“We pass the dilapidated reamins of the Ice Palace, a grand indoor rink where seven year old Leila would go skating on Thursday nights. Farhad points out the former site of his beloved toyland, a five story shop full of European imports. Maryam recalls the patisserie on Seventh Street where her mother stopped every Friday to buy napoleons. As we cross Vanak Square, Leila remembers afternoons spent horseback riding in the nearby meadows. children today experience a Tehran that's different in every respect, a soot-gray sea of asphalt and concrete punctuated by idle cranes. Rows of dispirited housing blocks stretch to the horizon. The bridle paths of Vanak have given way to traffic chocked roundabouts. Tehran's population has quadrupled to sixteen million since the Revolution, overwhelming the city's infrastruture to a shocking degree.: during the evening rush hour, it can hours to drive two miles across town. On bad days, the pollution stings the lungs, after a rainfuall, sidewalks are coated with sticky residue from the oil in the air. ”
