The Persian Experience/I'm a millionaire!!!

Being a shopping maniac, I couldn't miss the chance of doing a lot of shopping here in Tehran. With just 200 dollars exchanged in Iranian Riyal, I'm a Millionair!! The curency of Iran is the Riyal and also the Toman (10 Riyals) 1 US Dollars is equivalent to 900 Riyals, but still the city here is very expensive. I went to Tajreesh square and had a walk in the old Bazar, I went straight to the herbal stores and I spent like 500 US Dollars buying Iranian rice which is like Basmati rice but bigger and has a strong characteristic smoky flavor, I bought REAL IRANIAN SAFFRON* which is very expensive (about 25 dollars for 2 grams) I bought Zereshk( kind of red sour raisin that is cooked with rice), Sliced bitter almonds, Iranian raisins (Greenish, very sweet and longer than ours), sliced sweet orange peel, dried garlic slices, and a mixture of nuts with dried berries. I tried to buy Iranian carpet but that was extremely expensive, a small carpet just the size of an A4 paper is for 100 US Dollars!! I bought some hand made boxes with wonderful minute decorations, handmade silk scarfs, handmade cushions with golden decorations and other handmade extremely small items. The people are extremely friendly and I was given enormous discounts, thanks to my Iranian friends and being Egyptian, something they highly appreciate here. Today I will go to the mountain that overlooks Tehran and will keep you updated. I miss u all but......I don't want to leave all this beauty I'm having a lifetime experience *Saffron is the dried stigma and top of style (Very small threads that are found inside the flower and are parts of the female reproductive organs in flowering plants whose job is the reception of pollen grains) of the crocus flower ( A type of Sawssan) the flower itself is purple to mauve in colour and saffron is dark red threads that give yellow colour and strong taste in water. It is used for cooking. Rice with saffron is very common in Iran. It is extremely expensive as thousands of flowers are need to produce few grams of Saffron.