Today I had a busy day. I rented a taxi for the whole day to be able to move quickly between the important tourist places in Shiraz.
I visited some beautiful gardens, saw the tomb of Emir Ali, Saadi and Hafez. The last one is the most famous poet in Iran.
In the tomb of emir Ali people were remembering the death of a loved one. It is a custom to give something to eat or to drink to visitors of the mosque. I got some sweet cookies and a cup of tea. Later I was approached by two little children and thanks to my basic farsi skills I was able to communicate with them.
As a westerner you really stand out, especially in the gardens. Most of the time people give you the odd look, but often they stop to ask where you are from. Then they want to make a picture of you (who is the tourist now ;) )
They often inquire why you are travelling alone (tanha) and ask if you are married (People in Iran use to marry at quite a young age). People are really surprised when you answer them in Farsi. Soon I get stuck because I know most trivial conversation now but when people get into details it is a little harder.
So I am talking a lot (in farsi ;) ) In Shiraz I have talked two hours with shop keepers, two hours with people in the hotel, with soldiers, taxi drivers, tourists, you name it. The farsi language course is really paying of now. Maybe I will spent some more time practicing tonight.
In the orange guarden pavillion I saw a picture on the ceiling that had a "dutch" flavour about it. With people on the ice and a windmill in the background. Remarkable.
The last Tuesday night of the year Iranians lite fires and there are fireworks. The people used to burn their old carpets and buy new ones in spring. To show their courage people would jump across the fire. Because I am in Iran I guess I should join the fun and see what this celebration is all about. So I went to the riverside of town, but did not see a lot of things happening. It appeared to me that most people do this at home. So I went to a diner and started talking with two Iranians. One of them invited me to his home to jump across fires there. They just finished jumping but offered to start the fire again for their foreign visitor. First I visited their home Father was retired and had worked in metallurgy, the daughter was studying agriculture. They offered me some tea and some fruit (it was 12 o clock at night!). After the warm welcome we went by car to look for a fire to jump across and found one.
Today I had a busy day. I rented a taxi for the whole day to be able to move quickly between the important tourist places in Shiraz.
As a westerner you really stand out, especially in the gardens. Most of the time people give you the odd look, but often they stop to ask where you are from. Then they want to make a picture of you (who is the tourist now ;) )
After Persepolis I visited Naqse Roshtam, the necropolis of the persian emperors. In the rock the battle and subsequent victory with the east roman empire was depicted. 
Today we went for diving at Qeshm Island. I asked to make two dives, but did not realize that one of the dives would be to a ship sunk in the Iran-Irak war. I never really opted to dive to wrecks. I always worried that you could get stuck somewhere under water. However they provided me with an experienced instructor who would safely guide me to the wreck. Eventually we dived upto 25 m depth (a personal record, my last one being 15m). Later today we dived in more shallow water to look at some coral reefs.