A Three-Day Weekend and Pipe Smoking Pirate (Pic. Heavy)

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jvnshr

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Sep 4, 2015
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Baku, Azerbaijan
Last week due to public holiday falling on Monday we had a three-day long weekend here in Azerbaijan and we decided to take the advantage of it by visiting several cities. It was my family (wifey and almost 2 years old son), my brother-in-law and 2 other common friends of ours all with their families.

On Friday evening we arrived to the city called Gabala (a new touristic location), had a few beers with sausage kebab that I prepared and slept. The next day we went to explore the area and found a nice place for the lunch.
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After the lunch, we found another nice place to have a tea. There was a partially dried up riverbed nearby:
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Then we decided to visit the amusement park so the kids can have fun. There are lots of statues from different cartoons spread all over the park and in front of the Kid's Play Tent (yeah right in front of its entrance) there was a statue of a pirate smoking a pipe. I saw it in my previous visit however I didn't have my smart phone with me, this time I was lucky.
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The next day we visited the city called Shaki, I've been to this city before so didn't take many pictures this time. One of the interesting things in this city is the Palace of Shaki Khans. It is a two-story masonry structure and was the summer residence of the Khans in 18th and 19th century.
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I said interesting because it was built in 1789 and neither a single nail nor any adhesive was used while building it.
In Shaki we visited one of the oldest restaurants. This one was inside a small park that was named after Yuri Gagarin - a soviet cosmonaut and first human to journey into outer space. The sign is still there:
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View from the restaurant:
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Of course a nice tea after a good lunch is a must in Azerbaijan so we visited this place to drink the samovar tea.
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Our last stop was Zaqatala city. We arrived there in the evening so I couldn't manage to take any interesting pictures. We had a nice dinner at this place and drove back to Gabala.
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Well, that's all for now folks.

 

pipedreams86

Might Stick Around
Nov 25, 2016
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0
Wow! beautiful pics, so interesting about the palace being built with nails or adhesive! looks like it was a great time for you and your family/friends...
The sausage kebabs sound great too, how do you make them/what ingredients did you use?

 

jvnshr

Moderator
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Sep 4, 2015
4,616
3,868
Baku, Azerbaijan
The sausage kebabs sound great too, how do you make them/what ingredients did you use?
Nothing special at all, I just remove the sausage casings, rub some ketchup and spread some black pepper on them and thread them on the skewers. I use coal for cooking and it takes less than 2 minutes for them to be ready to eat. Oh, I also thread a loaf of bread on 2 skewers and heat it as well. We don't use any hotdog buns but breads that have been cooked inside a tandoor (we buy them):
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By the way, I don't waste the coals and use them to heat the samovar.

 

jvnshr

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Sep 4, 2015
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Baku, Azerbaijan
Deniz, no offense taken. That's actually a common mistake that people make, Azerbaijan is a small country however it is very diverse. Each region and city has a different culture and all have its own history. There are lots of different nations living in each region. On your way to the cities mentioned above you can see lots of castles, palaces, churches that are few hundred years old. And I am not even talking about nature. I always prove wrong the Azerbaijanis who say that the Azerbaijan is boring. I visited Gabala city at least 10 times and I still find interesting places to check whenever I go there.

 

mayfair70

Lifer
Sep 14, 2015
1,968
2
Thanks for posting and sharing !! Beautiful countryside and amazing architecture. If I recall correctly, the tile-work mosaics incorporated very advanced mathematics to conceive and execute. Bravo sir, and may you have many happy returns. :clap:

 

nevadablue

Lifer
Jun 5, 2017
1,192
4
You have a beautiful country for sure. I am guilty of not knowing enough about it. I would enjoy any and all of your stories and photos.

Thanks for posting these!

 

jvnshr

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Sep 4, 2015
4,616
3,868
Baku, Azerbaijan
I like the concept of many different cultures living together, does it work good or do they have their little fights?
Deniz, I am 30 years old and I've never seen any groups to fight against the other ones. IMHO, not even a single ethnic group in any given part of the world would fight against the other one unless someone provokes them. There were some uprisings during the 90s right after the collapse of the USSR, some of those nations wanted to have their own lands, but it was also organized by some people who wanted to become "landlords".
If I recall correctly, the tile-work mosaics incorporated very advanced mathematics to conceive and execute.
You are probably right Mayfair. Here is what I found from its Wikipedia page (I translated some parts from Azerbaijan language):
Large portions of the residence's facade, including the entire southern elevations of the central halls on both floors, are covered by a mosaic of colored glass set in a wooden latticework (shebeke) that was assembled without nails or glue. In every square meter (10 square foot) approximately 5000 pieces and in complicated parts 14000 pieces of wood and glass were used.
And here is a myth about the architect of the building. After finishing the building, Khan visits the place and asks the architect if he can ever build a better palace than this one. The architect says yes and gets killed.

 

mawnansmiff

Lifer
Oct 14, 2015
7,385
7,295
Sunny Cornwall, UK.
Excellent pictures and story as usual Javan. I have to say I would love to have had a closer look at that dried up riverbed with my rock hammer in one hand and loupe in the other :puffy:
Regards,
Jay.

 

jpmcwjr

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May 12, 2015
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Carmel Valley, CA
That riverbed might well be dangerous with a sudden rain storm up in the mountains. Looks like similar washes in areas of CA, AZ, NM, UT.
And here is a myth about the architect of the building. After finishing the building, Khan visits the place and asks the architect if he can ever build a better palace than this one. The architect says yes and gets killed.
Love it! If he had answered, "What did you have in mind, Sire?" maybe a different outcome....

 

ssjones

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May 11, 2011
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Maryland
postimg.cc
Interesting, this past Monday was a very big holiday in the US, Labor Day. This holiday pretty much signifies the traditional end of summer.

 
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