"If ya like it then ya shoulda putta ring on it!" -- The Ladies line-up in front of the Tomb of Cyrus the Great, founder of the Persian Empire under the Achaemenid dynasty, 530 BC, Pasargadae

Remains of the Achaemenid empire, Pasargadae

On the night of my birthday, we went to the Sharzeh Traditional Restaurant in Shiraz, which offered some very lively Persian music.

We had "kabab," -- mine was beef and lamb, and Michele had chicken. The irony was, there were wine glasses on the table. Alcohol is illegal in Iran, even though the Shiraz grape comes from there.

Lonely Planet said this place was "going off like the proverbial frog in a sock." I had no idea what that meant until I watched these crazy women trying to dance within the laws of Islam!

"Ali Ebn-e Hamze," 19th century shrine to one of the Shah decedents. Every inch of the walls and ceiling were covered with tiny mirror mosaics.

The mirror work in this dome was magnificent, shimmering light in every direction.

The external view of the dome and courtyard of the shrine of "Ali Ebn-e Hamze," Shiraz.

Fortune-telling parakeets outside the tomb of Hafez. For a fee, the parakeet on his left arm will retrieve a little slip of blue paper containing your fortune.

There has got to be a better way of cleaning the steps to the Hafez tomb than with a squirt-bottle, (unless this is some sort of devotional ritual?)

One of the most famous landmarks in the city of Shiraz is the tomb of the 14th Century poet, Hafez, who not only memorized the Qu'ran, but also wrote of "nightingales, courtship, and wine."

Legend has it that every Iranian home must have two books -- the Holy Qu'ran, and a book of poetry by the 14th Century poet, Hafez. Visitors to his tomb often take turns read poetry aloud to others who come to pay homage.