Luna Park

Home to the Alfred Nobel's Azerbaijan mansion, Luna Park is a spectacle one has to see to believe.

Perhaps that would be the first line to an article written about the venerable Soviet masterpiece...in 1985. Luna Park is truly an oddity. A place where families would come for some fun on a Saturday afternoon. A place where you could get your thrills bumping into each other in little cars. A place that we decided to go to at 8:30 pm on a Thursday night.

The park is home to none other than a peddle monorail that runs a small circuit around part of the grounds. Pay 1 Manat ($1.20), ascend about twenty-five feet, and you find yourself sitting in a levitating version of the peddle-boat. In short, it's brilliant. What better way to get exercise than to cruise around the track, revolution after revolution? That is until you emerge from the safety of the collection area and realize just how little is stopping you from plunging to the earth. I was reassured by one of the park workers that the ride was only two years old and was indeed safe.

For whatever reason, we decided to get on this ride that worked like a pendelum, except it did a full revolution. It was all fun and games until, on the last revolution, it stopped at the apex with us dangling upside down. The blood flooded to my face. I remember thinking, "Wow, the view is pretty nice up here." Julian had remarked earlier, "What do you think would happen if the thing just stopped cold at the top of its revolution?" I suppose that is why you don't joke about Soviet-era amusements. I concluded that it was some sick prank pulled by the perpetually bored operator. "Welcome to Azerbaijan, lousy foreigners."