Day 1 April 27, 2026 Baku Azerbaijan
Not the best night sleep. The coverlet was thin and too small for the size of the mattress. Therefore getting up by seven wasn’t too difficult. We wanted to be sure to make breakfast.
We got to the breakfast room a few minutes before 8. The cook was still getting food out but she told us to come on in. Some interesting salads and pastries. Both black and green olives are options in the salad area. The familiar cherry juice in addition to the orange. Let the fun begin. Two ladies who were most likely local came in. They both filled two large plates full of food. They ate from one and then took out a plastic bag and filled it with hard boiled eggs, pastries and bread. No wonder the clerk yesterday said get there on time. Some another person did a similar thing. By 9 most of the food was gone. Turns out quite a few people stayed there because the breakfast room was full. We were the only English speakers.
While looking for lunch options we discovered that a Hilton Garden Inn was only a few blocks away. We went to investigate. Today is very windy which was good some of the time and not so good other times. We walked past two embassies on the way. Well options here look much better so we booked a room for the rest of our stay. Tomorrow we have a guide and driver so we will have them drop us off at the Hilton.
While there we asked about a kebab house nearby. They didn’t recommend one but rather another restaurant not far from the hotel. Off we went. They were correct the place was close and the food was pretty good. We had a small loaf of bread, pickled cucumber, french fries and grilled donor meat. (Not sure how that is spelled.) The donor was probably a chicken.
On the way back to our hotel we found an ATM so we got a little more cash. The ATM’s here don’t charge a use fee. They adjust the exchange rate to cover their charges. Right across the street was a kabob cafe. Maybe another day.
The wind was blowing so hard it nearly knocked us over at one point. The half block to the hotel was like walking in a wind tunnel.
The rest of the day was relaxing and trying to catch up a little on the blog.
Spoffords Travel 