Once in a while the most unexpected happens and life brings you a mixture of joy, peace and fun. Last week out of the blue we received a call from Manneli, the daughter of Tehran's most important and well known modern woman painter Ms Farideh Lashai and we got invited to a lovely lunch in Shemshak. I had not been out of the city for nearly a month and this was a great time to get away and soothe my soul. Shemshak is about one hour north east of Tehran in the mountains and has famous ski slopes.

The drive which I used to take many years ago on a weekly basis to take me to Dizin for a few hours of skiing before I headed back home to shower, change and go to work every Thursday seemed most unfamiliar and strange now. But once we found her lovely villa near the Shemshak ski slopes and breathed the lovely fresh air and the joy of meeting old friends and especially our lovely hostess, everything was divine and sweet as the water that was in the garden pool where some water bottles and melons were being cooled for later that day.