Why oh why?

Why is it when you plan a late start you wake up at the crack of dawn and can’t get back to sleep again. Well, that’s what happened to me. 6:00 am start is a no no and the first thing in my list of to-do’s today is to go up in the funicular which opens at 10:00am. Bummm. 


With the help of Wordle, Quordle, Nerdle, Duolingo and a few other brain teasers I fill in the hours and then I’m away. 


First up a downhill walk to the funicular. Like everything else in this city it is housed in a spectacular building and the views going up the hill are out of this world. https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1pJbbdMHRHWNPNEsPrlEI0mguDSj9QdUh
https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1RJFflichbpg8612L8eyy7BQvY8T1YSlB

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1NAUlqEBQaZWI73gq3Zy1mDyyji2xCm3fhttps://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1-sCHsHqL5HOjPJPvV5ZDLJ6ARm3Tko-M

It doesn’t run regularly but I couldn’t have timed it better for I walked straight on and it left right away.  Getting to the top I am faced with the huge expanses of the beige stone that is so prevalent. Looking to my right I can see the three flame towers but I am more interested in getting a coffee. https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1mBvYvckBCYTXDHNvN7-4uj_iNpUIcoQn

I spied a bus stop and ad for a hop on hop off tour. Excited I need to get to a coffee shop and wifi to find out more. 

A young lady walks towards me and I ask if she speaks English. With a broad American twang she replies yes and directs me to one of the Flame Towers for a coffee. 

It was a wee walk but worth it. I am gobsmacked as I walk into the foyer and once I calm down I ask about a coffee and am directed to the 3rd floor. Coffee and wifi desperate I am somewhat peeved to find it doesnt open for another hour. Really!  In a hotel like this!  https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1Dg5BunWa1vYESCJcw19oD95Yr_Xdffjp

Well if you are like that I will, in my scruffy gear, sit in your posh foyer and use your free wifi! So there. I ring the bus company only to find the hop on hop off is not operating. I googled coffee shops and found there is one close by so I ask at reception. The lovely young lady there points to the corner of the building which is where I have just finished an excellent coffee. Why the plonker at the door didn’t tell me that there was a coffee shop not 5 metres away I don’t know. 
Sadly there isn’t a view from here but the young Mr Ali (who called me Madam Helen) looked after me and made me a bloody great coffee. It came with two tiny biscuits and a wet wipe. Given that the cakes they have here are about NZD20 I wonder how much this coffee will cost but frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn. 
The single cup of bery good coffee in the swanky hotel was NZD10.00. We have virtually a 1:1 exhange rate. Anything remotely western is expensive. 
Time to move on. It’s pretty warm again today but with a cooling breeze blowing my downward walk shouldn’t be too daunting. 
Call me tin bum but my uneventful downwards walk with just one turn took me quite by chance to my neighbourhood. There are so many small one way streets here that even Google gets confused but this time I made my way without his help. 
I’m now in a cute we kebab joint waiting for my lahmajun (sort of middle eastern pizza) and knew it would be good. I just wish I’d seen this before I went to the tourist haunts yesterday. Great meal for half the price of my posh coffee. Chris C. On the other side of the wee park just down from the hotel. https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=17T_Z2JbwLRcnASRFMMOv3qL4W8EdwZJP

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Off to the mountains

Image
Our day today started with a trip to the local bazaar, just a small area full of fresh fruit & veg, meats, live fish, nuts and sweets. I asked about some things hanging with the nuts and found they were churchkhela, walnuts threaded on a string then coated in a mix of grape juice, sugar and flour. Just delicious. I bought some to take with me.   From the bazaar we made our way to the Alaverdi Cathedral. The first church was built in 6th c, when the split of Eastern and Western Christianity occurred and 13 Assyrian Fathers arrived in Georgia from Antioch. They settled in different parts of Georgia and established monasteries mainly initiated the ascetic movement. One of the monks Ioseb came to Kakheti, the village Alaverdi, which was the center of the Moon cult. The remains of 6th c church and grave stone of Ioseb Alaverdeli and his disciple can be seen even today inside the Northern part of the resent Cathedral. The main structure of present Cathedral belongs to the ea...
Read more

The road to Lahij

Image
This morning at a respectable time we left Baku headed north to the village of Lahij   in the lower aspects of the Caucus Mountains. Going through the outer suburbs the motorway took us past neighbourhoods that didn’t look to different from what ours did a few years back. Single level homes, slate roofs and large yards. Most people here in Azerbaijan own their own homes, few rent and even poor people have a roof over their heads, can eat comfortably and live a basic but ok lives.   We had some great discussions about the political structure where the current President inherited the role from his father and has virtually a guaranteed position for life. His wife is the Vice-President!  Their son will probably be the next President. The Aliyev family have provided the country with stability, genuine regard for the people and the prosperity of the country and although their tenure is guaranteed it is still considered a democracy.  Although a predominantly Muslim...
Read more

Lahij to Sheki

Image
I don’t do breakfast but when I saw the lavish spread that was prepared for us how could I say no; cheeses, tomatoes, cucumber, spoon jam, caramels, honey, jam, blini, bread. I stuffed myself silly before we piled into our car and headed off.   As we went further north the Lada’s became more and more common until virtually all the vehicles were old Lada’s. We are now close to Russia with pretty much just the Caucus mountains separating us from the Russian border. Our road takes us through some stunning hilly scenery and as the road flattens out we can see the snow on the Caucuses in the background. Its stunning.   We stop to look inside an Albanian Idi orthodox church and while there we discussed the traditions of the various religions that we were each born into Moslem, Orthodox, Judaism. Its interesting to compare the similarities and the differences of each.  Back on the road we stop for a roadside treat in the form of a Qutab; a thin crepe filled with eith...
Read more