Hotel Varazi Tbilisi

... surprised to see, having failed to notice it the first time through. Unsurprisingly, they were a little suspicious of the three of us and we had to explain in fractious Russian, they we were very sorry, we didn't see it, we don't mean any harm, please don't shoot us, etc etc. Eventually they let us on our way to Tbilisi, but the days events were far from over.

...We found a small steep side road that led us to a spot just beside the ...

... have a party. I also visited a fort that overlooked the town (or, well, took pictures of it from below...) When getting on a minibus to go back to Tbilisi, there was a crowd of kids waiting to get on the minibus to take them to the outskirts from the town from school. Two were in front of me in line, but when one of their friends saw me and another woman waiting in line to get on the bus, the friend pushed the kids ...

... disused soviet industry, violently smoking factories and prisons with guarding towers in between. In Gardabani I take an old Lada taxi with an old Azeri taxi driver for 50gel (no other tourists for sharing it) with 3h waiting time. Despite my "russian" he's nicely talkative and stops for some grapes from his garden and also gives me some cheese and a tomato in exchange for my khachapuris. As the landscape goes more desert so does the road change into a harsh unpaved road. We miss some ...

Hallo zusammen, von Gori bin ich dann zurueck gen Tblisi gefahren. Kurz vor Tbilisi liegt Mtskheta, die alte Hauptstadt Georgiens. Heute ist sie Weltkulturerbe fuer ihre alten Kirchen, es gibt auch eine alte Burg, aber die ist nicht so interessant. Die bedeutendeste Pilgerkirche ist Jvari, gebaut auf einem Berg ein paar kilometer ausserhalb der Stadt (mit herrlichen ...

... imitation tiles on all the roofs. Take a long walk looking for the town wall, finally finding it a km out the exit road, then back down to the lower north-east side of town to look at the picturesque 19th century St George's church, wall gate, wall bastion - all more authentic than the rest of the town. Back in town, getting hungry, run into Nick and Jerri in a simple restaurant, just about to leave. They seem to like the food ...

... first landmark we saw was Tbilisi synagogue. A local Jewish man welcomed us and opened the place for us so we could see the synagogue from inside. Shabbat was about to start at 20:00 or so, and it was still early enough so I could take some photoes inside the impressive halls of the place. Unfortunately, the man couldn't speak neither English nor Hebrew, so we couldn't communicate with him. We went to see another church, saying that today is the religious-buildings day. We ...

... it was the haunting sound of the gypsy kings playing on a stage in the main sqaure that drew me in. Yes the gypsey kings (or the casino version)... Today was an off day and we start our "briefings" tomorrow with a 5 hour lecture on the current state of georgian electoral politcs. Since this is only a presidential election, the ballot is pretty simple. But to ...

... nimi :( Me ei lasknud end sellest häirida ja leidsime end peagi kohalikust turistilõksust. See oli turistidele mõeldud tänav, nagu meil Viru tänav. Hea söögi ja kosutava joogiga tiksusime poole ööni. Ühel hetkel tekkis tahtmine külastada kõrval asuvat termaalsauna. Seal on nii, et sind pestakse ja masseeritakse ning sina pead lihtsalt ühelt küljelt teisele keerama või kuumavee vannist leili ruumi minema. Türgiga võrreldes kordi odavam, aga kvaliteet kah tiba nõrgem.

... Do not sweat the small stuff!! · Rockie · Your genuine friendship and love · Your sense of humour · Your ability to find humour in everything you do and then put it into amazing words! · Your mansion, I can imagine the peaceful environment in Marondera. · On the body your brains, cause you are full of knowledge. · The discipline and I suppose freedom you possess to record and share your ...

... destroyed and some 6,000 monks were killed in 1615. The caves were fascinating. Today, some frescoes could still be seen in the caves. Tbilisi also has the Soviet style metro. But they no longer use the cyrillic signs. The Georgian letters are totally foreign to me. I needed a lot of help from the locals when I rode the train. I was in an internet club a couple of blocks from Nasi's home on my last night in Tbilisi. Trying to observe the midnight curfew, I wanted to leave the ...