Baku

After settling into the hostel, I start making sure basic needs are met: having data on my phone.

There is a shop within earshot, so I boldly enter, only to discover that Azerbaijan is a bit less credit card-friendly than Georgia: I have to withdraw some money in order to buy a SIM card, but fortunately there is a bank across the road. Once I got some cash, I watch as the guy expertly fiddles with my phone, expertly navigating the custom menus (and even switching the language to Russian). During the whole operation, however, I'll be unavoidably distracted, by the dead cockroach in the background. You know, when you talk to someone and you can't concentrate on what they're saying, because they have a piece of food on their upper lip?

           

Once I'm connected, it's time to tend to secondary needs, like nutrition. Thanks to Leyla's advices I try Firuze, a delicious restaurant off Fəvvarələr square. Some dolma and a fabulous plov, accompanied by a glass of ayram are the best way to start the day. The waiter, upon knowing where I'm from, of course showed me his cellphone cover with some football playeUIKeyInputDownArrowr I was supposed to recognize. Mission failed, but I smiled like the Joker and he seemed satisfied.

The first stop is the İçərişəhər, or old city, dating back between the 7th and the 12th Century (historians seem to disagree). It's a walled district, where narrow streets and shops remind of north African medinas, though nowhere near as chaotic. Here, to be honest, the streets look nice, but every single shop and activity is touristy in a way that's way beyond the norm, so I limited myself to strolling around, enjoying the architecture and the weather, still pleasant.

The Flame Towers, maybe the most readily recognizable landmark of Baku, were sometimes visible between trees or buildings. They are truly marvelous, although, along with other building, they give the city that unmistakable we got oil feel, that usually causes glass skyscrapers to pop up from the ground like there's no tomorrow.

Among the most interesting sites is the Şirvanşahlar Sarayı (Palace of the Shirvanshahs), so called because it was built by the old rulers of Shirvan, and contains the main building of the palace, Divanhane, the burial-vaults, the shah's mosque with a minaret, Seyid Yahya Bakuvi's mausoleum, a portal in the east, Murad's gate, a reservoir and the remnants of a bath house.

Baku is definitely a pretty city. Thanks to it's rich oil and gas resources, it's unmistakably richer than Tbilisi, most roads are in perfect conditions and I really haven't seen many dilapidated building. I'm sure that the suburbs would still bear the memory of the Azerbaijan SSR, but the centre is pristine wherever you go.

In the evening, following a friend's advice, I went to a bar where a French musician was to give a concert. It was funny, thinking of it. An Italian, living in Georgia, attends a concert in Azerbaijan of a French, living in Lithuania. International AF.

Tomorrow I will visit the Ateshgah, the Zoroastrian temple of fire, located in Suraxanı, a suburb of Baku.