Baku

Downtown Baku

Last week I travelled to Azerbaijan for some business and government meetings.  Baku is the capital city, and is located on the Caspian Sea.  Baku is the centre of a very profitable oil industry, and it's quite remarkable to see the impacts of oil money in the city.  Wide boulevards and extravagant buildings dominate, along with the gaudy light shows on buildings and towers around the city at night that several Caucasus cities are famous for.  Oil is extracted from rigs in the Caspian Sea, piped to refineries in and around Baku and then sent along various pipelines across Georgia, Russia and Turkey to ports in the Black Sea and Mediterranean for further processing and shipment.  The presence of large scale oil reserves makes Azerbaijan a highly strategic location for several major powers

Pipelines from the Baku oilfields

Azerbaijan and Baku is spending up big as the country prepares to host next year's Eurovision song contest.  A dubious showcase some may argue, but the government is throwing serious money at the image they wish to project as hosts of the contest.  Major renovation and reconstruction is going on across the city, along with a well funded publicity campaign aimed at raising the profile of the country.  

Mud thatched house in refugee community

Azerbaijan is a country of extreme contrasts.  Compared with the relative wealth of Baku, many of the rural areas are very depressed, with minimal economic opportunities or investment.  Almost 1 million refugees (or Internally Displaced Persons - IDP's) remain in the country as a result of a war with neighbouring Armenia over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region sitting across both countries.  Technically Azerbaijan and Armenia are still at war, although the conflict has remained largely frozen for the last 15 years.  Corruption is also a huge problem in the country.  

Whilst in Azerbaijan I was fortunate to visit a range of development projects in rural parts of the country's west.  These projects focus mainly on the refugee communities, and are primarily aimed at economic development.  A number of these communities live in extremely poor and difficult conditions, and many families are now second generation refugees from the conflict.  A sobering contrast to the polished streets of Baku.

On Thursday last week, Baku was hit by howling winds and heavy snow. The city basically froze as the snow fell hard and blizzard conditions prevailed.  I saw more car accidents than I care to remember as the cars slid around on the icy streets.  Late that night I flew out to Tbilisi in Georgia on an old Russian Tupolev TU154.  Old Soviet aircraft, howling snowstorm, ex-military pilots......if you weren't a praying kind of person before the flight, you surely were by the end of it:)   Actually the flight was ok, despite being greeted by more heavy snow in Georgia.  


The essence of former Soviet life and architecture is still strongly evident all over the Caucasus.  The clip below captures this very well, and I think is a profound piece of work.  Hope you can watch it and enjoy.  

Soviet era apartment blocks on outskirts of Baku

Visiting a school project with disabled children

Ugg boots on the catwalk

We felt the early onset for winter this week, with the the first snow in Cyprus on the higher peaks of the Troodos Mountains.  The drop in temperatures has sent everyone scrambling for their warm gear, and we've been somewhat amused to see Europe and the Middle East continuing to embrace a fascination with Ugg boots.  Yes that's right, Australia's finest cultural export can now be seen on the catwalks of Milan, Paris, Beirut......and also the streets of Nicosia.  Mind you these are not just any old Ugg boots, rather they are done strictly Greek style, with fur and tassles galore, and even some embedded jewels.  No doubt there will be a high heeled version coming soon in Cyprus.


As it's become colder we've had to adjust activities accordingly, but it's been good to still get out when we can.  Today we headed up to a monastery about 30km from Nicosia in the foothills of the mountains for a picnic with some friends.  A beautiful clear day, cool air and a nice walk in the forests scratched the outdoor itch for all of us.

The kids are all well.  The main event this week was the purchase of a 'fighter fish' at home, which Jessie now dutifully cares for day and night. Anna does her best to touch the fish when she can, much to the fish's distress.  


Speaking of fish, we've just finished watching the movie/mini-series of Tim Winton's Cloudstreet.  We loved it, and felt very homesick for the clear air and light of Australia (and WA in particular).

Macheras Monastery

'Geocache' today

Kids and friends playing near our house a few weeks ago.
Weather has changed quickly!

Georgians playing cards in the park near our house

Barcelona + Bikes = BREATHE

 We counted down the months, weeks and then the days.  BARCELONA - weekend away - wedding anniversary & 40th birthday celebrations - live it up - no kids - just us.  First time away together in 11mths!  Finally, when the date of departure arrived, we had Anna with an ear infection, Jessie off school with a bad cold, and Angus sneezing incessantly.  Murphy's Law poked his unwanted head in but fortunately, was left to be ignored.  A quick trip to the doctors with Monica to put our minds at rest, a bit more cash in her pocket for extra medicine if needed AND WE WERE OFF!


