THIRD DAY IN TEHRAN

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TEHRAN, MARCH 1, 2017

Today we are going to see the palaces of Reza Shah the first Pahlavi Shah. He was tall and trim and an army man. He had very simple tastes and led a very rigorous life. This is the Sa’ad Abad complex There is the royal way leading up to the palace complex lined with a double row of Plane trees. We saw two of the twenty-seven palaces there. By far the most beautiful was the “Green Palace” so called because of the green marble used in the palace. What made this palace unique was the mirrored reception hall which was beautiful.

We met four Iranian girls there who were celebrating the birthday of one of the girls. They had balloons and were carrying a birthday cake with them. They invited me to join them for the birthday cake but our schedule did not allow it. But I did take their picture and then they wanted to take a picture with me and Dennis. They were all beautiful girls and very polite and cheerful.

We then went to lunch where we were offered a choice of entrees. I chose a Persian rice dish with currants and pine nuts and a piece of chicken roasted in cherry juice and other seasonings. It was delicious. But it was four clock when we ate lunch.

After lunch we hurried off to the carpet museum. Carpets are the pride of Iran. The museum had over 200,000 carpets in their inventory. About 75 were displayed. They were all beautiful. There are two types of carpets; those made in cities and those made in villages. They can be made of wool or silk They were all beautiful. Some of those on display were hundreds of years old.

I then went shopping with Hadi for a cooler coat. My Burberry rain coat is just too warm. I have found that the Iranians love heat. All of the buildings are sweltering. Even though the temperature is in the high 50’s, as soon as you go into a museum or restaurant, they all have the heat on and of course, I can not take off my coat or my head scarf. So for the past three days I have been roasting. Anyway I found a very light black coat that cost $22. It is a blessing.

There are several interesting things that I am learning about Iranian way of life. First they only have instant coffee in all the restaurants and hotels. They have English tea. Public restrooms never have toilet paper and frequently are “Chinese” style toilets. They like to be very warm. When I was roasting in my Burberry trench coat, all the men had on sport coats with a overcoat over them. You never saw a man just in shirt sleeves.They are very modest. Women must keep on their long coats and the headscarves always except when in their room. You o not hear the call to prayer as you do in Arab countries.

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Comments

[Mike Kass]

Love the new black coat. The Persian ladies manage to look a bit fashionable!