The New York Times travel section did a nice piece on Esfahen in yesterday's issue--in fact, it was the section's cover story.

There's an amazing photo of Imam Square that spreads across the two page piece. In re: to the Sheik Lotfollah Mosque the author writes, "It's tiled dome was covered by twirling black-and-white veines and turquoise flowers, a design with the precision more of fine china than of monumental architecture." And that's what astonishes me most about both the Lotfollah and Imam mosques, all of the seemingly infinite intricacies that went into the work...it's really unlike anything else in the world. After all, there's a centuries-old saying that Esfahan is "half the world," meaning it contains fully half of the earth's wonders.

I was especially able to enjoy this piece, Afs, b/c of the wonderful mini-lesson you've given us on your home-city. It truly is one of the world's great wonders.