Thread by @RoshanaMN

I miss Iran

I keep having flashbacks of sitting in the courtyard of Abassi Hotel in Isfahan having a huge bowl of Aash

Let me take you on a tour of my last trip 7 years ago. I don’t know when or if I’ll ever be able to go again.

I used to go every year for part of summer. All my extended family was there. I have none in the UK.

Since nazanin-zaghari so many of us have never dared to go back

Here I am with that bowl of Aash, in the Abassi Hotel, thought to be the oldest hotel in Iran. It’s in Isfahan.

This was the view from our table. You can see the Samovar for tea in front. Behind me was a huge couldron of the famous Aash soup. The courtyard was packed with groups and families out for the night socialising

Isfahan nasf-e jahan’ which literally means ‘Isfahan is half the world’

A famous pun from centuries ago when the Persian empire made it its capital and built some of the most spectacular mosques you’ll ever see

I took this of the famous Naghs-e-Jahan(image of the world) square

I was pretending I knew how to use this as you can see here (I don’t)

The reason it’s called half the world is because Nagshe-e-Jahan is the biggest square in the world (apart from tienneman I think). You can get an idea from my picture here how huge it is, but il put a stock photo next that’s better to see it

There ya go

One of the worlds biggest bazaars is housed in this square

I obviously went shopping...

The square at night

This is the beautiful siosepol bridge (33 arches). It is stunning.

The river was dry so locals were using it to shade, socialise and relax in in the scorching heat

Here are groups picnicing in its arches

A shot I got at night that really shows it off

A shot of streets of Isfahan before we leave this stunning city and head back to Tehran, where I spent the rest of my trip with my family

I haven’t seen my cousins for 7 years 🥺 we haven’t seen each other’s children

Here we are together 7 years ago when I got back from Isfahan on the roof of our building

We lay together chatting, dipping our feet to cool in the boiling heat

We looked out over sprawling Tehran from the roof as we caught up

They took me out to beautiful cafes in the evenings to meet their friends

We went to trinket markets in the day

I push all this to the back of my mind. But I feel so sad.

Why does it matter to you?! You were born in the UK

My whole family was there. I am, in my genes, Iranian. I feel a longing for it I can’t explain. Will I ever go back? Will my children ever see it?

Thats the burden to bear of next generation immigrants. A world where they always feel stuck in between

But in the case of iran, you can’t explore the other side anymore

I hope it gives you some insight into how beautiful a place it is