Baden Baden Hotel in Tashkent was "home", a comfort away from home.

 

This modern sculpture stands in contrast to the surrounding buildings which date back a few centuries. The letters CCC could be interpreted to mean the phases of change or evolution in the history of Uzbekistan made after Timur Amir (aka Tamerlane) established Uzbekistan in the 14th C, after Russian rule in 1991, and again in the 21Century resulting from the tech evolution. 

The Centre for Islamic Civilisation (CIC, estbd 2017) is the largest cultural, scientific and educational complex in Uzbekistan. The centre-piece housed here is the Samarkand Kufic Quran, one of the oldest Quranic manuscripts in the World.  

Originally, the Samarkand Kufic Quran was housed in the Hazrati Imam Ensemble. After the CIC was opened, the Quran was transferred there. What is shown here is a copy of the original one.


  

The Hazrati Imam Ensemble is the spiritual and religious heart of Uzbekistan. Located close to the CIC, it houses two madrassas, two mosques and a mausoleum. It is built near the grave of Hazrati Imam, a scholar and one of the first Islamic preachers of Tashkent.  

The Hazrati Imam Ensemble as viewed from the CIC.

The Tashkent Monument of Courage was built after the 1966 Tashkent Earthquake of Apr 26. People from all over poured in to help those affected and the city was rebuilt. This monument attests to the courage and tenacity of those people. The sculpture is of a man and a woman with a child carried on her shoulders, signifying life. The broken tiles create the effects of the quake and the time it occurred is shown in the clock. 


The Monument of Independence pf Uzbekistan. The birds signify peace and quietness, good omen and high moral values.

Lunch of medium-done veal steak as sustenance. This was served at a restaurant that also specializes in Plov. 

The Mother and Child sculpture at Independence Park, shows a desire for peace, love and humanitarianism.

There is a metro station in Tashkent dedicated to Russian cosmonauts, aptly named Cosmonauts Station. It is decorated with wall-mounted plaques of Russian cosmonauts. This plaque is of Yuri Gagarin, their first cosmonaut and the first human who orbited Earth for 108 minutes on Apr 12. 1961 in the spacecraft Vostok 1. He is renowned for the exclamation "Poyekhali" which in Russian means "Let's go!".

A train departing from the station lit with a hue suggestive of the use of psychedelics?

A neat and clean station indicates good social behaviour in Uzbekistan.