Tehran, Darband, and Tabriz

Since the first day of spring, March 19, is the start of Persian New Year, this month’s posts will be about Iran. There are many beautiful cities, islands, beaches, mountains, hiking trails and villages to visit. This post will touch on a few highlights. I have not been to Iran since I was 12. Well, I went back as a tourist for two weeks when I was 14. So, when my brother went to Iran, he sent me some pictures. Before the Islamic Revolution of 1978-1979, Iran was called the France of the east, and the capital, Tehran, was referred to as the Paris of the middle east.

This area is called the Azadi (freedom) square, and the white monument is called the Azadi Tower. It is an important symbol in Iran where many gatherings and celebrations take place. When Iran was a monarchy until 1979, this tower was named Shahyad after the Shahs (kings) of Iran representing 2500 years of the Persian empire.

Street vendor selling cooked fava beans and beets. Cooked fava beans taste good with cumin as a snack or mixed with other ingredients in various dishes like this one.

This dish is sholeh zard, saffron rice pudding. I haven’t yet met an American friend who doesn’t like it. Of course, it must be done right, and not all Iranians know how to do it with a perfect balance of ingredients. You may wonder why it is in such a huge pot. It’s Nazri – free food you give away to family, friends and the needy on religious holidays. People also give away free food on the anniversary of the date when relatives or friends passed away.

 High-end condos with views in Tehran 

  

A café serving eggs with Barbari (a type of Persian bread) on a bench on a sidewalk.

A baker making fresh bread. Just as in Europe, the food in Iran is amazingly good, and takes a lot of work to prepare. You often see people walking on the street with fresh baked bread hand wrapped in brown paper. None of that frozen stuff…

Darband, near Shemran, is a village in northern Tehran which is now part of Tehran. It is a popular place with the locals and tourists. I have been there when I was younger and remember sitting on the ground behind tables covered with Persian carpet and servers bringing us tea. There are mountainous areas, beautiful views, and hiking trails. Among the places to eat, Darband restaurant is well-known. If you’re into Hookah, you’ll find Hookah places around. Check out the video below about Darband towards the end of this blog.

This scene is funny. It’s a domestic airline, and as Iranians wait, they shoot the breeze.

Tabriz is a Turkish city in Iran where the residents speak mostly Turkish or Farsi with a thick accent. It’s a clean modern city in the Iranian part of Azerbaijan. Included here is an aerial view of Tabriz, a video of university grounds, and a restaurant where my brother had dinner.

There are plenty of restaurants throughout Iran where you take off your shoes and sit on the floor. The food in the center is a popular dish called Abgoosht – lamb and chickpea stew with onions, turmeric and tomato paste cooked slowly in a special pot, allowing all the flavors to set in. There are two parts to this dish. One part is like soup and you soak in pieces of Sangak (a type of Persian bread you see in the photo) before you eat it. The second part of this dish is mashed, has a burrito like texture, and eaten with the same Persian bread. It’s yum. My mom used to make a vegetarian version for me since I don’t eat meat.

Young Tabrizi girl weaving Persian carpet.

There is so much more to see in Iran. Perhaps at some other point in time, I will do another post like this.