Back to the Old Country: Day 3 (Wed. 31-Sep-14)

*** This is a postponed post ***

I woke up once around 02:30 AM and went back to sleep. Woke up for the second time at around 06:30 AM and noticed The Lady was up as well. She said she had been up since 02:30 AM! Obviously we both still are struggling with jet lag phenomena.  So we both went for breakfast. We had our breakfast finished by 07:30 and decided to go to another shopping spree. My mother-in-law’s idea was to take BRT (Yes BRT and that is the exact way they write it on the buses, stations and announcements, in English!) while The Lady insisted on taxi. I didn't know Esfahan even had BRT and to this day I do not know what BRT stranded for. I have seen buses with BRT sign in Calgary but all I know about them is that they were a kind of fast service bus with limited number of stops because I do not take any sort of public transportation service and intend not to do that ever! BRT in Esfahan though, l have to admit its excellence: first of all you have a card which by scanning it you go past a gate and get to the station. So the driver does not have to check your ticket or you do not have to purchase ticket every time you want to travel because the cards are rechargeable. 

Different types of pickled vegetables with different tastes. You can find anything from olive to cauliflower pickled here. They are strong and intense in taste but good. I have a box now in the refrigerator. 

The system reminds me of Toronto Subway. The bases are equipped with air conditioning so although we were traveling in a not very hot morning of Oct., the temperature was controlled and desirable. It should not be forgotten that we did not travel in rush hour. In that case the trip would have not been as pleasant, most likely. Our shopping did not get as exciting as I had imagined. Regardless of the fact that we were able to purchase what we wanted and the prices did not bother us much, I thought that shopping did not have the same joy that it had when I was here more than 6 years ago. Dried and fresh fruit, pickled vegetables, olives, bread and baked goods were among the items we purchased. We got on the same bus and went back in the same convenience. 

Updated today: BRT stands for Bus Rapid Transit which does not sound very English to me! 

(Photo, top, A BRT Station in Esfahan with glass walls to protect from cold in winter)