A Busy Day in Isfahan

There's a lot to do in Isfahan, especially if you only have 1 day there.
Re-energized from a good night's sleep, I headed out early in the morning for my first real viewing of an Iranian mosque, the Jame Mosque.

It should only have taken me about half an hour to get there on foot, but I got seriously lost... I must've taken a wrong left turn somewhere, placing me in the middle of a residential area. Narrow streets and low rise buildings everywhere, all looking the same. I got a bit nervous ("No one would see me get kidnapped!!" ran through my US-bred mind), but I decided to focus on the "Iran is safe" notion. Which it totally is. After asking (more like gesturing) every other person I ran into for directions, I made it in another hour.
Because the Jame Mosque is one of the oldest mosques in Iran, it's not as colorful and ornate as the ones I briefly saw in Imam Square yesterday. But it's beautiful in its own way. Very serene as well. While wandering through the complex, I found a group of design students gathered in one corner, making drawings of the tiles.

From there, I walked through the massive market and headed back towards Imam Square without getting lost : ) On the way, I stopped by Chehel Sotoun, also known as the Palace of Forty Columns. There's actually only 20 columns on the palace, but the reflection in the pool doubles the number. I loved the ancientness of the wooden structure, and the frescoes/paintings on the walls and ceiling. Definitely worth the 50 cents admission fee.

I had no interest in checking out the geography museum next door (picture cheap dinosaur replicas), so I went directly back to Imam Square. Everything was open today - YAAAAY!
The panoramic view from the top of Ali Qapu Palace was wonderful. As was the ceiling decorations and cut outs.
And the 2 mosques were....well, "mosque-y". There were carpets everywhere, rolled up and stacked on the side since it wasn't prayer day. I just couldn’t help but admire the tiles. And the blueness. Wow...

As with the Jame Mosque, there were some students sketching on the grounds here as well. Curious, I started chatting with one of the girls. (BTW – it's amazing how the students here speak really good English!) Apparently, there's a contest going on to design a new mail box!
Walking around the square itself, I saw many people eating this. So I tried. Basically, it's lemon ice cream with this dry, flaky starch (the white thingy). It only cost me 30 cents, but I think one was enough...
Tired from a whole day of walking, I thought I'd take a break back at the guest house before getting on my overnight bus. On my way back, though, I ran into one of the guys staying there. He was on his way to check out the bridges. With a burger and pineapple favored beer (non-alcoholic of course!) in hand, I decided to join him – I heard that the bridges have nice architecture. They sort of reminded me of Roman aqueducts.

By the time we got back, it was time for me to leave Isfahan. 1 night was definitely too short; I felt like I rushed too much. Oh well. Need to move on.

Now, getting to the bus terminal posed a little problem. I crossed the street to flag down a cab as instructed by the guest house owner, but none appeared. I waited, and waited, and waited. Hmm...maybe there's a cab stand that I needed to go to. There was a group of guys coming out of a store, so I asked them where I could get a cab. And guess what?! They offered to take me there themselves since they were headed that way. I don't know how I managed to understand that, but I’m pretty sure that's what they meant. Because I got into their car and they took me there. Really nice people : )