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Lots of photos this time. Please look at page 2 as well!
On Friday night we finally made it to Baku's Philharmonia where we listened to an evening of music in a tribute to Leonard Bernstein. It was really nice to finally get inside the building which, apparently, was modelled on the casino at Monte Carlo. Before the music began the US Ambassador gave a speech firstly in Azeri (excellently delivered) and then in English. Then the National Symphony Orchestra began and they were superb. We didn't recognise any of the music though, until they got to the finale which was, as expected, West Side Story!
On Saturday we tried to take the
Elektrichka train out to Qala but we had just missed the train if it was running. The timetables are still 2006/07 so we don't know how accurate they are!! Instead we took the metro out to Neftchilar and got on a 341 bus out to Mardakan. There we were able to visit the two towers which we had missed out on a couple of weeks ago. They were not too hard to find and quite interesting really. The dangerous bit was getting up the larger of
American Ambassador
Great speech in Azeri! the two. The small, round one is closed but it made for a nice photo! The spiral staircase is both uneven and unlit and would not be allowed to be open anywhere in the EU! The view from the top was worth the death defying climb!!! There's not much to see inside or around its grounds other than a few old gravestones and nobody even seems to know why the towers exist.
From Mardakan we bartered with a taxi driver to take us to Qala, some 10km away. Russ had seen a TV program on Azeri TV a while back which made the museum look well worth visiting. We were not to be disappointed. Normally we don't like being in places when several coach parties of school kids arrive. This time, however, it meant that all the displays were active so we were able to see how carpets are woven on the loom, how lavash (thin) bread is rolled and baked, and how pottery is made. Of course, had we been schoolkids we could have had a go at all three of them too! All of the display boards were in English so we didn't even need our dictionaries.
Trish decided to pet one of the camels but her friendliness backfired when the animal realised she had no food for him and decided to spit at her! Miraculously Russ was poised with the camera just in time for the "money shot"!!!!
Afterwards we walked for about 20 minutes back to the main road and on the way to Mardakan before we found a taxi to take us back. Then we got a bus (this time number 24) all the way back into Baku and to a metro station.
Sunday was a glorious day. Hopefully this is the way it will stay for our remaining 10 weeks here. We took the opportunity to walk along the
bulvar before lunch. An hour or tow later and it would have been packed with Azeris out for their weekend afternoon stroll. After a doner kebab for lunch we continued our walk out to the new Museum of Modern Art. Trish had phoned them earlier to make sure they would be open. It's not too far out of town, just find the road one street back from the coast road and follow it out of town and over the bridge. On the
other side of the bridge is the museum which is actually closed until August! God knows who it was that had told Trish they were open. Maybe there is another Museum of Modern Art in Baku!!
We had a good look at the sculptures outside the museum before heading back into town. Next to the bridge we saw the rusting remains of an old aerial farm, presumably a military establishment for listening to someone!! Inside we saw some old military vehicles rusting away. There was nobody around to ask for a tour so we settled for some inconspicuous photography from the bridge, pausing whenever a police car came nearby!!!
So, 10 weeks to go, and we must start doing some of our trips further afield soon. Funny how time soon catches up on you and you end up rushing to do everything!!!!!
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