The week we spent in Mashhad we stayed at my auntie’s place and mostly enjoyed the family time with my cousins and their friends.

We were welcomed so warm and friendly that it was soon clear, that the people rather than the place made our visit. We also did some trips to the mosque, a nearby town called Torghabe, the “Kussangir” (a little hill in the city center, surrounded by water fountains and colourful lights) and a day trip to Neyshabur, but none of the sites had really been catching us and since Mashhad is the most religious and thus strict city in Iran, it hadn’t always been easy to feel comfortable outside of my family’s houses.