Two or three gaggles of gracious geese I saw at the soothing
sunrise on my first morning at the throbbing heart of Iran's
Isfahan. What a beautiful sight it was and a kind of blessing to
see ... Arriving here late last night from Shirez and the nearby
2.500 year-old monumental site of Persia's Persepolis, which
is indeed a worthy UNESCO World Heritage Site, I am now set
to explore this old Irani city of Isfahan. With over 2 million
residents, Isfahan is the third largest city in Persia. It
also has the world's second largest square -- Naghsh-E-
Jahan -- after China's Tiananmen Square, which is the
biggest of them all. I have stood there, too!!
Oh, parking tickets here are between 5 and 10 pounds
that are issued by the local traffic police. Of course, the
predatory and shameless traffic wardens of England
rake in millions of pounds per year against the British
motorists. Such wardens border on mafia gangsters to
extract all they can for their council employers in the
name of mindless "parking enforcement" ...
But back here at Isfahan, I'm far away from such
crude and malicious enforcers. I mention tickets
simply because my guide here was unforunate to
get his first ever ticket. I told him he was lucky not
to be ticketed by London's Westminister City traffic
wardens since Westminister is the most vicious
of all traffic taliban ...
And, while I have now been over 2.000 miles inside Iran,
I've only yet seen such a tiny bit of this revolutionary and
rivetting country. But by what I've seen so far, I have been
enthralled by the colour, the fabric, and the character of
Iran and her open people ...
It's just after 9:00am at Isfahan Kowsar International
Hotel at where I'm staying for the time being. Today,
I shall visit here, there and everywhere and go off,
like I like to do, on my walkabouts to see and hear
the real Iran and no just the spots where foreign
and local visitors are trucked to ... For me, the joy
is seeing the ordinary and the extraordinary all
around me be it here at Isfahan or Persepolis or
the Caspian Sea or Tehran.
Again, I must rush since my guide and driver will
be here shortly to greet me and I don't want him
to miss me, of course ... Kudos, Monty.
+Eve of Advent, 2oo7.
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