Half of the World − Esfahan, Part 1 of 2

Esfahan, 29th September 2010

Esfahan Nesf-e Jahan, Esfahan is half the world. This 16th century saying is still true and Esfahan is indeed beautiful.
Robert Byron put it this way: “Isfahan is among those rarer places, like Athens or Rome, which are the common refreshment of humanity”.

The main attraction is the Imam Square (Maidan-e Naqsh-e Jahan) the second largest square in the world.
And here I realised for the first time how long I’m actually travelling.
Yesterday, exactly 2 month after leaving my home town I calculated that it would take exactly 7 month until I’ll be standing on the next largest square (Tiananmen) in Beijing. That’s more than three times the time I have already travelled and from there it’s yet twice as long as that until I get back home.
So I was standing on the square telling myself: “That’s quite a long time.”

First thing today I went to the city hall to get my stamp and as Esfahan is Freiburg’s twin city all the people in the Aliens Affairs Bureau have already been in Freiburg and one actually studied english there. And as we were talking about Freiburg and I said it’s almost a year until I’d be back there, I felt a little bit homesick. Somehow Esfahan is only the second most beautiful city in the world. 🙂
Then it was time for some sightseeing:

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Hazim Mosque, about a 1000 years old. The oldest in Esfahan.

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This calligraphy remindes me of Crystal Raider and other old time Atari or Comodore computer games. 😀

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At some point the resolution got better. 😀

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The Bazar

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chinese bikes everywhere

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Old men with carts bring the goods to the traders.

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Spice

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another mosque

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You feel a little bit like in Orwells 1984. Which you can buy here btw. but of course it’s called ۱۹۸۴.

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48 m. Minarets in desert cities also funtioned as beacons for the caravans so they are taller here than in hill cities.

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Qeysarieh Portal to the Imam Square

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Because of it’s size it’s not easy to take pictures but more will surely follow.