Now this isn't going to be a weekend chronology blog.  One, because I'm tired and still recovering from the weekend and two, because I don't want to bore you.  Of course, it wasn't boring for US.  We had a lovely break away together.

A weekend in Spain certainly wasn't on the original thought list for ways to celebrate my 40th.  The decision was kind of made for us when Ryanair was selling tickets at 19 Euro return.  Time was at a premium with only 3 days to play with and this was a direct flight so we took it.  

With the travel money saved, we splurged on a quirky contemporary hotel called The Mirror and found ourselves in a land of white surrounded by soothing statues of men with wings lounging around.  Oh, and of course, every wall was a mirror (so there was no pretending I was there for my 21st!)

This giant paella had me planning dinner at 11am

Lets get on with it....


My 3 best? - not in order of priority:


1. Hiring a bike and enjoying the fantastic bike lanes right through the centre of the city.  Apparently, Barcelona rates in the top 3 of bike friendly cities in the world and I can definitely see why.  It was awesome.

2. Spending Hours at the Sagrada Familia.  I have to laugh when I think of my initial disappointment at looking at this incredible world heritage site and seeing cranes overhead with workmen and scaffolding etc... Oh, I thought, what a shame we had to come at a time when they're touching it up & cleaning it.  Minutes later, I am flabbergasted to hear that building began in the late 1800's and is expected to finish in about two decades from now!  Building this masterpiece is still in progress...wow.  The architect, Gaudi, who inspired much of the city's architecture, was a man of faith whose vision for the cathedral was to teach all people who saw it, literate or not, about God.  I loved his inspiration from nature and his attention to symbolic detail.

3. Eating Out, No Kids complaining about the meal, Conversing Uninterrupted and Remembering how good it is to just be together.  No elaboration required here other than a hearty encouragement to all those at a similar life stage to keep nurturing that marital relationship.  One day the kids will move out.


We returned home to find all the kids sleeping soundly on Sunday night.  Thank you to Monica who minded Anna, Cheryl upstairs who took care of Sam, and Lena and Hatice who respectively gave Angus and Jessie fantastic weekends with their friends.


Reflections on turning 40?  Another year older and looking forward to the 2nd half of life.  Realistically, this involves embracing some physical limitations along with a few greys and wrinkles, but that's nothing when I weigh it up against large doses of contentedness, thankfulness, and the sheer joy of being alive.  Mid-life here we come!

Downtown view from our balcony

Ross in small goods heaven.  I married a man who likes his meat.

And the dinner that night was....Paella.

The last breath of summer

the local cats don't stand a chance
with Anna around.....

We recently managed to get away for a few nights as part of a mid-term break for the kids and public holiday to commemorate 'Oxi' or 'No' Day, which marks the day in WWII that Greece refused to accept Musolini's request to co-operate with the Axis powers and Germany.  Oxi (pronounced 'ohee') day is significant here, with ceremony, parades and speeches across the country and also in Greece.  We spent the weekend down at a place called Protaras, which is a beautiful coastal area near Famagusta and the north/south border.  During the middle of summer, Protaras is very popular as a family alternative to Agia Napa but by late October most of the tourists have cleared out.  There is still a remnant of Russian and British tourists, the latter of whom seem to have a strange obsession of spending their days shirtless as they wander the main shopping street.  No doubt this is to catch as much vitamin D as possible before returning to the colder climes of Birmingham, Cardiff or Slough.....   

Konnos Beach, Protaras

Protaras has stunning beaches but mixed quality when it comes restaurants and general facilities.  'Themed' restaurants and pubs abound, and one can breakfast in Paris alongside a faux Eiffel Tower, lunch with the Flinstones and dinner in Stonehenge, complete with hauntingly real 17 foot (not inch) triptix.  Alas no druids serving the drinks. Ah yes, it's amazing what a bit of vision and papier mache can create when it comes to eating establishments.   


We had a lovely weekend.  The place we stayed in was a small apartment with cracking views across Figtree Bay.  The weather was cooler, but the ocean was still quite warm for swimming so we both managed to get in some good ocean swims.  On the Sunday, Ross was flying out to Athens so Sarah and kids dropped him at the airport on the way home.

Figtree Bay, Protaras

View from our apartment

Yesterday we enjoyed celebrating Sarah's 40th birthday.  Ross made it home in the nick of time, arriving back from Albania and Greece at midnight on Friday.  We had a really nice day together, and Sarah enjoyed connecting with family and friends through the day.  Some lovely wishes and parcels from Australia were greatly appreciated.  We had a family dinner together, and the kids enjoyed lighting the fire for the the first time this year.  

Sarah turns 40

Konnos Beach, Protaras

'And oh how they danced, the little people of Stonehenge...'