Hotel Tori Tbilisi

... it was great; there are rivers, valleys and mountain stretch out to the horizon, and you can almost see the city of Gori, merely 40 km away up a valley, where Iosif Jughashvili, a.k.a. Joseph Stalin was born in 1878 (yes, the most important and brutal Soviet leader was born a Georgian). And then we went back to visit Svetitskhoveli (Life-giving-pillars) Cathedral, where the legend says that Christ's robe is buried underneath. Apparently a Jew from the city ...

... equal spread of power between the President, Parliament and the Judicial system as the best way forward. Crippled by Russian economic and military pressure, the country is rightly questioning Saakashvili's motives in failing to prevent the crisis when he was on such good terms (reputedly) with their vodka drinking neighbours. Protests were held all over the city and the family I stayed with were heavily invovled. In my last entry I described Georgians as being ...

... for in part by the Georgian government, and then the rest by aid from foreign governments. The yards are the houses are pretty small, and every one of them is a concrete box without many rooms. They're going up pretty quickly though. I don't know where people are supposed to keep their animals or grow a garden though in those small spaces. One of the construction workers I chatted with was kicked out of Abkhazia about 3 years ago ...

... a hostel. Since street names are not easy to find, house numbers are even harder and hostels ("homestays") are quite often not marked at all...it's fun. I met two Slovak guys doing the same and finally we found it - Dodo's homestay, recommended by LP. Unfortunately, I can't recommend it at all: it's hugely expensive (>=27gel), has a very old equipment and beds and moody personnel. However, I met some interesting people: eldery US guy doing a photo study on kurdish people, bright ...

... this morning we went to a new church and a service started and it was so beautiful. I came out of church feeling very emotional and replenished - and no I wasn't at the communion wine. All in all I continue to ahve an amazing time where even the bad times are good as someone once sang. Can't believe there's only two weeks left on the trip before we get back to Istanbul - if we can go there - still haven't got the FO report on that yet. Anyway love to you all. Victoria.

... photos of old houses, derelict church full of burnt books, photo in hot, humid bakery cellar of the classic oven while buying bread. Chew on hot bread all the way up to the funicular entrance. Find it a work site, with the heavy Soviet concrete being covered by a metal flower form. The funicular should be operational, but behind schedule. We are now a fair way up the hill, so continue up the zigzag road to the Mamadaviti church ...

... and she died immidiately. No-one could take the cloak out of her hands, and therefore she were burried there with the cloak. On her grace, a tree has grown and saint Nino - the saint of Georgia who, according to the tradition, converted the country's religion into Christianity - cut pieces of the tree and discovered healing oil that came out of the tree. In this place - the church has been built and today is considered one of Georgia's important churches. We entered the ...

... Was the big question. "We're not Russian," a woman said, when I tried to speak to her in Russian (sorry, it's hard to learn a new language all the time, though you are right). Elsewhere in the former Soviet Republics, they had either kept the Cyrillic or adopted a Latin alphabet. But in Georgia, most Russian writing had been removed from bus signs, marshrutkas, and restaurants, adding a challenge to getting around for non-Georgian speakers. Their ...

We've reached Tiblisi and it's started raining. This is only the second time it's rained since we left Beijing three months ago, which is pretty incredible. 17/10 UPDATE: Well that was a stupid thing to write as it's then rained for 6 days straight, which made everyone quite miserable... Anyway, despite the rain I had a great time in Tiblisi. Went to some great restaurants, ate a lot of cheese pies and went to the ballet to see Giselle. Bravo! etc.

... more really! The next significant event was my birthday party of course. The crisis is over - I am forty now and loving it. The party was perfect and let me tell you that is not often possible. I was with people I really like and love and apparently, they love me so what more could I ask for. I received several blessings, my health, my family and friends around me and a beautiful, beautiful ...