At the Naranjestan museum, which was a palace complex used by royalty during the Qajar period. This area is surrounded by many orange trees, hence the name ("naranj" means orange).

At the Darvazeh-e Quran (Quran Gateway), the once gateway to the city of Shiraz. A holy Quran was placed in the gateway itself, which is why it is named as such. The lighted walls on the right take you up a hill for a nice view.

Facing the brightly lit walls from the previous picture.

A view of the gateway itself, from the top of the hill...a very pretty scene.

Bagh-e Eram (Garden of Paradise), a garden in the middle of Shiraz.

Flowers and a pool...pretty impressive, considering the rest of Shiraz is essentially a desert.

My face against one of the walls. Those are all prayers, I assume.

A group shot. From left to right we have: the LA/Calabasas group, the Australians, us, 2 girls from Tehran, and Australian group #2. A fun group...

Arg-e Karim Khan (Citadel of Karim Khan). This was a fortress back in the day (Zand dynasty), and this tower contained a bathhouse. Why visit the Leaning Tower of Pisa when you can go to Shiraz?!

Inside the citadel were many old photos of interesting times. This one depicts a strong kid!

This one shows the 1937 ceremony where the shah ordered all women to remove their head coverings. Many women actually did not feel comfortable doing so...just look at their faces.

Masjed-e Vakil (Regent's Mosque): my first mosque! You really need to look at the walls up close to appreciate the intricate carvings and paintings.

At the top of the stand, where the man who leads the prayers usually sits.

Bazaar-e Vakil: my first bazaar! This is Shiraz's best bazaar, filled to the brim with shops. Crowded, but exciting.

Fabric and rug shop in the bazaar.

Bags o' spices in a spice shop at the bazaar.

Mmm...faludeh. It's hard to describe, but it's a dessert with frozen rose water and sweet noodle things.

Brother, Mona, Rahele, and me showing off our new fez. We had to beg the shop owner to let us try them on without first buying them.

More spices...check out the multi-layered one in the lower left.

The ladies of the tour group, putting on their chadors before entering Masjed-e Shah-e Cheragh (Mosque of Light, sort of). This is the most famous mosque in Shiraz, because it houses the remains of Imam Reza's brother. Women must put on a chador if they want to enter.

At the entrance of the mosque. Once you enter, you're inside a great courtyard.

A view of the dome and minarets from inside the courtyard. It's such an amazing scene that even with a mediocre camera it's easy to take photos. Photos are allowed inside the courtyard, but not inside the shrine.

Aramgah-e Hafez (Tomb of Hafez): the tomb of Iran's greatest poet and thinker. We happened to be here during the night of Yalda, the longest night of the year, when people traditionally read verses from his book and interpret them as horoscops.

The tomb itself.

Getting some late night food back in town. How can you resist food like this?

A military museum (more specifically, Miliary Museum #2). This used to be the house of the shah's wife, who, when she died, was sold to the military. As such, no photos were allowed inside. (But in case you're dying to know, it was full of guns inside!)

The cannons that were fired during the shah's funeral.

Posing in front of a tank. Not much more to say about this.

The wall Masjed-e Nasir-ol-Molk (Nasir-ol-Molk Mosque). This is supposedly one of the most elegant mosqeus in Iran, and it was undergoing renovation at the time.

Inside the mosque.

GQ #1

GQ #2

This line starts off every prayer.

Mmm...corn. In the Shiraz airport (waiting for our flight to Esfehan) we were starving, and all we could find was corn. Sounds weird, but it was surprisingly good.