Ali and Nino: the book and the café

In the middle of Baku, close to the Fountain square, there is a small café called “Ali and Nino”. An acquaintance that brought me there was excited about finding a nice place to eat for a very reasonable price (and the lunch priced at 5 AZN,around $6, for two course meal is indeed a good price) but as conversation progressed and I asked about the name of the cafe, she exclaimed, “What? You don’t know? There is a very famous novel “Ali and Nino” that was written by the author from Baku”. I filed this information and later returned to the cafe to chat with a staff, buy the book, and do some photos. And that is what I discovered. “Ali and Nino” is the chain of book stores that was founded in 2007. Now it has four stores and two Book cafés; all of them held literature events, book discussions, concerts and meetings with various remarkable people.

The café at Tagijeva Street was designed as an illustration to the “Ali and Nino” novel. As the book is set in Baku during turbulent years surrounding the Bolshevik’s Revolution, the furniture and decor confirms to the style of that time. It is easy to imagine the main characters, Ali and Nino, either living here or at least dropping by. An array of black and white photos transfers the first floor to a family room; a sofa, half hidden by curtains, a bird cage, sitting atop of an old armoire and a pier glass create an atmosphere of a boudoir or a sitting room on the second. A painting on the first floor tells visitors the saga of the young married couple, Ali and Nino.

Second floor of the cafe.

Painting on the wall; photo by Vacheslav Sapunov

Painting on the wall; photo by Vacheslav Sapunov

I should say a few words about the book, shouldn’t I?

So, Ali and Nino: A Love Story by Kurban Said.It brought "Romeo and Juiliet" to my mind as well as "Doctor Zhivago". It is a love story of two young people with a very different background: Ali a Muslim from Baku and Nino - a young girl from Christian Georgia, who tried to keep their love intact while the world around them caught fire of the Russian Revolution and crumbled into pieces.

As a glimpse into traditions of Muslim society, its understanding of honour and duty, it is fascinating. As a description of continual give-and-take dance of the young married couple, who had to let go of many trappings of their upbringings, it is utmost engaging. What attracts me the most is that in a nutshell it is about a struggle between Asia and Europe, or old and new at the rise of the new xx century. For me personally this particular time in history holds immense attraction. Everything and everyone found themselves on the cusp, balancing above the abyss. Things that were familiar seized to exist, traditions were swept aside, and some saw it as a beginning of the end whiles others - as a new beginning. This novel certainly captures the air of uncertainty, a rollercoaster of hope and despair prevailing at that time.

* Bookcafes "Ali and Nino" Tagieva Str. 16/18; Nizami 91

Afternoon Delight.

I got a package! To get a package under ordinary circumstances is a pleasant event but when you are living overseas it is a delight.
And, this little parcel contained things that I longed for for months.

Lean closer, I’ll tell you a secret: every few years I embark on a search of a new perfume. The notion of a signature scent is lost on me, and though I have a few beloved fragrances to which I return over and over again, I am compelled to try something new now and again. My surroundings change every two to three years, why should my perfume stay the same?

My second guilty secret is that I adore reading blogs of perfumephiles. People who are trying to capture in words something as elusive as scent intrigue me. Largely due to these blogs I became interested in Frederic Malle’s perfumes only to discover that not every city carries his line. Hot and dusty Phoenix didn’t have it, the same – with smart and proper Washington DC. New York was the closest, but visit there didn’t fit into my summer schedule. (I can imagine the conversation with my husband: you want to go to NY just to try how it smells?????)

In Baku I found their site, Editions De Parfums, filled out a questionnaire and based on my answers received some suggestions on what I would possibly like. I went ahead and ordered three samples.

I ordered them and ...crossed my fingers because, as I mentioned before our local address here is an enigma, and the US address that we are allowed to use frowns upon sending liquids in glass containers (I wasn’t sure if samples come in glass or plastic mini bottles).

But, my parcel came through and not only it came through but arrived with a handwritten note thanking me for my interests in their products.

I was immediately swooning over Iris Poudre. It reminded me of my beloved Chanel No. 19 but with more warmth. With tonka bean, musk, vanilla and sandalwood it is all about softness and coziness.

Une Fleur De Cassie haven’t spoken to me yet, so I’ll withhold my judgments for now.

But, L’eau D’Hiver! - L’eau D’Hiver took me by surprise. There is something extraordinary strange in it – gentleness combined with hardness. Many reviews suggest that it suppose to bring to mind coolness of winter days, it does very different thing to me – it makes me think of rice fields filled with water, bamboos – it represents orient to me.

Now I am torn between Iris Poudre and L’eau D’Hiver . One comforts me; the other makes me feel alert. Hard to choose. Considering the price and that I try to be a sensible person I have to choose. Really. But the since the closest places that sell Frederic Malle’s perfumes are Paris or Moscow, I have time.

A Small Find

In my constant search for treasures I found an old, grey, not much to look at, but absolutely wonderful public phone. What’s so special about it? First of all, it is a relic of Soviet era, in modern days of mobiles and I-phones, it looks almost antic. Secondly, those rectangular grey phones with spin or touch dial were a common feature of underground crossings and street corners of Moscow and finding one in Baku brought back a lot of memories. So many times I was stopped at the streets by people asking for two kopeks (the price of a phone call) or searched for those little coins myself. Those phones were the primal means of communication when people were out and about.

