Hotel Ambasadori Tbilisi

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Tbilisi is a run-or-the-mill Eastern Block capital; it has its fare share of old town, churches, monuments, squares and castle-on-the-hilltop, but none of them outstanding. Two of them, the new cathedral and the new presidential palace, draw my attention just because they are fleshy buildings located in one of the oldest part of town full of decaying houses housing (seemingly ...

... revolted against one President (Eduarde Shevadnardze in 2003) the country looks set to try and overthrow another. But this one is a less docile character and after fixed votes and an assemblage of troops, it looks like things will get violent before any resolution is acheived. For now the protests are peaceful and seem more like a party than a demonstration of public outrage. So it was with a big smile and friendly grin that I stood in one of the make shift ...

Yesterday I went to a village called Kazbegi. The Caucusus are even more beautiful than I have dreamed them to be. The bus ride itself was worth it (even after the driver stuffed bags of potatoes in every extra inch of space in the minibus, including where our feet should have been). The road is the Georgian Military Highway, and it basically heads straight up from Tbilisi to the border with Russia (and beyond, if the border was open). As ...

... we stopped in a Georgian restaurant [name 2do] for some khinkali (meat dumplings) and beer. I had to be learnt how to eat it: one holds it on the stem and eats it out so that the sauce inside doesn't spill which would happen by just cutting it. Then a stroll to one of the churches around Tavisuplebis square, through the smallish old town, to the botanical gardens above it and in the night to the ruins of Narikala Fortress built on a hill towering above Tbilisi and offering nice views of ...

... can bring out of the country without paying further tax. We had to stand our ground with them as they were obviously looking for some backshee. 3/. The ferry was apparently the best one - thank god we didn't get to travel on the worst one. the "restaurant" had a menu of one item - meat soup. It was a colourless liquid with an inch of bright orange meat fat floating on the top - that's how the locals like it. It contained one potato and one minced meat ball. It was ...

... evening meal a miss, as still full from lunch. To bed, not hungry,but not far off it. Tuesday 10 June - Tbilisi Free day. Had read a week-old local paper, which said there was to be a major demonstration today, when the new Parliament is to sit, as people not happy with the election results. There had been a number of demonstrations since November, including three recently. There have also been a lot of police in the streets ...

... wine and dinner, to finish the Laris I had left in my wallet. After we passed the border pass, and our passports has been stamped, we could say "Nakhvamdis, Sakartvelo". Goodbye, Georgia. I have an indecent habit to summarize every mission I complete, at least for myself. This trip was surely not a mission, but I felt the weird necessity to ask Michal if she enjoyed her first self trip abroad - with me. I knew she did. But her positive answer made that day, like the whole trip, unforgettable.

... fire, surviving the winter by begging or dumpster diving next to the Marriot. EU flags, with their gold stars on blue, were next to many Georgian flags. Another sign said: "Georgia is part of Europe." Geographically, experts see Europe as ending at the divide of the Caucasus, where Prometheus was chained in punishment for giving man fire. At the same time, Caucasians get their name--for better or worse--from this region. But what defines Europe or the ...

... Shé unfortunately got a bacterial infection that silenced her for two days - an amazing feat - I think even her brother acknowledged that we were in dangerous territory when she refused to rise to several barbs, which usually result in physical violence. For all of two days the Ugandans thought they had the perfect seven-year old, docile and well behaved. Once the drugs kicked in the ...

And back to Tblisi. After the failure of Turkey to excite (journal will be updated retrospectively), the Caucasus have been a delight. Full of hidden churches set in fairy tale forested valleys and monasteries perched precariously atop deep gorges with breath taking views. These monks certainly knew something about locating a retreat or the perfect place to hone your chi. Dad arrived a week ago and after a day of exploring ...