On Reading This Blog: Miscellaneous Odds and Ends

A choice, a reminder and a note:
You have a choice: you can read the blog from the bottom up or the top down. I’m going to give you links to the main sections and from these main sections you can move down by clicking on “Older Posts”. You can start reading with the Eighth Set or with the First Set or whatever suits your fancy. Starting with the First Set will give you a better sense of the overall trip as well as the creative arch of this blog.

Introduction to the First Set of Snippets:Welcome, Exercise, and Shepherds
Introduction to the Second Set of Snippets:Persian Music, Markets, and Caravanserai
Introduction to the Third Set of Snippets: Traveling in Iran
Introduction to the Fourth Set of Snippets: Food
Introduction to the Fifth Set of Snippets: Ferdowsi and Hafez
Introduction to the Sixth Set of Snippets:Artisans and Arts in a Persian Market

Introduction to the Seventh Set of Snippets: Architecture in Iran
Introduction to the Eighth Set of Snippets: Ancient Ruins, Inscriptions, and Bas-reliefs in Iran

When I talk about Reza, I mean Reza, our incredible Iranian guide. I told you about him early on but if you are reading this blog from the top down, you won’t learn about him until you are close to the end. Geo Ex’s Carolyn McIntyre was our tireless and endlessly good-humored tour leader.

Writing Persian words in English is a nightmare. There are at least two or three ways of spelling everything when you are translating from Farsi, written in Arabic, into English. I have tried really hard to spell everything  consistently. But if you are looking at other sources, like guidebooks and references on the web, you will find a huge number of imaginative spellings. Almost always, some part of the name is similar. When possible, I used the spelling of my beloved Lonely Planet Iran Guidebook which accompanied me on both trips and which I have consulted so many times.

And here’s a little info on my camera and computer, just in case you’re interested in the technology:

All the photographs on the blog, save 6 or 7, I took with my red Canon Power Shot SD780 elph. In spite of my ignorance of many of the camera's features, I really do like the photos I’ve taken. Any adjustments in terms of cropping, saturation, exposure, detail or whatever, I’ve done with my iPhoto program on my MacBookPro computer. I want to thank Carolyn McIntyre for two photos she took of me, one with the shepherd and one at the tomb of Hafez. I needed to use a few photos from the web for places we didn’t visit, for one place I missed, and a few more.

If you want to see any of the photos in a larger size, just click on the photo. The back arrow will return you to the page you were reading.

And lastly a plea:
I would really appreciate knowing if you spot something incorrect or misleading in this blog. I have tried assiduously to do my homework and to tell stories as fairly and accurately as I could. But I make mistakes and my sources make mistakes.
I would love to know your very favorite posting or photo or whatever it is you take away from reading about Iran.
And please feel free to ask me any questions that have bubbled up for you.