Azerbaijan 2026

Day 2 April 28, 2026 Baku Azerbaijan

The cook let us in even earlier today. The reception guy says she really likes us. Today she had hard boiled eggs and sunny side up eggs. Most of the rest was very similar. The two ladies showed up shortly afterwards. Today they didn’t take away quite as much food. They must have different plans.

We have hired a guide and driver for the next three days. They are scheduled to pick us up at 10 am. We were in the lobby about 9:45 and they were already there. We are headed for the old city. The driver drops us off and we begin the walk. We stopped at a statue of a significant man in the history of the city. Unfortunately we didn’t write down his name and these names are difficult to remember.

One of the metro stations is nearby and looks like the glass pyramid outside the Lourve in Paris. There is also a funicular nearby. A little further along is a bronze head of another important person. The hair is actually scenes of people.

The streets in the old city are very narrow and covered with cobblestones. The houses seem to be well cared for. One of the larger ones is the residence of the Italian ambassador. The miniature book museum is just opening. A room is filled with glass cases containing very small books. A couple of them are so small we could barely see them under a magnifying glass. They are in different languages and different sizes,

Some of the houses have balconies added on. They are usually wooden and may or may not be closed in. This is when we learned that if a man has a large stomach that is called a balcony. Rob has a small balcony for his age. We also learned that Azerbaijan is the land of fire and Baku is the Windy City. After today I am sure it rivals Chicago. The land of fire also explains why some of the glass buildings look like a flame. The oil and gas resources are the prominent income for the country.

The old city was originally surrounded by two walls with a moat between them. The outer wall was shorter and the moat was filled with oil not water. So if the enemy got over the first wall they set the moat on fire.

A break in the houses lets us catch a glimpse of the Caspian Sea. The guide explains that it is like a lake and a sea at the same time. The water is salty as there is no outlet. It is surrounded by land like a lake. The current water level is 91 feet below normal so it is actually below sea level.

The Maiden Tower is surrounded in legends. Some say it was a fire temple, some an astrological structure and some say it was an escape for the royal family. The tower is circular with very thick walls. At the base the walls are about 16 feet thick. It is very earthquake resistant.

At least two caravan lodges are in the old city. Today they serve much the same purpose as they house small merchants and shops.

The driver picked us up and took us to where we could walk to a view point of the sea. The area had once been a cemetery but the Russians dug it up and put all the bodies in a mass grave. A few newer graves are along one side. We got to the lookout spot. The wind was blowing so hard that the big flag that is normally on the 626 foot flag pole is not flying. Visible from this spot is the Ferris wheel, small shopping mall, more glass buildings, and the carpet museum.

We offered to take the guys to lunch. The guide and driver had quite a discussion where to go but came up with one. We were let out and the driver would park the car. Not sure where because space is a premium. We had crispy eggplant which is the best eggplant I have ever had and two meat dishes. One was done with cherries and one with chestnuts. We had a tropical fruit lemonade that was delicious.

Then we went to the carpet museum. Neither of us were real excited about this but it turned out to be quite interesting. The building is shape like a folded carpet. It is three stories tall with modern carpet on the third floor. They are significantly different.

Then it was back to the hotel. More writing and a trip to the bigger grocery store at the end of the block. Some interesting things there. Oh yes we must mention the area for one piece of luggage to rest. It has a shelf behind a moveable wire mesh door. When you move the door to get to the luggage, the door blocks the hall to the main door and a light comes on. What will they think of next?