Holiday in Caucasus (3): more Baku, Azerbaijan
July 9th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
Our second day in Baku involved a further walking tour with a prolonged visit to a museum. Among the sites we saw were the building which housed the brief democratic government of 1918-1920 and the large statue of Nizami who was a revered 12th century Muslim poet. Our museum visit was supposed be to the Historical Museum but it was closed because of a visit by a foreign dignitary.
Instead we went to the Heydar Aliyev Centre, named after the former president who is revered by many in the country – including our guide Elvin – for his leadership of the nation after its post-Soviet independence but criticised by many outside the country for his undermining of human rights and creation of a dynasty.
A significant part of the museum sets out details of his life and achievements. The rest of the museum is an eclectic collection of archaeological items, musical instruments, models of city buildings, magnificent carpets, brilliantly designed dolls, and various sculptures and works of art.
The building itself is stunning in its innovative design of white swirling shapes. It was designed by Iraqi-British Zaha Hamid and built between 2007-2012. On its slopes, there is an ‘I love Baku’ sign which makes for a souvenir photo.
As yesterday, following the tour, we returned to the Fountain Square area for lunch. This time, we ate at a place called “Firuza” before strolling back to the hotel. It was an even hotter day: 36C. It had been an even longer day: we had been out over eight hours. But again we had the evening free to relax and recuperate.
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Holiday in Caucasus (2): Baku, Azerbaijan
July 8th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
The basic Jules Verne trip to the Caucasus covers simply Georgia and Armenia, but three of us have signed up for the Azerbaijan extension. This starts with a two hour flight from London to Warsaw followed by a flight of approaching four hours from Warsaw to Baku. Since we left Heathrow in early evening and both flights were late and the Caucasus are three hours ahead of the UK, we landed at Baku at 5.30 am and checked into the Radisson Hotel towards 7 am.
There was little time for rest because our guide for Azerbaijan started his city tour of Baku at 10.30 am, the temperature was 34C, and we were not back at the hotel until 5 pm. Our guide is Elvin Alimuradov who has never left his own country, but has an excellent command of English as well as a prodigious knowledge of his country. His older brother was a commander in the Azerbaijan army who died in the 2020 war with Armenia.
On our first day in the country, already we learned so much and saw so much.
Azerbaijan is the largest of the three countries making up the Caucasus, but it is still only a little larger than Scotland. It is also the most populous nation in the region with a population of 10.4M which is around three times that of Armenia or Georgia. There is an exclave called Nakhchivan with half a million living there. The people are overwhelmingly but nominally Muslim. The currency is the Manat which is roughly two to the pound.
The presence of natural gas and volcanoes gives Azerbaijan the name ‘Land of Fire’, while the country derives its wealth from oil.The ruling New Azerbaijan Party has been in power since 1993. It has been accused of an authoritarian approach under the leadership of both Heydar Aliyev and his son Ilham Aliyev and the country has a deteriorating human rights record, including increasing restrictions on civil liberties, particularly on press freedom and political repression.
The capital of Azerbaijan is Baku. The name is Persian and means ‘house of wind’. It is the only metropolis in the country and Baku proper has about 2 million inhabitants, while a quarter of the nation’s population lives in the wider Baku area. The city is 28 metres (92 feet) below sea level, making it the lowest-lying capital in the world (the highest capital city is La Paz in Bolivia which I have visited).
The city is located on western coast of the Caspian Sea and is a mixture of the ancient (the Old City is a UNESCO World Heritage site) and the ultra-modern (oil money has fuelled the creation of some spectacular new buildings).
Our walking tour started with a view of the three iconic Flame Towers which were completed in 2012 and rise between 28 and 33 storeys. Then we strolled through an area known as Martyrs Alley which commemorates the dead Turks who defended the country against Armenians in 1918, the Azerbaijanis who died in 1990 protests for independence from Russia, and all those who were killed in the recent wars with Armenia. From the Highland Park, we had excellent views of the city hugging the Caspian Sea.
Next we went down to the Old City where we spent time in the Museum of Miniature Books, the Palace of the Shirvanshahs (the ruling dynasty for almost a millennium in the Middle Ages), and the Maiden’s Tower (we climbed the 125 stone steps), as well as observing the cobbled streets, old architecture and new shops, before finally stopping for lunch in a place called “Fisincan” in Fountain Square.
It was a wonderful introduction to a city which surprised us but it was unseasonably hot at 34C. In the evening, I walked down to the promenade to see the illumination of the Flame Towers in three sequences, one of which is actually representation of flames.
