January has greeted me with a fast pace. We came back from our Christmas and New Year vacation in Austria and I feel I have boarded an express train which has allowed me very few stops so far. It is more than time for my year in review. Time to slow down the pace, get […]
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- February 05, 2018
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Salzburg, Austria, vienna, Iran, christmasmarkets, tombs, Tehran, Yazd, Persepolis, Shiraz, naqsherustam, persiankings, Saadi, Hafez, Esther, Mordecai, thebookofesther, tabiatbridge, parks, baraghanvillage, Dürnstein, Nordicwalking, Alps, austrianalps, belvedere, myyearinreview, yearreview, mybook, published work, Zoroastrians, tombsaadi, tombHafez, Kashanbazar, gardens, Theworldatlasofstreetfood
Merry Christmas everyone! Frank Sinatra is singing a Merry Christmas on my laptop and I’m feeling emotional and not that merry. I woke up at five this morning, still feeling jet lagged and decided to check my emails. Among many last minute book Christmas recommendations, there was an article written by the author Catherine Berg. […]
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- December 23, 2017
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10 Comments
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Portugal, celebrating, Austria, christmastraditions, merrychristmas, christmaseve, christmasday, christmas, WhiteChristmas, happy holidays, family gatherings, family traditions, Christmastree
Where did the light go? I feel I’m always chasing the fading light and it is becoming harder to find it. But first I have been wondering how to explain my long silence. My vacation was a bit later this year but this only explains part of the story. Life has weighed heavily too. Sometimes you are […]
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- December 17, 2017
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Lisbon, Portugal, travel, Austria, Iran, architecture, autumn, winter, Tehran, wintersolstice, shabeyalda, yaldacelebrations, yalda, masoudiehpalace, tagusriver, winterlight, greifenburg, parkeshahr, armenian, sarkiscathedral, happyholidays
I knew I was stranded at the Belvedere. From great heat to sudden rain, what to do? Stay a while longer with Klimt or venture outside and get wet? I had come to one of my favourite museums in Vienna, the Belvedere. Built in the early 18th century, it is the work of the famous […]
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- August 21, 2017
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museum, travel, art, Austria, vienna, travelblog, belvedere, klimt, sculpture, paintings, mueumcollection
I wonder what happened to the “easy way”. When did Nordic Walking in the Alps become more like a mountaineer adventure? We were in Russbach, a small friendly village in the alpine region of Salzburg. We had decided to rent an apartment in the center of the village, hoping to profit from the numerous Nordic […]
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- August 17, 2017
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travel, Austria, osterreich, exercise, nature, landscape, mountains, travelblog, travelblogger, Nordicwalking, Alps, outdoors, trekking, villages, Russbach, nordicwalkingaustria, trekkingaustria, travelblogaustria, salzburgregion, healthyliving, austrianalps
It’s vacation time and we are are in Austria for our summer home leave. Our hope for cooler weather seems to have been just that, wishful thinking. So we decided to get closer to the Danube, hoping for a river breeze at least. We were on our way to Dürnstein, an hour away from Vienna. […]
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- August 07, 2017
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travel, apricots, Austria, travelblog, History, Dürnstein, richardlionheart, RichardI, kingofengland, leopoldofaustria, henryVI, Richardprison, apricoticecream, apricotliquor, saffran, crusades, thirdcrusade, crusaders, saffronloweraustria, Bernhardkaar, travelbblogger, bakeryshmidl
Sometimes it is nice to get away from the hectic traffic of Tehran and look for a change of scenery. And escaping the Tehran heat is always welcoming at this time of year. Temperatures have been quite high and we live mostly with air conditioning. So I thought this would be the perfect occasion to […]
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- July 29, 2017
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2 Comments
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travel, summer, Iran, nature, flowers, mountains, travelblog, safavid, baraghanvillage, hosseinieh, baraghanhosseinieh, play, theatre, mosque, baraghanmosque, riverbanks, gallehicecream, icecream, faloodeh, oldesttree, driedfruits, plums, nuts, seeds, sumac, Karaj, chamran, garden, village, shiaislam
I had been wanting to visit the Tabiat bridge for some time now. I had heard so much about it. After all, it is the longest pedestrian bridge in Iran with a length of 270 meters. But what appealed to me even more was the concept and the brilliant Iranian architect who designed it and […]
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- July 26, 2017
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4 Comments
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travel, summer, Iran, architecture, nature, Tehran, travelblog, tabiatbridge, bridge, parks, sharing, naturebridge, Taleghanipark, Aboatashpark, familyfriendly, leilaaraghian
In the beginning of July I attended a wonderful concert in Tehran by the Austro-Iranian Symphony orchestra. It was a tribute concert in honor of the Iranian artist and sculptor Parvis Tanavoli, inspired by his “Lions of Iran” exhibition at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art. There were three pieces composed by three Iranian composers, […]
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- July 23, 2017
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2 Comments
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art, Iran, music, classicalmusic, Tehran, Parvistanavoli, artist, sculptor, sculptures, lions, lionsofiran, artexhibition, museumofcontemporaryart, museums, iraniancomposers, austroiraniansymphonyorquestra
You would think that having visited now a few bazars in Iran, I would be familiar with the architecture. And there are architectural details that are similar in bazars in Iran. The use of domes in the ceilings, the presence of mosques, baths, old caravanserais and madrasas. Also the intricate tile work, the narrow alleyways, […]
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- July 13, 2017
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2 Comments
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travel, Iran, architecture, beautiful, shopping, bazar, travelblogger, caravanserai, Kashan, antiques, carpets