When I found this one in the underground crossing near the Puppet Theatre I was almost sure that it didn’t work, that it was just a part of decor. But no, I lifted the receiver and heard a familiar tone. I wonder if anybody uses it nowadays.

A tale of a Grumpy Seller.

We took my husband’s colleague for a walk around Baku yesterday. On the boulevard we noticed a bright yellow booth in the shape of an orange selling fresh juices. The list on the counter showed selection of eight juices including orange juice.

“Can I have a glass of orange juice, please,” I addressed the cheerfully dressed in yellow seller.
“No”, he grumbled in response in a sharp contrast with his optimistically coloured booth.
“You don't want to serve us or you are out of oranges?” I tried to cheer him up.
“No have”, he shrugged impatiently and slammed a glass of apple juice in front of us. My husband’s colleague, being the thirstiest of us all, took it.
“I want one, I want one, “cried my younger son.
Pete took one sip and replied “Oh no, you really don’t.”

My theory is that the seller of the cheerful booth was grumpy because he knew that apple juice wasn’t good and it sucked to sell something so unappetizing. On the other hand, he might simply have had a bad day.

New Discoveries

One of my favourite blogs has a quote from Wallace Stevens' in its header - "It must give pleasure". One of the greatest pleasures of mine is strolling around a city and discover its treasures. Strolling along Kichik Gala in the Walled City I came upon this,



and this,



and this.



The last photo pictures the bust of Azeri poet of the late XIX century Aliag Vahid. I have never seen anything quite like this before and have to show the statue from different angles.

Where do you live?

“Where do you live,” is a simple question routinely asked by new acquaintances. To answer this seemingly innocent question is a bit complicated if you happen to live on the outskirts of Baku, in an area called Badamdar. About fifty years ago there was not much there except settlements of oil workers but as the boundaries of the city pushed outwards, the area attracted attention of wealthy Bakuvians who started to build spacious houses there, mostly for rental.

The most distinguished feature of Badamdar is lack of street names and numbers on the houses. I assume that all the houses are numbered, but those numbers are not displayed on the buildings. On rare occasion when a house has a number, an official address may look like that:

Baku, Badamdar,
1st high-way, 9th side-street,
Building 437

More often than not people use landmarks to give directions (i.e. turn left at the City Mart, turn right at the second oak tree) and identify houses by colour.

Our house is known as a “yellow house”, which is quite amusing because in Russian this phrase was used as a euphemism for a “nut house.” (Façade of the first mental hospital founded in 1779 in Saint- Petersburg was painted yellow, and by association “yellow house” became common name for all similar institutions.)

So, where do I live? In a yellow house on a street with no name.

Gone to the mattresses.

A dog is a man’s best friend. And fleas are common dog companions. If you have a pack of stray dogs living nearby it is only reasonable to expect that sooner or later the fleas will follow. The odds of being infested with fleas grows dramatically higher when neighbors in a desperate attempt to free themselves from those unwelcome guests call the exterminator and treat their yard and house. The fleas, naturally, run for their lives and relocate to the nearest quarters. Incidentally, it happens to be our yard and house.

Now, being bitten time after time after time brought our attention to the problem. Since we don’t fraternize with stray dogs and in no way invite fleas to our house, we called the department of our embassy that deals with various problems with the houses and asked for help. What we received was the advice, “Try to mix half water/ half vinegar and spray everything in the house. Fleas don’t like vinegar.”

We didn’t have vinegar in the house at the time of receiving the advice, so at first we consulted the I-net and found out that besides vinegar, fleas are not particularly fond of salt. Why, we have plenty of salt! Stripping all the bedding from the beds, we sprinkled salt under the mattresses, on the carpets and all other places we could think of and left it for a few days. One would think we were preparing to battle some Dark Forces. Dark Forces in the face of fleas didn’t budge, but our carpets and floors acquired a certain crunchiness.

Next step was to try vinegar/water solution. Methodically I went from room to room spraying mattresses, spring boxes, carpets, undercarperts and everything sprayable. It took me the whole day and several bottles of vinegar. The stench of vinegar penetrated the house and frankly wasn’t very pleasant. The army of fleas slowed their march but the victory was nowhere near.

Finally, the owner was informed that I really wanted to invite exterminators to the house. What did he do? He brought me some powder. I thought, “What the heck, I will try it as well”, but then I read the instructions. In order to use this remedy I was strongly advised to wear gloves, a mask, a robe and put it only in the places not reachable for kids. That is when I decided to ring back to the embassy, after all they suppose to look after us. Well, apparently “looking after us” doesn’t include our particular predicament. Having my best interests in mind, of course, how else can it be, they couldn't provide me with the list of the Pest Control companies in Baku. The nadir of my conversation came with, “You have to do it alone, Mrs.”

“You have to do it alone” - it has philosophical ring to it, isn’t it?

Anyhow, if anybody knows of an exterminator company in Baku or, perhaps, a company who can thoroughly clean carpets and furniture, it will be highly appreciated.