Our last day in Baku was spent running errands to make sure JM was well stocked with provisions and to pick up our rug. First let’s tackle the provisions – JM took us to the new mall to shop. The mall has three floors with many stores, and it looks and feels just like a mall in America!! But the real bonus was that is had an Apple resell shop. That was great because we needed to find the international plug/adaptor for the laptop and we did. (Many thanks to the AZ 7 mom in the lobby of Hyatt who loaned us her adaptor and clued us in to the device!!!) Next we head to the basement where a very well stocked grocery store sits. It was there the real damage was done. From spices, to food and other ancillary items, we believe we left her well stocked. Good luck in getting all of this home on the bus. Turns out, she did it!!! Now for the rug.
I had previously mentioned JM introduced us to a rug merchant when we first toured the city. At that time we found an item we liked and knew we still had several days of travel ahead of us and would not want to carry it around. So we set out walking from the mall to the store on what was supposed to be a short walk. Did I mention it was hotter than when we first arrived in Baku earlier in the week??? According to JM the store was only 10 minutes away, about a “couple” of kilometers. We were not certain she understood the conversion to miles, but we went along with it. Lesson learned – make sure if someone is giving directions in metric they know how to convert to non-metric. A handy tip is take kilometers and multiply by .6 to convert to miles. If that is difficult, just take half of the distance in kilometers and use that figure. It is close enough. We eventually made it and thank goodness we had a hat and water with us.
We arrived at the rug merchant hot and sweaty. He was happy to see us and visited with JM in Azeri for a bit while making hot chai for us. And, he turned on the air conditioner for us! A luxury. After some haggling, we became the proud owners of a new and beautiful hand tied silk rug done in a traditional Azeri pattern. Interesting note, it is actually two rugs not yet cut, perfect for a long wide runner. The rug was packed and off we went to catch a taxi back to the Hyatt for our last night and dinner with JM, Sanyo and his prize student who were in town for PC conference.
Sanyo and his student met us at the hotel early evening for dinner at the Hyatt. Sanyo arrived looking rather dapper in his coat and bow tie!! (Many thanks to his mother for his wardrobe and his cooking skills.) Dinner was outdoors, and the weather was beautiful. Perhaps one of the greatest joys of our trip occurred that evening when we told Sanyo to order anything off the menu. His eyes were brighter and he was beside himself at the selection offered to him. Not too mention, he requested a bucket of ice, and soon one appeared for him. After starting with the antipasti plate, we all ordered our first and second courses. Everyone had an outstanding meal, and Sanyo proclaimed he would have prepared his dish in the same manner. A compliment to the chef.
Another tip we learned is the London taxis are metered, and no more expensive than the other taxis in Baku. This helps when negotiating a taxi fare in the city.
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