawn carts around the square. Everyone, that is, except me, because I didn't want to go on the ride. Instead, the guide and I went to a nearby post office that was closed, and then the WC.

Our next stop was a tea shop in the Bazaar that one of our guides recommended because it has the best hot chocolate. One person at my table got it and allowed us a taste. It was splendid. I had a lemon-mint sherbet. I'm glad I didn't get the citrus, because that, allegedly, tasted like the inside of a band-aid. There was WiFi at the coffee shop, but it wasn't very good, like wireless internet everywhere in the country. I attempted to load the video I uploaded to YouTube of my cat's reaction to a cucumber, but it never did load.

Then we went to the end of the square opposite the Imam Mosque to enter the Isfahan Grand Bazaar and go to a Ghalamkar (calico printing) workshop.

The entrance to the bazaar isn't as impressive as the other three sides of the square.

I and another member of our group needed to go across the square at this point, back to the miniaturist, and we walked at a rather fast clip. When we got back and got our receipt for our purchases, they said tea would be ready in ten minutes. We then went shopping in the Bazaar, but I went back after ten minutes and had tea.

A group of German tourists came in and it was "showtime", as I said. I finished my tea, said khotahafez, and left to do my own shopping.

This was highly successful, and I found sunglasses, a suitcase, and some chocolate candies. I probably paid too much for the sunglasses, the suitcase guy wanted me to kiss him (I declined), and I tried, but failed, to have a basic conversation in Farsi with the guy at the candy shop. I did, however, say "sobh bekheir" when I went in and saw him napping in the corner. Then, it was time to regroup, and we walked back across the square where two guys were talking into a microphone - they reminded me of radio DJ's, and someone in our group called them the Iranian Abbott and Costello.

My new sunglasses.

We left the square, but could not find our bus, so we walked to the hotel. The walk was long, mainly because I was carrying a full-size suitcase and my feet were starting to hurt, but eventually, we were back at the Abbasi Hotel.

After a rest, my roommate and I went to the front desk to tell our group that we were too cool for them and we're going to have dinner at the coffee shop. My roommate had the cheeseburger and I opted for the 2-piece Kentucky, spicy and, if course, a sparkling water.

We ate our food, talked, and did Internet things. I went back to the room first and took some photos outside the lobby.

That mustache, it exists.

When I got back to the room, the key didn't work, so I went back to the front desk to get it fixed and found my roommate on the way. When we were trying to get around two very slow people, we began talking to them. Well, my roommate, anyway. I was booking it to get to the desk because I was tired. I got the key fixed and ran into the two people we had talked to while I was exiting the lobby. I had heard one of them say that her cousin lives in Houston, so I did ask what her cousin does. It turns out that he is a dentist.

I went back to the room, and my roommate returned shortly thereafter. She had gone into the lobby and was talking to one of our guides when I left with the good key. I got ready for bed and my roommate went to take a shower. I turned on the TV to catch some CCTV or Al Jazeera, but it wasn't working! So I called the front desk and they would have someone come by and look at it. I said they better hurry because we wanted to go to bed. A minute or two passed and there was a knock on the door. I didn't want to put my head scarf on - the hotel room was my space, I will show my hair, thank you very much - so I didn't. The guy fiddled with some connection on the TV and it worked. I said something to him in Farsi, and he tried to teach me another Farsi word, but I can't remember it, then he left. Finally, I could watch some actual news and go to bed. We had to have our bags out by 8:15 and we were leaving for Kashan at 9.