Baku bits

Some things are fun and easy to figure out:  Italyan restorani, bulvar, komponi, komputur (but also kompyutor and kompu-with an umlaut-t-then a schwa-r).
 
Others more challenging. Confusion results from two places having the same names (e.g. 28 May subway station and 28 May Street, which are several blocks apart, ditto Nizami) but there are actual addresses, unlike Beirut---yay. Gradually we will find our way around, and have already made some headway with buses.  On Sunday we made it out to a vast market 8 km outside the city. First we took the bus in the wrong direction and had a tour of downtown, but after completing the loop it then headed out along the Caspian coast toward the market.

The coast in that area features apparent vacation homes, new and multistory, facing a beach that looks quite bleak, with oil derricks near and far. The wind is frequently very strong and so beach umbrellas have a very sturdy look. A Ramada Hotel looks a bit fororn in that landscape.

The market (sorry no pix, was focused on shopping!) is like a US outlet mall gone wild. Clothing and household goods under several vast roofs. We loaded up on things we hadn't been able to find in the city: electric adapters, silverware, plastic bins and stepstools, an ironing board cover.  Thankfully the school gives us a generous "settling in" allowance.

Below, some typical downtown street scenes. The first is one entrance into the Old City.

Many things are expensive but two are very cheap: bread and watermelons. Guess you could live on that. A loaf of sliced bread 40 cents max and a 10 pound watermelon less than a dollar.  Today spent over $4 for a small jar of peanut butter.

Yesterday jumped through several bureaucratic hoops to get internet ordered for the apartment. Today the first steps in a quest for TV cable service.

Whimsical stone carvings in the Old City

 Apparently a large fountain very near us is "musical".  Lots of things to investigate!