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Holiday in Caucasus (1): introduction
July 7th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
I am about to go on a holiday to the Caucasus with the company Voyages Jules Verne. I will be away two and half weeks and, in that time, I will visit three countries – two of them for the first time – which will bring the total number of countries that I have visited to 88.
The Caucasus is a region between the Black Sea on the west and the Caspian Sea on the east, mainly comprising Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and parts of southern Russia. The area is regarded geographically as where Eastern Europe meets Western Asia and historically as where Christianity meets Islam.
The origin of the name Caucasus goes back to Pliny the Elder who, in his book “Natural History” (77-79 AD) derived the term from a Scythian name Croucasis which supposedly means ‘shimming with snow’.
Around two centuries ago, starting with theTreaty of Geogievsk in 1783, the region gradually came under Russian control. A significant number of Armenians remained in the Ottoman Empire, however, until in 1915 they were expelled in a process lasting until 1922 widely regarded as a genocide of some 1.5 million.
The three Caucasian countries escaped Russian control when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. In the run up to and shortly after this independence, there were bitter ethnic conflicts in the region.
In Georgia, the areas of Abkhazia and South Ossetia broke away with Russian assistance. In 2008, Georgia attempted to take back control of South Ossetia by military force which proved disastrous as Russian forces took full control of this break-away territory plus the other break-away territory Abkhazia.
Violence and ethnic cleansing in Armenia and Azerbaijan led to a civil war between 1990-1994 in which control of the autonomous region of Nagorno-Karabakh was at the heart of the conflict and Karabakh Armenia forces were the victors. Some 40,000 lives were lost and around one million were displaced.
A second war of six weeks in 2020 saw Azerbaijan retaking much of the break-away region from Armenian control but more than 6,600 died. The latest flare-ups were as recently as September 2022 when around 100 troops were killed and April 2023 when another seven soldiers died.
Nagorno-Karabakh – an area of about 150,000 people – has a majority Armenian population but geographically the region is totally surrounded by Azerbaijan and it is recognised internationally as Azerbaijan’s territory. In conflicts over the region, Armenia has the support of Russia, while Azerbaijan has the backing of Turkey.
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Ever heard of the Mariko Aoki phenomenon?
July 4th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
As the Wikipedia entry puts it:
“The Mariko Aoki phenomenon is a Japanese expression referring to a sudden urge to defecate that is felt upon entering bookstores. The phenomenon is named after Mariko Aoki, a woman who described the effect in a magazine article published in 1985. According to Japanese social psychologist Shōzō Shibuya, the specific causes that trigger a defecation urge in bookstores are not yet clearly understood. There are also some who are skeptical about whether such a peculiar phenomenon really exists at all, and it is sometimes discussed as one type of urban myth.”
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A review of “Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny”
June 30th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
In 1981, the film world was presented with a new hero, except that in fact Indiana Jones was a reprise of, and a homage to, the 1940s action men so beloved by then wunder-kids George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. Almost unbelievably, some 42 years later, Indy has donned his leather jacket and fedora and picked up his bullwhip for a fifth offering that does not have the magic of the first three movies but ranks as an improvement on the fourth adventure 15 years ago.In the titular role, Harrison Ford – now in his 80s – still looks great and, in the opening segment set in 1944, he is de-aged which is a bit weird but reminds us just how good-looking he was. Jumping to 1969, this time his female co-star is the British Phoebe Waller-Bridge who, to me, seems an odd choice. But an ensemble of fine support actors includes Mads Mikkelsen (a Dane playing a Nazi German), Antonio Banderas (a Spaniard playing a Greek deep-sea diver) and Toby Jones (inevitably playing an eccentric Englishman).
The plot involves an excess of mythical mumbo-jumbo which reminded me of “The Da Vinci Code” and the action features plentiful chases in a variety of vehicles and even on a horse. It is all very silly but entertaining enough. I found the opening train sequence too long, but I liked the deep-sea diving segment and the final time-travel sequence is the most original part of a film than rehashes too many old themes.
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Word of the day: chuckleberry
June 30th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
A chuckleberry is a hybrid between a redcurrant, gooseberry and jostaberry (a jostaberry already being a hybrid of a gooseberry and blackcurrant).This large mix of different flavour profiles has resulted in a dark red/purple fruit around the size of a blackcurrant, with a complex, yet delicious taste.
It provides vibrancy and sharpness to cooking, whilst simultaneously being sweet – making it an incredibly exciting ingredient to use.
