A day in Pictures: "Esfahan is half of the World" ~French poet Renier

"Esfahān nesf-e jahān ast"

 

 

 

I LOVE Esfahan.  What a beautiful and romantic city. 

This is part of Naghsh e-jahan square; one of the largest squares in the world!

If you want to buy traditional Persian handicrafts, you MUST visit Esfahan.

There are pocket parks everywhere.

This one is located just behind the main bazaar

We sat in the grass and had a picnic lunch here surrounded

by others taking naps in the shade of the trees

Madar-joon and my brother-in-law are discussing the best route to Shiraz.

Our hotel was quite beautiful inside. 

All of the walls were ornately decorated with carvings, miniatures, and murals.

Driving in Iran is no easy task... and no need for GPS, just roll down your window and ask random strangers how to get to where you want to go.  It always seems to work out.

One of the several bridges lit up at night.

I was so disappointed to miss the water again. 

There is  a water shortage so the river is dammed for the majority of the year.

One of the many lit up round-abouts.

To have seen Esfahan in it's golden age with all it's splendor must have been breathtaking.  What is left is but a skeleton worn down and robbed of it's grandeur.  To have seen the city at it's height... what has been lost, we may never know.

A Late Walk

When I go up through the mowing field,
The headless aftermath,
Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew,
Half closes the garden path.

And when I come to the garden ground,
The whir of sober birds
Up from the tangle of withered weeds
Is sadder than any words

A tree beside the wall stands bare,
But a leaf that lingered brown,
Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought,
Comes softly rattling down.

I end not far from my going forth
By picking the faded blue
Of the last remaining aster flower
To carry again to you.

Robert Frost