Just enjoyed some cool seabreezes on the Caspian sea in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. It's a modern city with a beautiful historic old town, and home to about 2 million people. The old town is really interesting. The streets were designed in such a way as to 'trap' invading armies. Because of the narrowness and seemingly random directions of the streets, invaders would both get lost, and also not be able to turn their horses around to retreat. Meanwhile, patriotic residents who lived in the houses above would pour tar, boiling water, drop rocks, etc. Unlike Ice Cube, the invaders had to say it was not a good day. There is also an interesting and quirky museum in the old town dedicated to tiny miniature books, which is worth a visit.
For lunch, I had some traditional flatbread with cream. The owners brought me back to the kitchen to let me watch them cook it. They had a giant cauldron, which looked like a classic witches' cauldron, which was empty but burning on firewood. They slapped the dough all around the sides on the inside, where it stuck, and this is how it cooked. Crazy stuff.
Had a great time in Baku. Looking forward to seeing more of the country.