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A review of the 1964 epic war movie “Zulu”
June 23rd, 2023 by Roger Darlington
No less than 11 Victoria Crosses were awarded to the British defenders of Rorke’s Drift at the battle in Natal which took place on 22-23 January 1879. Amazingly some 150 British soldiers, around 30 of them sick or wounded patients in a field hospital, held off a force of about 4,000 Zulu warriors. Inevitably there are all sorts of small historical inaccuracies, but basically this film tells a true story in dramatic style.Shot mostly on location in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province with the cooperation of the local military and hundreds of Zulu extras, the movie looks wonderful. The music is by John Barry and the main theme jacks up the drama. Although the central narrative celebrates a heroic action by the imperialist British, the work makes a real point of celebrating the skill and courage of the Zulus. Both sides are seen using clever tactics.
“Zulu” was directed and co-written by American Cy Enfield. Three of the leading British parts were taken by Stanley Baker as the senior officer who was actually an engineer with little experience of action, Michael Caine in a break-out role as a young and arrogant officer, and Nigel Green as the seasoned Colour Sergeant. Chief Manosuthu Buthelezi plays the Zulu leader King Cetshwayo, his real-life maternal great-grandfather. I could have done without Jack Hawkins in a caricature of the Swedish missionary, but generally the support roles are well-cast.
This is quite a long film – 138 minutes – but it is carefully paced with the tension and action ratcheting up and, as British action movies go, it is one of the best.
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The case for a wealth tax becomes stronger every day
June 20th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
“Tax extreme wealth to pay for the climate-related damage to the poorest, a group of more than 100 leading economists have urged.This is the beginning of a short article in today’s “Guardian”. I very much support the case for a wealth tax. We need such a tax to support countries hit by climate change and to boost national government programmes addressing healthcare. Some 14 years ago, I wrote a short article which featured debate in the British political arena over the introduction of a wealth tax. You can read it here.A wealth tax on the fortunes of the world’s richest people would raise trillions of dollars that could be spent on helping poorer countries shift their economies to a low-carbon footing, and on “loss and damage”, the rescue and rehabilitation of countries stricken by climate disaster.
A 2% tax on extreme wealth would yield about $2.5tn a year, by recent estimates.
The economists, including the prominent degrowth advocate Jason Hickel, have written a letter to world leaders before a global summit on finance this week. They are calling for a tax of 1.5% for 1.5C to help ensure the world limits global temperature rises to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.”
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A review of the new action movie “The Mother”
June 17th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
This is a Netflix effort to produce a female version of the traditional action movie, so women fill the roles of director (New Zealander Niki Caro), writer (African-American Misha Green), star (dancer, singer and actress Jennifer Lopez as a retired assassin and the unnamed Mother) and support (Mexican-born Lucy Paez as the Mother’s daughter Zoe and reason for much of the mayhem). It’s a competent, but unoriginal, work and Lopez was clearly reluctant to shed her locks to acquire a grittier look.Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
Samuel Ryde photographs Roger Darlington
June 15th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
London photographer Sam Ryde has just completed a photographic project hosted by the Bankside Hotel in central London where Sam was the artist in residence. As part of this project, he photographed a number of people living close to the hotel in their own home. I was one of his subjects and this what he had to say about me.
This is Roger. Another Bankside resident kind enough to let me into their home. Your home is your biggest legacy. It reflects every piece of you, whether that is conscious or subconious and I find that fascinating. Sometimes it’s the things we don’t do that say the most about us. Roger’s library dominates the living room and screamed at me to be the back drop for our time together. As we were speaking I mentioned I had a photo diary that was eleven years old, he stopped and said, “come with me”.We walked into the spare bedroom and in front of me were a complete set of diaries that Roger has maintained every single day for 60 years. He told me he hasn’t missed a day, which is the first question people ask me about mine.
1. How long have you lived in Bankside?
Four years aka not long enough!
2. What’s your favourite thing about Bankside?
The closeness to everything: National Theatre, British Film Institute, Royal Festival Hall, Tate Modern, The Globe
3. What has been the biggest change you have noticed in your time here?
We are becoming a mini Manhattan: Southbank Tower, One Bankside, Bankside Yards and to come 18 Blackfriars Road
4. Do you think you’ll stay here forever?
I would love to!
5. What’s your secret Bankside tip?
The Sea Containers Hotel has a Curzon cinema which is open to the public for weekend showings of the latest films.
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