Day 82a: exploring Esfahan
Come and join us for breakfast in the stunning breakfast room. Fresh flowers, beautiful painted walls, chandeliers...
An omelet for me and the egg stirred into a tomato and onion sauce for Dick.
Fresh fruit. The white melon is especially delicious. Luscious peaches, too.
The Local newspaper in English. We found the newspapers to have less opinion and more reportage than newspapers in New Zealand.
Here are a couple of references to articles on food security and on settling the treasury bills that the government had given to contractors in lieu of payment after the global financial crisis.
Chehel Sotun Palace. The original was built by Shah Abbas 1 in 1647 but this pavilion was built in 1706 after a fire destroyed the original. This building is the pavilion which is surrounded by classical Persian gardens that are listed with the UNESCO heritage list. The walls and vaulted ceilings are decorated with frescoes.
Highly decorated vaulted ceilings from the 17th century.
It is only a short walk to Imam square and the bazaar.
Imam square.
I love the way people are so welcoming to me as we walk around.
This delightful girl was interpreter for my conversation with her family.
Elham and her mother.
The Armenia Apostolic Cathedral of the Saviour commonly known as Vank Cathedral in the New Julfa area.
The cathedral was built in 1606 and dedicated to the hundreds of thousand of Armenians who were deported during the 1603-1618 Ottoman war.
Shah Abbas 1 brought the Armenians to Esfahan and they were settled in the area known as New Julfa.
Notice the crosses on the domes and the towers.
The interior highly decorated. Biblical frescoes.
The museum had a special section on the Armenian genocide with maps, documents and photographs.
Frescoes at the Vank Cathedral.
An original Armenian gospel from the 9-11th century.
Sapphora and I had a wonderful conversation via Google translate and English. Sapphora and her friends, Samoye and Elham are nurses. They share nurses humour. They were having evening out. They had bowls of ash reshte a lamb and vegetable soup and ice team.
Ash reshte a soup with sour cream and fried onions.
Delicious saffron ice cream.
From the Abassi hotel evening buffet. Kofte, fried spinach and egg, dolma has, saffron rice, raw carrot and lime. I am enjoying this break from chicken and lamb shashlik tonight.
Perfectly cooked lamb cutlet kebabs at restaurant Sharrzad. Served with blackened tomato, flatbread fries and lime.
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