Wellington vs... Baku

File under: gridskipper, Baku, Wellington

The battle commences: Wellington has a challenger for Pitch Your Burg. We're up against that well-known mecca of culture, elegance and natural beauty... Baku, Azerbaijan.

Their pitch does indeed make Baku sound alluring:

A gray canker on the lower lip of the Absheron peninsula, oil-rich Baku combines the aesthetics of Houston, the hospitality of the Soviets, and the progressiveness of a Muslim culture shut off from the world for 70 years.

Hmm, methinks they're taking the Michael. I appear to have made a tactical error by writing my pitch in such a way as to make Wellington sound like the sort of place you might actually want to visit. I might have to point out that most of Baku's more charming amenities (such as "snaggle-toothed rig monkeys", "middle-aged swingers" and "continuous drunken loops in a Go-Kart at 3 a.m.") are also readily available in nearby Upper Hutt and Palmerston North.

At the time of writing, Baku is actually ahead by 14 votes to 11, so get voting!