I am staying just off Sheykh Hadi St.  It is an old neighborhood in downtown Tehran.  Seems like a 'mohalla' with a good atmosphere.  the shop fronts are all very different and I want to stitch them together and make a 'portrait' of these shops, 


Kowzkhaneh - a place with cool weather
Visited the Golestan Palace with my host to see the photographic archives of the Qajar Kings. The images of the early travels of the Qajar dynasty kings visiting Europe in 1900 onward are very symbolic. like the first meeting of two worlds. the mirror work in the Palace is incredible. 
Bought a current map of Tehran (something I have not been able to find for Karachi) and an old map of the walled city of Tehran.  

Arrived in Tehran this evening and was observing how much the women covered themselves in the plane on landing in Tehran.  I wore my long black abaya, bought in Karachi yesterday from Zamzama street from 'Hijab ul Hareem'. But I took this off within the airport, as it was hot and it seemed Ok to do without this.  My host later told me that the airport is not so strict. On first impressions,
Tehran feels like Beirut or Amman, altho more developed than Amman I think. The roads are very good and there is a lingering sense of the European/ French influence of the Shah's dynasty.  It is interesting how the destiny of a nation can be turned and moulded to move in a particular direction, and how this can be seen 30 years down the line with such specific outcomes for the next generation.   Hearing farsi is very different from Arabic.  It is  lyrical.