My 12 day stay in Isfahan - Day 8 (morning and afternoon) - Isfahan - Strolling around the city - Hasht Behesht Palace; Abbasi Hotel (former caranvanserai) - The 4th of December 2017

I once more headed towards my favourite square before making my way to the Hasht Behesht Palace gardens and those of the Abassi Hotel via the Hakim Mosque and the Public Library square fairly close to them.

 

 

One can explore Isfahan without ever getting tired, at least that's what I personally feel. I was therefore never bored of coming across buildings and squares I had been to before, simply because depending on the time of day and its particular luminosity they looked as special as the many previous occasions I had seen them.

 

 

 

The way the gardens of the former caranvanserai were tended did not surprise me. I was beginning to accept that Iranians feel for and defend nature in a way many of us  in Europe don't, despite the fact that we theorethically do. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I spent a rather quiet evening at home as the family  and I waited to welcome a couple of English Dutch guests coming from Teheran.

 

My 12 day stay in Isfahan - Day 7 (afternoon and evening) - Isfahan - Along the Zayande Rud river; the Khaju bridge and the Armenian quarter - The 3rd of December 2017

I walked back to the Khaju bridge along the banks of the Zayande river, and was surprised to see the ongoing activities- from families playing table tenis to local people using "portable" blazing fires to warm themselves up or carpets on which to eat something, as well as runners under the direction of a gymnastic coach (I suppose)

 

 

 

I was to meet an Iranian lady I should have stayed at initially and by the time she showed up the bridge had been lit up turning the whole atmosphere into a fairy-like experience. 

We drove to the Armenian quarter where I had the chance not only to get to know Mashad a little better (we had only been in contact with each other by mail) but also spend some time in a fascinating tea house  as we indulged in a "gourmande-like" approach to the Iranian pastry. The Vank Cathedral was also lit up and its sight reminded me once more of the endless hours I had spent in its interior admiring the frescoes back in 2014.