else, elsewhere, elsewise...

Esfahan used to be a capital of Persia around four hundred years ago, it has got beautiful bridges across the ghost river, or river which has got no water. It is dry this season because of lesser rainfall as well as because of its use in the other regions where it is more important, mainly for agriculture. Some say that the most beautiful mosque in the world is here, well I have not seen all of them but this one really is an outstanding piece... Also very nice bazaar around the main square Naghsh-e Jahan which is crowdy but pretty, blabla...
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Now I am going to introduce the Iranian cuisine. I would start with desserts, where my favorite is havij bastani - a carrot juice with vanilla and saffron ice cream, or alternative with melon juice - this is quick energy gainer and great refreshment during hot summer-days. Another very interesting frozen goodie is faludeh - frozen starch noodles with rosewater. These are available widely in little shops or kiosks especially in this warmest season.
Fruits and vegetables are also available in every bigger street or at the local bazaar(market). Mostly seasonal fruits are on the table, these days it is mainly a variety of melons, plums (also green) and cherries, but you can also find mango - very tasty or apples which are a bit more expensive.
Sometimes I am just buying one cucumber or other but so far I have never had to pay for it like this because of too small amount and generosity towards tourists(i know it is a bit cheeky but what can I do?)... There are no supermarkets here like in western countries, but there is plenty of small shops were you can get the basic foods. Then you have butchers sometimes combined with a kebab place, so you eat being surrounded by dead animals. At least you can see what you are munching on. Bakeries you also can find almost everywhere and so I am eating fresh bread all the time. Thee is few kinds of bread here, some thin called lavash, or thicker breads barbari or sangak. The thicker one costs about 30 cents, I always buy one when hungry passing a bakery, sometimes it is so hot that I have to throw it from hand to hand.
Main meals - of course kebab you can get everywhere - but I think Turkish is better. From the north-west towards south-east it may vary a bit. As for example the Tabriz area is more of a Turkish or Azerbaijani influence. I really enjoyed the yogurt soup - yogurtly aash - with lots of herbs (mainly dill and mint) which I ate with lavash bread in which there was mix of egg and potato, again with herbs and black pepper. Many dishes are served with rice as that is one of the dominants in local agriculture. One of them is ghotmeh sabzi, which is a 'green' stew, consisting of fried mixed herbs such as mint, parsley, maybe coriander, leek or spinach but this may vary from region to region, this is mixed with kidney beans and lamb or veal meet. This is sometimes told to be an Iranian national dish. Most of the foods are served with yogurt, yogurt is everywhere. Sometimes they mix all kinds of herbs with it plus a little bit of garlic = a finger-licker. Also I have to mention the sort of spaghetti/noodles with vegetables or even meat, and the crispy noodle part on top, very nice but the I do not remember nor I can find it. Very interesting ingredient for me here is a walnut but there is many good things about Iranian kitchen. I am also very happy that to some people I have met I could show a bit of the slovak-rado-style cooking, so they could discover a bit of different or rather freestyle cooking.
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In Esfahan we have also visited a carpet shop which you could see in the picture section. I do not know about the other shops because this the only one I have spent more time within but it was very welcoming and the salesman was very happy to talk about anything I have asked of course while drinking a tea what is a must. So they sell these famous Persian flying carpets on which we were told we could get from here to Bratislava in approximately 12 hours. Just need to sit on it with closed eyes and enjoy the ride. Who knows what you need to smoke before going, but I am sure you could fly high. Carpets themselves are indeed very nice, they had some from pure silk (prices up to 3000USD for less than 2sqaure meters of rug), some from sheep wool or mixed(if I got it right/left). To make such a carpet take lots of time, sometimes even several months or years, I am not surprised by the price of it. I think they are all made by hand, usually this hand belongs to nomadic woman, who then sells them to these shopkeepers. Very interesting experience, just visiting a shop we made new friend who even though we did not buy anything was welcoming us next day when passing by and made us another cuppa.
During the visit of Esfahan me and Misko went to nearby small city where we were off to meet local couple and their 8 year old son. It always is very warm and friendly and these people honor you like you were a king. We could exchange the opinions on cultures and living-patterns. Next day we visited the master of calligraphy, who was also a teacher of our host. He wrote a nice Hafez's poem for both of us. Then we were taken to the old(400years) castle or fortress and we had very unexpected tour after asking a worker who we saw outside making a mud ready for reconstructing. The civil engineer (every second Iranian I meet is an engineer:) responsible for the site has offered a tour around and so we had a perfect guide + our host who made a translator. So we saw a place which you would not find on lonelyplanet.com. In the evening I cooked my already famous chicken/vegetable soup, while listening to our friend playing santoor. I have tried to play it too and I have enjoyed it a lot. It sounds heavenly and it is very relaxing.
First time in Esfahan I have taken a part in partying. Just few people behind the closed door, few drops of vinecko and palenocka mixed together made us all very marry and willing to dance, we could amuse each other with different techniques, Iran - Slovak dance-floor was shaking at its base.
From Esfahan to Shiraz, from Shiraz to Persepolis, ancient gardens and ancient city of kings. Very old and very hot it is these days, it is very exhausting to be out in a day time, at least I can write a bit more to this blog, share a little with you.
And today I have prepared a lunch, creamy soup with green beans, potatoes, dill and yogurt ala myself plus 'french potato' as second course. :P