Hotel Kala Tbilisi

... nearly 10 at night but reply was "no problem, restaurant next door, open till late". Off we went and had a great meal with terrific friendly staff who all wanted to come and talk to us whilst ensuring we sampled loads of traditional Georgian foods and beers. A great night.

Off in the morning after all the hotel staff insisted on photographs of us all together and West towards the Black Sea.

Cheers, Rick.

... with shashlyk down the road, or offered to go rustle up whoever was supposed to be working at the cafe whose shut door we were standing in front of and make them fix us something. We took a walk. The place he told us to go to was lovely, even though there wasn't a shashlyk (meat on a stick) for miles around, but the cheese bread there was very tasty and the pit toilet clean. After that we went to a museum and church in honor of Kazbegi ...

... ve got aureolas], but the Russians painted the walls in white since in russian churches it's like that. Fortunately many have been recovered. Essential part are many icons with incense and candles in front of it. There is also a special chair for patriarch and a wall-separated altair reserved for priests opposite the entry. Priests wear black clothes and beards, women can enter only with a headscarf. There are often some geometric reliefs on outer walls. By the way, Georgians use a bit ...

... That was last night's affort and I have realised that my style of writing is not really suited to bullet points - I'm more a War and Peace sort of person. 6/. Left Azerbaijan and headed into Georgia and I really like it here. Lots of orthodox churches and lots of wine. 7/. New guide named Zaza, a really nice man but very very softly spoken and the worst case of halitosis I have ever met. This is not the best scenario for a peron with hearing difficulties ...

... 1850)near the mid-station. The church is being rebuilt, and the road is pretty rough.The church is pretty, well-situated, and we are taken over by a cheerful old priest who shows us into the 5th century cave church, the hermitage of St David Gareja, with a spring and deep pool with steps down into it. Supposed to be good for the eyes, but DP doesn't bite. Back down to internet. Run into Rob in the first place, internet is slow ...

... to me, after all... "Salobie", I said to the driver. Salobie is a popular restaurant at the edge of town, on the road to Tbilisi. It was recommended in the guide, and I though it would be a nice place to dine lunch there, especially if the have vegetarian food for Michal, according to the guide. We thanked the driver and went to eat. When we entered, we have payed so much attention - and a nice waitress came to us asking something in Russian. During soviet era, the second ...

... simply because of snow. Svaneti was snowed-in. Kazbegi was a no-go. So basically, I needed to stay in the lower reaches of Georgia. The taxi driver was thankful for my help getting unstuck and I gave him some money for gas and more, because he made a good effort and in reality it was a good day out in the dry hills of Georgia. On Sunday, my third day in Georgia, I took a marshrutka to Mtskheta, the holy headquarters for the Georgian Apostolic Church ...

... ja pidevalt ületas keegi teed. Nagu arvutimängus - lehmad, kitsed, inimesed, autod. Sõber Ain, keda kihutamine kunagi ei koti, palus vanal tiba hoogu maha võtta. Seda siis tehti ja lasti hoog 120-nele. Kui meil olid kõigil turvavööd tihkelt pingul, siis juht ja tema kaaslane pidasid neid vist pukseerimisrihmadeks. Tundus, et sellest autos surrakse meestena :) Jõudsime tagasi sel hetkel, kui buss hakkas juba maanteele pöörama ja me oleksime takso teenust pidanud juurde paluma ...

... or what? I will say this though; having made several disparaging remarks about Rockie's love of antique vehicles; the solidity of the Pontiac kept us from overturning. We discovered that the jack and wheel spanner were missing so we suspect that during the festivities someone was trying to pry away the mag-wheels, which are in great demand on the black market I understand. Anyway after such ...

... of waiting in the hammering rain for the only taxi in the entire area to clear customs we were on our way. Making it into Tblisi in time for a tasty slap Geogian dinner and bottle of red to see my dad safely home with. Now in this faire city on my own, waiting for Em to catch me up and think I might hit the Georgian military highway, almost up to the Russian border, but safely behind a huge mountain range from those pesky Chechens.