Uh, Baku Then?

[Johnny Velvet]

EDIT: Removed

[Nocturnal Submission]

A Chelsea-supporting friend went there when our team played Qarabağ a couple of years ago and spoke very highly of the place.

Funnily enough, I just received a WhatsApp message from another Chelsea mate who said "a little birdy told me our allocation for Baku, should we get there, in a stadium holding over 60K, could be minuscule as there are no spare planes to charter due to the Boeing crisis."

[Antepli Ejderha]

Don't you need a visa? When I was living in Istanbul I looked at going there for a Wales match, flight tickets were expensive and inconvenient. Hope you make it out there.

[MsD]

It looks alright in Le Bureau (one storyline in Series 3 is set in Baku).

[ursus arctos]

The early 20th century city centre by the water is really quite lovely.

[Third rate Leszno]

Reg, you'll end up knackered and skint and have moments where you question your sanity and wish you'd never embarked on the whole ridiculous idea, but you will seriously, seriously regret it in years to come if you don't go.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

I went to Baku in 1994, before any of the new supermodern stuff went up. It was then just the medieval old city and the things the soviets had built like the hotels. Still one of the most interesting places I've ever visited.

I'd recommend at least recreating the experience of dining in a Caraban Serai on the Silk Road by sitting on a cushion on the floor in your lounge around a posh rug and having a mezze of salads and cold cuts with dolmas followed by kebabs and pilovs (rice and stewed meat). Candlelit.