A house and gardens

Location: Amir Kabir Hotel, Kashan, Iran
Date: 26th April, 2008

Happy Birthday Kristy! I, of course, got her a book about travel!

Man, it got hot today. We drove about 400 km from Hamedan to Kashan, dropped a couple of thousand feet (to 3500) and dropped a couple of degrees of latitude. We also got closer to the Lout desert, so that all meant it got hot.

We arrived in Kashan in the middle of the afternoon, and drove straight to the Tabatabei house. The 3500sqm house was the house of an obviously wealthy merchant who made his money in carpets (what else!?!) in the mid-19th Century. Wonderful courtyards, with fountains and flowers, with cool underground areas and wind-towers to catch the breeze direct it to various parts of the house (think 19thC a/c), made it a pleasant place to spend some time.

Also extremely pleasant were the Fin Gardens, Bagh-e-Tarikhi-ye Fin. With a natural spring, rivulets, pools, old Cypress trees and all kinds of plants - as well as being several degrees cooler than the outside, made me want to stay all day. It was also full of giggling schoolgirls who wanted to take a photo of themselves with Kristy and I. Famous for a few minutes - remind me *never* to win an Oscar…

Fin Gardens also has its share of stories, from the stream that was discovered by Soloman (maybe the King, or maybe someone else), to the murder of a Caliph. Checkout the Wikipedia entry for more.