I wake up cold in the morning of the first day of my Tehran trip to walk the streets.. Despite the hot and dry air that fluctuates between 35 and 40 degrees outside, the air conditioners in the hotel are incredibly cold.
After sleeping wrapped in blankets for fear of getting sick, the new day will take me to the places I want to see in line with a few goals.
In Iran, which is very similar to Turkey in terms of eating and drinking culture, breakfast foods are equivalent to our cuisine.. The biggest difference is that phyllo bread, which is frequently consumed in Turkey and in the Southeast, is the main consumer item in Iran.. Instead of the traditional bread we know, Iranians fill their phyllo-like bread with appetizers such as cheese and potatoes and consume them in the form of burritos with their hands.. Colorful drinks in cold water cabinets also attract attention.. With options such as pineapple, lemon, orange, and cherry, people sip their drinks with their breakfast items.
Brewing tea is in the format we call “leak” with various aromatic additives.. Those who are not accustomed to brewed tea should not mess with tea.
After having breakfast with light foods such as cucumbers, tomatoes and olives, it’s time to go out.
The United States of America and Israel in the world. There is probably no other country that does not have embassies and fast-food chains and a tie cannot enter at the same time. big city. Unfortunately, no one has been able to find a solution to the unsolved traffic problem in Tehran, which means “hot place” in Persian and is called “Tehran” by Iranians.
I find myself in Imam Khomeini Square as soon as I leave the hotel in Tehran, which led the struggle for the Islamic Revolution. .
Shiite Leader Khomeini, who ended the Mohammad Reza Pahlavi regime in Iran and founded the Islamic Republic and held all religious powers after the revolution, also guided the revolution in the country until his death.. I fail in my attempt to cross the street from Imam Khomeini’s square in the capital, which is named after many squares, streets and facilities in Iran. While staying in the middle, I am in danger of being crushed by cars and motorcycles coming from the right and left.. Tehran makes those who complain about the vehicles not stopping at the pedestrian crossings in Turkey say that there are worse things than Turkey.
While pedestrians dive into the middle of the traffic to cross the road, with or without a pedestrian crossing, vehicles that pass at high speed do not slow down by being positioned relative to pedestrians.. When I manage to cross the street like a villager who has just started living in a big city with the noise of his horns, I fly with joy.
From Imam Khomeini Square, where the country’s intelligence and telecom systems are located, to the Grand Bazaar. I direct myself.
In spite of those who say that there is no one who speaks English in Iran before coming to Iran, almost whomever I ask, I come across someone who speaks English. I enter through the first hole I find.
With the understanding of “I go wherever the road takes me”, I emerge from the corridors of the covered bazaar into a spacious square.. Sitting in front of the mosque, which I later learned to be called Shah Mosque, I was caught by the sound of the sermon coming from the speakers while watching the surroundings.
Iran is the biggest representative of Shiism in the Islamic world, with its adhan recited 3 times a day.
Thursday and Friday are public holidays in the country that uses the Hijri calendar.. Friday prayers in Tehran are only allowed in the mosque inside the Tehran University campus.. On the other hand, a mosque resembling a shanty house is not found on every corner like in Turkey.. Especially in newly built mosques, minarets do not pierce the sky like we do.. Many mosques do not even have minarets.
People who come to the bazaar and socialize on the streets chat in the shadows of the courtyards of the mosques.
After taking pictures cautiously in the courtyard of Shah Mosque, I throw myself back into the covered market.
The Grand Bazaar, known as Bazar-ı Bozurg, is a must-stop for anyone who wants to witness Iranian culture.. While it is possible to relax in the courtyard with a fountain, where each corridor opens in its 10-kilometer-long corridors, it is possible to reach all imaginable needs of a house, from spices to vegetables, from stationery to jewelry, in the Grand Bazaar. In , the floors are wetted frequently so that the dust does not rise.. While trying to look left and right among the crowd, I decide to look left when turning right because of the people I collide with.
People walking on the streets can suddenly grab your arm and try to clear the way. When it happened to me a few times, the first time I felt uneasy disappears.
There are many banks in Iran, which was closed with the US-led embargo on international trade.. Long queues are encountered in front of banks with dark curtains inside.. Despite all kinds of obstacles, the crowded population and trade potential increase the interest in banks.
Men’s clothes do not go unnoticed in the Grand Bazaar, where women either wear black chadors or look very modern.. Muscular, tight-fitting men working in most shops fail in class with pilgrim slippers that they wear with socks under their western-looking clothes.. For some reason, it is very common for men to wear slippers with socks in Tehran.. Necklaces hanging from V-neck t-shirts and blow-dried and side-combed hair, which we have seen frequently in Turkey recently, are popular among men. I say ok when I see the underpants with Puma, Nike, Adidas written on it in the corridors I enter.. After I’m convinced that I’ve ruined the bazaar, I turn my direction to the City Park (Shahr Park). The parks attract great attention from Iranians at all hours of the day.
The parks where different light and visual shows are held in the evening and people come to picnic because they cannot go to the entertainment venues are in the middle of life.
This is why the importance given to green areas throughout the city is so great.. The police stationed at the entrances and exits of the parks and in various places are responsible for protecting security and family life.. I pass by a few Iranians who are busy playing badminton and leave myself in the dry heat, which is dry in my throat.. As we look at the ground and the sky; When I see Persian writings, I make sure that I am in Iran once again…