Tag Archives: sweets

Day 298 – Brake time

One day in Trabzon to take a breath and look at the sights in and around the city. For Turkey, we got a 3 months visa on arrival so after rushing around in Iran, we do need to take it slower now. Thus, we slept in, enjoyed the breakfast that was included and…started on chores.

First thing to do was finding a money changer. We deliberately took too many USD into Iran, given that credit cards don’t work, we wanted to be safe rather than sorry. But Iran turned out to be the cheapest country so far which meant we have USD now that will not be of use in Turkey or the EU. The rate offered at the exchange was actually very good so we changed enough for the next couple of days.

Thanks guys for shouting lunch!

Thanks guys for shouting lunch!

Next in line was Rocinante. After the scare in Iran, Flo wanted to take a close look at Rocinante, change the oil, get new brake pads for the front and get a new chain. For all of this, we needed a Honda dealer and Trabzon actually has one. So we showed up and the fun of translation began. The first staff member we talked to was very nice and helpful but translating via google translate takes its time plus he didn’t know all the prices and if the spare parts are actually stocked. Thus, we waited for the mechanic to arrive while sipping a coffee.

Once the mechanic arrived, things seemed to start moving. Flo got a fixed price for the oil change and new brake pads while no chain was available. Being amazingly friendly staff, we were then sat down in the “waiting area” and someone went out and bought lunch for us. It was still a waiting game though and I regretted having joined Flo. I started feeling sick and really just wanted to lie down in bed. Instead we waited. Around 2pm, we were fetched back to have a look at the bike. The oil had been changed but the brake pads didn’t fit because of the ABS and now they were trying to locate pads in any of the close by cities.

These are in dire need of replacement. I have one half used set in spare to get us to the next town.

These are in dire need of replacement. I have one half used set in spare to get us to the next town.

In the end, no brake pads could be found and Ismail advised us to take the detour over Ankara to get new ones. However, the Honda dealer staff had done more than could be expected and Rocinante was even cleaned before we got her back. Looking all clean and shiny again, it’s not quite the same bike anymore.

Leaving at 3pm, I didn’t feel like seeing any of the sights anymore. Instead, we went back to the hotel for some relaxing and then out to find all those confectionaries that the Lonely Planet talks about. We visited two of the bigger ones and were successful: Flo had ice cream while I bought baklava and a chocolate dessert in the first one; in the second one we discovered delicious Turkish delight rolls with a hazelnut paste.

Done for today, we purchased fresh bread and a beer (woah, a country which sells beer) for dinner and a nice and cozy evening watching youtube.

Day 288 – Being a hipster in Tehran

A young Polish couple was traveling with this one.

A young Polish couple was traveling with this one.

After all the quiet times in the mountains, Tehran came as a bit of a shock. It’s a big city with lots of option of how to spend your time. Do you go shopping in the bazaar? Do you look at the Royal Palace? Do you visit the Museum of Iran to see more of the ancient artefacts that have been dug out throughout the country? To be honest, we were out of energy. Instead of trying to cramp in as much as we could, we decided to try and see contemporary Iran and experience city life in the capital.

Nina with nice organic tea

Nina with nice organic tea

So we took it slow this morning, sleeping in, have a longer breakfast and using the internet after two days of abstinence. At about 11.30 we went out with the plan of having lunch in a tea house. The Lonely Planet recommends going to one of the parks to watch people which sounded like a good idea. Park-e Shahr is the one closest to our hotel so we could walk there. Right before we go to the entrance, we stumbled into a tiny market full of stalls. One stall sold freshly baked pastries, most of them vegetarian, another stall sold sweets. Two buy options and we were set for lunch on a park bench in Park-e Shahr. 🙂 A lady at the stall next door offered us to test the tea they are selling. They are the first company that has gained the organic label in Iran. She had a little cheat sheet which she used to read the information to us in English.

bird watching, Tehran style

bird watching, Tehran style

The park was quite big and to our surprise, it had bird cages in it as well. Once we had eaten and wandered around for a bit, we were ready for more exploration. Flo wanted to see the old embassy of the United States now named US Den of Espionage which was too far to walk there. Thus, we took the metro for a couple of stations to get there. Always a bit of an adventure to figure out how public transport works in other cities. The train was crowded but a lovely lady got me a seat before telling me about her three years in Vienna 30 years ago.

True face?

True face?

The US Den of Espionage is closed to the public most of the times but you can walk around it and look at the murals on the wall around the area. Such a weird experience. We continued from here to the Park-e Honar Mandan for some more people watching. The park sports a trim-dich-pfad as well as some sculptures. More strolling around before settling down for a café for some lovely tea, coffee and chocolate cake. Mmmmh, chocolate cake. 🙂

Others were more into it

Others were more into it

The café we chose was in the Iranian Artists’ forum building. We had snobbed the forum yesterday … but not today. The exhibition is for free and as a way of experiencing contemporary Iran, it was perfect. Taking our time, we made our way through three level of art. It was great. We especially liked the room dedicated to the caricaturist Hadi. The artist was actually present to take some pictures in the exhibition room so Flo and I ended up on a couple of “look here is the public looking at the works” shots, we think.

Public display of logo design suggestions for an event. Pretty cool.

Public display of logo design suggestions for an event. Pretty cool.

One room was lined with the entries to a design competition. Flo particularly enjoyed this as you could make out differences in the quality already. Another room showed photos of theatre plays which were incredibly interesting but we are lacking any knowledge of the plays which is a shame really.

Going back home we passed the market stalls again. Not wanting to have another round of kebab for dinner, we bought more vegetarian pastries as well as olives in a spicy paste that go very well with bread and cheese. Dinner was had in the hotel room before we met up with Joris and Noor who stayed next door. Going for some tea, it was lovely to talk to fellow travellers; we spent two hours just doing that and then made to ride with Joris tomorrow. Noor took a flight back to the Netherlands this night as her holiday of visiting was over.