Life with Andrea

The past two days have been about things in Baku.  

On Sunday, Anne and Marc and I went to the main city Mosque.  We got dressed up, had scarves, long pants, long(ish) sleeves.  It was a bit of a trek to find it - we were not sure exactly where it was - but we got there.  

I had hoped we would time it to be NOT at prayer time, but it’s possible all times are prayer times in Baku.  They don’t have a city call to prayer, so perhaps you just pray when you want.  

The mosque was beautiful from the outside.  

Unfortunately, Anne and I couldn't go into the central part, as we’re female.  And Marc couldn't take pictures.  We got to look in from afar…

The outside, which we could see,  looked like the Mosque of my imagination.  Towers, pointy spires, a minaret, some carvings of Arabic script which I”ll bet said “there is no god but Allah”.  

We walked home through some interesting streets, the kind you know are not alleys only because some cars manage to squeeze down them.  Grape leaves cover many balconies.  

Today, I walked to the Icheri Sheher -the Old City - to climb up the Maiden Tower.  It’s the oldest structure in Baku,  5 stories tall, but also about 130 feet tall.  It has a circular stair build into the wall (which is 5 meters thick-- that’s 16 feet thick).  But interestingly, the stair only started on the second floor.  In olden days, how did you get to it?  No one knows.  

No one knows much about that Maiden Tower.  Scholars argue about whether it’s a fortification or a temple or something about astronomy.  The sun on the winter solstice gets into all the windows at the same time.  It’s never been stormed.  They don’t even know how old it is, there are differing opinions.