Our final day and we are going to make the most of it. Our bags are packed and ready to head to the airport tonight.

A visit to a central Asian city would not be complete without a visit to the bazaar. Chorsu Bazaar will let you experience the everyday life of Uzbekistan with all your senses. In the middle of Chorsu Bazaar is the central dome, with a diameter of nearly 300-350 meters, the most recognizable symbol of the market. The outside, decorated with blue tiles, reflects the sunshine and the traditional style of Uzbekistan.
On counters, you will find fresh fruits, dried fruits, toasted bread (lepeshka), fresh-killed meat, kazy (horse meat sausage), and whatnot… in fact, you can find just about anything at this bazaar. However, we have become very focused shoppers for today with some last-minute gifts on the list for a few and then of course there are the jewelers. Even our tour guide was buying jewelry!!

Next to the bazaar are the choykhonas where you can enjoy an array of traditional culinary delights. This is street food at its best where you can taste plov, fragrant shashlik (grilled lamb and horsemeat can be had!), and hot shurpa (soup). However several of us opted to try honum- a dumpling filled with potato and onion covered with a tomato sauce. Yummy!!

The Museum of Applied Arts where the walls, ceilings, wooden columns, and doors were works of art themselves exhibits more than four thousand pieces of traditional Uzbek ceramics, carpets, wood carving, jewelry, metal chasing, items of clothing, and embroidery. It is housed in the former residential house of the Russian diplomat of the XIX century Alexander Polovtsev. Located in the Yakkasaray district the museum is surrounded by grand houses. Our guide tells us that real estate in this district costs a fortune!

The Tashkent Metro is the rapid transit system serving the city and is full of mosaic art, chandeliers, and echoes of Soviet attempts at excellence. In fact, I was reminded of the metro in St Petersburg. Every station shows a part of Uzbekistan's history. They all tell a story through portraits, plaques, or unique architectural features. We only had time to visit a few stations but they were fascinating. Alisher Navoi is the interchange station between the Ozbekiston (Blue) Line and Chilonzor (Red) Line and is named after a 15th-century Uzbek poet and important writer during the Silk Road. The beautiful domes with their intricate golden patterns are reminiscent of mosques and madrassas. Paxtakor station (the name translates to 'cotton picker') where the walls of this station are covered in traditional-looking green and blue mosaics of flowering cotton plants. The Kosmonavtlar metro station is in honor of the cosmonauts of the Soviet Union. The blue ceramic medallions on the walls feature some of the greatest pioneers of the Soviet space program, including Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, and the world's first cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.

Upon leaving the Kosmonavtlar station we visited the Cosmonaut Monument. Cosmonaut Monument is a famous memorial built in 1984. This memorial was constructed in honor of Uzbekistan's Cosmonauts, Scientists, and Scholars. With a space travel theme, it is a place to recognize the actual achievements of mankind in space exploration. A statue of Vladimir Dzhanibekov, a famous cosmonaut is situated near this monument.
The writing on the monument has been translated as "Humanity will not remain on Earth forever, but in pursuit of light and space, at first, it timidly penetrates beyond the atmosphere and then conquers the whole of solar space".

We then headed to Broadway Alley ( Sayilgokh Street)- This pedestrian thoroughfare doubles as a venue for art galleries, musical performers, and amateur entertainers wishing to demonstrate their skills before an audience. Finished off the day with a well-earned drink at the Broadway Lounge Bar.

All too soon our trip has come to an end and we now have 2 days of travel (including 4 flights) to get home. This has been an awesome experience of the different countries and cultures of Central Asia as we have seen the "Best of the Stans".