Getting High and Eating Persian Food
It was a week of ups and ups, until it all came crashing down.
Hi everyone!
Spring is coming on strong here. The weather is getting a lot warmer and the flowers are in full bloom. Are you out from under winter snow yet?
Here’s what we got up (and down) to this week:
Vegan Persian New Year
Getting High at Clérigos Tower
Catching a Bad Break
Let’s get to it!
Expanding our Minds at Vegan Persian New Year
A nutritionist friend hosted a plant-based Persian new year celebration last Friday. It was an incredible opportunity to try food that is not well known to us and learn more about Iranian culture. Our American understanding of Iran is very limited, propagandized, and often negative (ie: usually directed at the government).
The event was at a local distillery that is owned and operated by an Australian, and there was live violin music from a Portuguese local, The Tiny Musician. We sampled a variety of delicious traditional Iranian dishes that were thoughtfully vegan-ized.
The most interesting part for me was hearing from our Polish host and the distillery owner, who both spent meaningful time in Iran. Many people in the world (who do not hold a US, or UK passport) can freely travel there without a minder.
Getting personal perspectives on a country (that is often demonized in western media) from people who have actually been there is incredibly moving. These folks were absolutely effusive about the warmth and kindness of the Iranian people, the sheer beauty of the countryside, and, of course, the tasty food.
It’s a great reminder that in most cases, the people don’t reflect the government (and vice versa). It has moved quickly up my list of places to visit once I get a Portuguese passport (hoping that things don’t get more unstable there).
This is a small example of the wealth of knowledge that living in a new country is bringing to us - learning from non-American expats is making the world less opaque. I love it.
Getting High at Clérigos Tower
One of our core travel rules is that if we have an opportunity to get somewhere high up in a city, we take it. Unless, of course, it’s prohibitively expensive or totally overrun.
We recently joined a social event that included a tour of an iconic Porto landmark: Clérigos Tower.
Built in 1750, it sits on a rise overlooking the city on all sides. It was the tallest structure in Porto for a long time. There’s a museum and church at the bottom, and you can climb the 200+ stairs up top for stunning vistas.
The history and cathedral are interesting and rich, but the tower views are what do it for us. This has been added to our list of must-dos while visiting Porto. It gives you a great lay of the land and on a nice day the views are absolutely incredible.
Catching a Bad Break
During a recent hike with friends, I tripped over a post, landed hard on my knees and wrist, and caught a metal pole straight to the abdomen. It was spectacularly graceful.
I was able to continue my hike, but my left knee and wrist got more painful as time went on. I went home to ice everything and rest up.
The next day I woke up with more pain, so I headed over to my favorite private hospital to learn how urgent care works in this country.
Turns out it works very similarly to the United States, but with more upside.
I was triaged fairly quickly: Seeing a nurse and then a doctor who ordered some x-rays and sent me down to an orthopedist.
Upon reading my x-rays and examining me, the doctor deemed my knee okay but ordered a CT scan of my wrist. He couldn’t see any fractures but wanted to make sure.
The CT scan revealed a hairline fracture, and he ordered my wrist immobilized.
All the back-and-forth meant a decent amount of waiting between each stop on my journey. It took me about six hours from admission to walking out with a brace on my wrist, with a total cost of 43€. The patience and care shown by everyone in the process were outstanding.
So far, I’m very impressed with private healthcare here.
This is the second time I’ve had a CT scan in this country in 5 months. That’s compared to the zero times I benefitted from this technology in my 46 years navigating the US healthcare system for a vast array of fractures (4 major breaks), contusions, and illnesses.
It’s nice to be somewhere I have access to advanced medicine.
I had just crawled out of an injury hole and was getting back to running longer distances and doing stronger workouts. I guess I get to start over again in a few weeks. Upside? Now I know how urgent care works!
This week’s music suggestion is another of Spotify’s spot-on playlists, highlighting a diverse selection of modern Afro-pop sounds from across the diaspora. I’ve been digging these grooves, and I hope you do too.
So sorry to hear about your injury and impressed with the care you received. May you heal swiftly.
As for Iran Mirek and I traveled there on our EU passports in 2015 with visas issued at the airport. Of course, our American friends were sure we were absolutely crazy. It is true we were absolutely crazy about the country’s rich cultural heritage and most of all the amazing people. Never have we been welcomed so enthusiastically anywhere in the world.
As for the food it was really really bad, very poor quality, greasy and limited in variety. Except for three meals, one in an Iranian home, one with Qasquai nomads where we brought the ingredients, and one in an expensive restaurant in Shiraz. We did not spend any time in Teheran where the majority of people live and have upscale restaurants. As independent travelers, we struggled with food choices a lot. It would be really difficult to make it as a vegan. But worth living on power bars, cucumbers and tomatoes for sure. Hope your dream comes true and the situation in Iran improves soon. It is heartbreaking, indeed.
Another great nissue! Heal up.