Wednesday 16 January 2008

Palaces, Poets and Fortune Teller

Thanks for the encouraging comments about potential of a 'train' piece, I'll keep you posted on how I progress.
Meanwhile, back to Iran. You may have thought it was all blue tiles and restraint (patience, you'll get your fill of faience) but we also saw quite a lot of (admittedly tasteful) bling. You might have seen the modern glass mosaic work exhibited at the V&A a couple of years ago - we saw it in various places in situ, my favourite being the Naranjestan Gardens in Shiraz ( seemed even more opulent having visited the elegant Persepolis in the morning)
BTW ornamental cabbages were everywhere in bedding schemes throughout Iran - I would have loved to have seen the scale of their production and also wondered whether they used them all year round or just in the winter.







Before we headed off for Yazd, we visited the tomb of Hafez, one of Iran's most famous poets. The poetry lost something in its 'freely adapted' translation I think- to our ears it sounded saccharine sweet. As we left, a fortune teller turned up - his budgie picked out slips of paper ( most of the duty reaping rewards variety). The excited chatter of a school group in green headscarves added to the cacophony ( girls and boys attend the same schools but at different times of day - there is no co-education until University)

Tomb of Hafez





Fortune Teller and Flock of Schoolgirls









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