Our Emirates flight from Dubai to Tehran was delayed for nearly an hour due to local weather conditions. There were no problems during the flight and we landed at Tehran airport on the morning of November 10. Just before landing, Suzan wrapped a scarf over her hair to form a hijab, as required by Iranian law.

We got through immigration and customs quite easily—the official at passport control just asked Suzan if this was the first time she’d visited Iran. She said “Yes,” he looked at her passport, looked at her, stamped the passport, and waved her through.

When it was Tim’s turn, the official looked at his passport, looked at him, Tim gestured towards Suzan and said, “I’m with her,” and the official waved him through.

As prearranged, Yomadic’s Iranian guide, Vahid, met us right after we exited the customs area. Vahid is a tall, slender young man with a bright smile and a warm handshake. As we grew to know him over the coming days, we found him to have a vast knowledge of history, art, and politics as well as a delightful sense of humor and a marvelous singing voice. He had a taxi waiting to take us on the long drive into downtown Tehran. Along the way, we passed the enormous shrine to Ayatollah Khomeini.

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We arrived at the Saina Hotel in late morning, where we met Nate, Philippa, our bus driver Mori, and the other seven members of our tour group. Tim had no difficulty exchanging American dollars for Iranian rials at the front desk of the hotel. Then we went up to our room and rested for awhile. The room was very nice, with all the amenities we could want.

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At 3pm we all met in the lobby and headed out for some sightseeing and then dinner. The first stop was at Tehran’s most famous landmark, which was was built by Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi and formerly called the Shah’s Tower. Following the 1979 Islamic Revolution the structure was renamed the Azadi [Freedom] Tower. The street on which it is Revolution Blvd.

The traffic in Tehran is horrendous; it takes a long time to get anywhere. It was quite dark by the time we got to our next stop, the Tabiat [Nature] Bridge. Nighttime IS the right time to see this bridge. Built to an award-winning design by a young female Iranian architect named Leila Araghian, the bridge was completed in 2014. The 270-metre (890 ft) bridge connects two public parks — Taleghani Park and Abo-Atash Park — by spanning Modarres Expressway, one of the main highways in northern Tehran. It has three levels, and includes restaurants and other amenities. At night it is lit up by a gorgeous display of multi-colored lights which change color every few seconds. A beautiful display of both aesthetics and engineering!

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Here is a brief video showing the colorful lights at the bridge.

The final stop of the evening was at the Gilaneh Restaurant in North Tehran. We ate sumptuously there, with lots of selections for vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike. The quantities of rice were enormous! Suzan decided right there that she was going to get some Persian cookbooks and try some recipes at home.

Finally we wound our way back down the slopes and to our hotel, where we totally collapsed. It had been a very long day for us, from Rome to Dubai to Tehran–and then several hours of sightseeing.