IST-GYD Turkish Airlines Flight# 332
Aircraft: A321-200 TC-JTP
Class: Economy
Seat: 5A
As we changed our flight last minute most of the seats towards the front of the aircraft were already selected and we were initially placed close to the back of the aircraft. Thankfully after speaking with the very nice Turkish gate agent, we were moved up to a combination of bulkhead and exit row seats free of charge. I took seat 5A and was very grateful for his decision to move us without an additional fee. For what it's worth I did inquire about the cost to upgrade to business, but was quoted over $500 a passenger so I did not proceed with that idea.
5A (Bulkhead)
I see Bitcoin has replaced HSBC 
After a quick boarding process the door was closed and we taxied to the runway for an on-time departure—goodbye Istanbul!
Service began after reaching cruise altitude with breakfast. The olives, cheese, and porridge were decent, but the eggs and meat were disgusting. Overall, I was far from impressed and found this to be the worst meal I have had on Turkish to date. The eggs rival what I have seen on United... that's never a good thing...
At least they can’t screw up the views! Flying over the Caucuses was beautiful!
Just like that we began our decent down into Baku.
Once on the ground we were directed through a very speedy immigration process (Azerbaijan requires eVisas for many nationalities including Americans) and entered the arrivals hall to find our driver.
BAKU, AZERBAIJAN
Traditional Song and Dance outside GYD (Purple)
Heydar Aliyev International Airport is a good 30 minutes from the city center by car and we were able to get downtown by about 11:30--not terrible considering the situation. The drive is not a boring one either as there are many unique buildings along the way.
We met our guide and our tour began in Baku's Old Town. The first stop on our tour was the Baku Museum of Miniature Books. I am still not exactly sure why it is located in Baku, but it is and it is quite interesting. They hold a Guinness World Record for world's largest private collection of miniature books. They have a variety of books from around the world with an emphasis on those from post-Soviet countries. There's a very small miniature Quran as well as miniature books from the likes of Pushkin and others.
A very, very, very small book (look above the circle in the top left)
Next up we visited Maiden Tower. This UNSCO World Heritage site is also located in the Old Town (on the edge of the Caspian) and was constructed in the 12th century. It was built to help defend the city from attacks. It now houses a museum inside and has a nice view of Baku on the top level.
Continuing on with the Old Town we visited the Palace of the Shirvanshahs. It is also a UNSCO World Heritage site, but was constructed a bit later than the Maiden Tower in the 15th century. The complex contains many buildings, a mosque, and mausoleum.
With only a few hours in Baku and our flight to Tashkent approaching quickly we decided to cut the tour a bit short and start heading back to the airport at this point. However I did take a few photos on our way out of the Old Town.
We also briefly stopped at the Heydar Aliyev Centre on our way back to GYD to get some photos. The building's architecture is extremely unique.
