Plenty of cool buildings to look at in the old city by the Caspian Sea. Baku is famous for its clash of modern, statement buildings, sprouting among the more traditional, old fabric of the city. New baubles abound, ready to soak up your gaze.
Let's start with a look up at the famous Flame Towers, the unofficial symbol of modern Baku. Is James Brown nearby? He used to front a group called the Famous Flames, for those peeps who somehow are not familiar with the Godfather of Soul. Shame on you.
The second most famous landmark, the Heydar Aliyev Centre. The curves just keep coming. Alas, those curves are not self cleaning and a crew on what looks like mini hockey rink smoothing Zamboni machines is busy doing a wet dusting.
Funky funicular station. Keeping with the James Brown theme. Not that he ever sang about a funicular. Did anyone?
It's not all building from scratch. There's an arts, entertainment district that contains some nice rehab work. The Stone Chronicle Museum is in an old power plant building. A nightclub and restaurant complex took over some former warehouses.
Some giant dropped his ring. The snazzy arena, Crystal Hall.
At the end of the day, commerce has to justify the statement, right? The city's major shopping mall on the water, Deniz Mall. Big billiard balls out front are promoting the lottery. Commerce contained, all fenced off. It turns out, the iconic Flame Towers are mostly empty and closed. A hotel is open and so is an investigation into the possibility that the project is built on unstable ground. Occupy at your own risk.
The near future, the soon* to open giant Crescent Bay, the latest icon of the growing city.
*Soon is relative, original opening date was sometime in 2015.
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