Day 1 - Saturday October 18th
We arrive at Tehran airport at 1.30pm, don our hijabs, and, following a half hour wait to get Claude’s visa (it took me only 6 weeks and a very special photo to get mine!) head for Tehran in a 1.5 million reals worth taxi ride...(the Italians amongst you might still remember what that feels likeJ).
Darkness is setting in by the time we leave the hotel. We take a stroll around the main thoroughfare of Central Tehran, Enqelab Avenue, passing by the Istanbul Cross and Sa’di Street and up to the ‘US Den of Espionage’, the former US Embassy in Tehran (of Argos fame). The 1953 coup that deposed Mohammed Mossadegh was organised from the basement and it was in this building as well that US diplomats were held hostage by Iranian students for 444 days in 1979. An eery feeling standing in front of a site that has been witness to such dramatic events in Iran’s post Second World War history. Today the building houses the Sepah militia, a group dedicated to defending the revolution.
First impressions of Tehran? Not a beautiful city, but you can sense its vibrancy... Crowds of lively, smiling young people, some women dressed in conservative black hijabs others in colourful scarves half covering their heads, traffic that in terms of its anarchy even beats Roman standards (crossing the road is no mean feat!) and lots of Salaams and welcoming smiles everywhere you go... Tehranis are very friendly and helpful.
We walk to the Park-e Honar Mandan (Artists’ Park), quickly browse through the art gallery (empty stomachs are calling out for food) and have a bite and chill at the modern Cafe Gallery, whilst listening to a mix of Western pop music spanning the last 30 years. By the time Richard Cleyderman’s ‘Ballade pour Adeline’ comes on we take our cue and head back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep...
