We may not often think of Tehran, or Iran, as a home of many flowers or parks. But that is where we are wrong. Because Tehran is nothing but a green city. There are streets, of course. And highways. But there are also little parks everywhere around the city – and I mean everywhere. Around every corner, you will find a small oasis with trees, green and yellow benches, decorated with chatting old men. And where you can’t find a park, you will at least find flowers. I just happen to be the type of person who often enjoys the surrounding area more than the actual sites, so forgive me for focusing this post more on flowers than on towers. Here are some examples of the parks and flowers that I spotted around the city – and just a couple of notable sites.

The Milad Tower park

Milad Tower is one of my favorite parts of Tehran. Not only is the view from this tower, which happens to be the sixth tallest in the world, absolutely amazing (especially at night), but the tower is also surrounded by a beautiful park. I can safely say that I spent much more time admiring the outsides of this tower than I did the insides. Especially loved all the fountains!

View of old Tehran

I have to include this too, only because it was so beautiful. Milad Tower at night.

 

Azadi Tower

Perhaps the most famous landmark of them all. It was built as a commemoration of the Persian Empire, and you can definitely feel the glory when you walk around the tower and its park. The tower and its park serves as a roundabout, and is thus surrounded not only by Iranian flags, but also by thousands and thousands of cars that pass by it every day. The tower is very pretty to look at, especially on a sunny day, and so are the flowers in the surrounding park.

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Flower shops

Tehran is filled with flower shops. Really, it is. And many of the homes that I visited also kept fresh flowers in vases around the house. I loved going into these little corner shops to explore the flowers and bouquets that they offered.

 

Ferris wheels

Why does one end up in a ferris wheel? Well, there could be any number of reasons. Mine was simple. I was exploring the city with one of my hosts, a girl slightly younger than me, and since we did not speak more than 5 words of the other’s language, we needed something to do (read: something to point at). So we simply ended up in a ferris wheel, above one of my favorite parks. The ferris wheel was not very tall, but the view was lovely.

 

All photos by me and my friend on an iPhone.