Sheraton Metechi Palace Hotel Tbilisi

... Trinity Church , Sioni Cathedral, basilica Anchiskhati, Art Museum, Jvari , Svetitskhoveli Cathedral

We thought we'd get to an internet place a couple of days ago, and then yesterday, and somehow the time whizzes by and it's time for bed! Those of you that are also traveling can sympathize! We both really like Armenia; it's one of the most beautiful places I've ever been for gorgeous mountain scenery and wildflowers; and there is no shortage of either one here; it's a VERY mountaineous country with pretty valleys in between and ...

... the locals. Almost everyone here speaks English or Russian, so I can get around and chat. Since they don't see a lot of Americans, everyone places me from the Baltics (aka they can't hear my bad Russian accent and haven't talked to me long enough to hear my grammatical mistakes). Today in Gori a woman on the bus turned around to ask me if I have beggars there. There where? I kept trying to clarify what she was trying to ask, and finally ...

... inhabited stone-build monastery with some still in-use and therefore inaccessible cave dwellings. The ride back goes without any problems and the nice driver drops me directly on a Tbilisi-bound 15:00 marshrutka. In Tbilisi, I made a quick stop at the hostel and went wandering through the old town: besides some old streets there is also a part with a bunch of overpriced cafés (however the only ones in the city). I also took the famous sulphur baths (3GEL/h for common bath in the ...

... gefunden, also habe ich jemanden im Marriot gefragt, der auch keines kannte, aber einen Polizeiwagen angehalten hat. Da wir den Polizeiwagen angehalten haben, musste dieser ein Formular ausfuellen, was so eine Stunde dauerte... Anschliessend kam dann die Geheimpolizei und diese wollten den Ort des Geschehens sehen, also sind wir dort hingefahren. Ausserdem wollten sie noch einmal alles erzaehlt haben, dass ich ja schon ein Formular ausgefuellt hatte, war uninteressant. Dann ...

... floor, and the lower gorge. In particular, opened the window fully, copping some dust as well as cold for the cantilevered section of the road around a rock outcrop over the river. Resist too many photos as retracing our route, although once again was exceptionally scenic. Return to Zugdidi for a lunch of cheese pastries (khachapuri) while DP's team chases up the trimmings for tonight's pasta. Back to the Dadiani museum (2 GEL ...

... visit to the market. I had to take some photoes of the area around us, which was beautiful, before we went back to Irina by taxi. We arrived a few minutes late than we said, and when we entered Irina's house she saw us and said: "come, come!" and showed me the license number of the blue marshrutka I still remember - TAM 985. The driver should have Michal's precious T-shirt from her pre-military training. "Go now!" she ordered, and we didn't want to miss a moment. I forced ...

The first word I learned in Gerogian. Gamarjobat! Means "Hello". The first sentence afterwards, where I saw it written, was "don't mess 'gamarjobat' with 'gaumarjous', it might be confusing". Gaumarjous - the second word I learned in Georgian - was a bit more useful than the first one. It means "cheers!". Michal and I went out of Tbilisi International Airport arrival terminal with the taxi driver who took us to Irina's guesthouse. I went to change some money ...

Hommikul oli meil ettenähtud Tbilisi Tehnikaülikooli külastus ja ka kontsert fuajees. Taas oli meie tulek kõigile üllatuseks ja me piirdusime paari lauluga. Edasi sõitsime mööda Gruusia sõjateed mägedesse. Tbilisi külje all asub üks maailma kultuuripärandisse kuuluv klooster, vist oli Jvari. Eriline oli ta selle poolest, et asus kõrge mäe otsas ja sealt avanes suurepärane vaade ...

A couple more entertaining things to tell you about Tbilisi before we left... Those of you of a certain age will no doubt remember "Frogger", the classic 80s game that required you to steer a frog across the road without it getting squished. That game, we can report, is based on Tbilisi - where your intrepid reporters spent so much time ...