Dinner for One at the Esteghal Hotel, Tehran
My final day here in Tehran, another day without real responsibilities, just waiting for my 5 am flight. It’s funny being someone who is so busy and who usually on trips is following a very set itinerary, bags in the lobby at 7, city tour at 9, dinner at 8 […]
An Easy Day in Tehran, Jumping in a Gypsy Cab
I woke up uncharacteristically late, it is a Sunday after all, and I finally have absolutely nothing I need to do. On trips like these, that’s a rare thing indeed, so I leisurely read the Tehran Times (lots of photos of Mr President grinning and accepting awards), and ate my […]
Tehran’s Saad Abad and the Crown Jewels
Tehran has a population estimated at between 8 and 12 million, and sprawls out from the north, butted up against Damovan mountain with lots of snow and a cablecar to the top, spreading and growing every year far, far out. I was told that North Tehran, where the shah once […]
Picnic Time at a Desert Fortress
The mosque in Aran, Iran, the complex dominates the dusty town, south of Qom the most holy city of Iran. We stopped at a caravansary, a fortress built 400 years ago to defend the camel caravans along this important trading route. Iranians took the Friday holiday to picnic on the […]
A Day in the Desert: A Chance to Get Away
We left the hotel at five am yesterday, to meet a bus full of Tehranians and take an excursion out into the desert. The bus rolled through the light traffic of central Tehran and out into an exquisitely flat open road, unbroken by anything except distant hills, we were bound […]
Mobile Dance Party en route to Tehran
In Iran there are no dance clubs, but of course, Iranians love to dance. So on our way home from our day-long trip into the desert, they cranked up the funky Iranian dance musik and we took turns boogie-ing in the aisles as the bus rolled the long way back […]
Tehran’s Raucus Thursday Night Drive Time
After our final dinner, complete with rollicking Iranian musicians, my tablemates and I decided to walk back to the hotel in Tehran. Cars raced around us.
The Faces of Iran: No, I’m Not at All Afraid
Here are some of the faces of people I met in Iran, friendly girls with low headscarves in Isfahan, a couple in Shiraz, nice people all of them.
Every Country is Different, That’s What Makes it Fun
I love the little differences between countries, that’s what makes each one special. A few things here that are funny are that the soda cans have those pop off tops we used to collect and string together when we were little kids. Inexplicably, some sodas and the fake beer that […]
Glimmering Palaces and Giant Squares of Esfahan
Today I saw the most glorious manmade buildings I’ve ever laid eyes on. The city of Esfahan is famous for gorgeous mosques, miles of parks, ornate bridges, grand palaces and the most impressive is Naghsh-e-Jahan Square the world’s second largest to Beijing’s Tieneman Square. It’s the heart of the city […]
At the Arashk Cafe, My Rials Are No Good
When I heard there was a place that sold lattes right down the street from the Armenian church in Esfahan, I hightailed it right over. And when Elham and his sister heard that I owned a cafe in the US, well that made it a day to celebrate! They refused […]
In Esfahan, Gorgeous Bridges Are a Main Attraction
I woke up very early this morning, hours before my early wake-up call, and walked through a garden behind our hotel in Shiraz. I wanted to see the street, and meet some people before our massive convoy of 130 travel agents and tourism officials left for the airport. I walked […]
You Are American? Ohh, That’s Great. Welcome!!
Where to begin? With the most important thing about Iran. It is this daily encounter, repeated endlessly. You meet someone’s eyes. They look at you, at your nametag. “You are American?”Yes you say. “Great, great, welcome, welcome to Iran!” This steadfast enthusiasm for American people is what makes this country […]
I’m In Iran, Visa in Hand, Ready to Report
It was a long, long night, as I arrived at Tehran’s Khomeini airport at about 3 am and spent a few hours wrestling with various levels of authority to try and finish the visa business that I started last week. In the end, after fumbling with a fingerprint machine, the […]
For the First Time in 40 Years, Electricity Use Drops
I read today in the WSJ that utilities in the US have been jolted by a drop in power use, and it has dire implications for the future of alternative energy. That’s on top of massive problems getting financing that has put many solar and wind projects on hold. The […]
She Wears a Special Tracksuit Each Time She Flies
I checked the weather, first outside on the thermometer here at Cindy’s house in Holyoke. Just barely 20 degrees…then I saw that in Tehran it’s a balmy 63. So I guess there’s no need to bring that silk long underwear that helped out so well during our trip to Northern […]
The Islamic Republic of Iran Welcomes Me
I’ve got a whopping 18 hours of so before I get back into an aluminum tube for an extended stay in the air tomorrow night. I never sleep well onboard, despite the piles of gadgets I get sent to try out. One blow up tubular pillow extends up the shoulder, […]
AOL Travel Brands the Hell Out of Their Party
My final morning in Hollywood found me out on the terrace, yakking into my cellphone about business and the opportunities which presented themselves out here at this remarkable show. Last night I attended the final party of the show, AOL’s Moonlight Bash, where a swish nightclub was transformed into a […]