Sheraton Metechi Palace Hotel Tbilisi

... families. I just wondered what the thought of these families was when millions were poured to build these two buildings. <br><br>We spent a day and a half in the city, seeing the must-sees, visited a museum that had a temporary exhibition of Picasso's lithographs (seems to me this guy always had sex and women in his mind), and met a couchsurfing member to talk about the country&#8217;s ...

... talking to other protestors who had joined us in front of the government controlled media building for an all night rave. Worringly the Gergian media are painting a completely different picture of the events unfolding and gradualy the papers are falling in line too setting the stage for a tyrannical grasp on power. These jails were being filled all over the city, representations of the imprisonment of their democratic rights. I for one will be watching this space.

... ride started, we could see the smaller hills surrounding Tbilisi (think Appalachia-size) and then moved on through the many ruins of forts/churches/monastaries/etc. A man-made lake and its dam passed us by, and then we continued moving up into the mountains along the path of a river. After about two hours, the minibus cranked its gears and began moving in a vertical direction. We could see snow on the distant mountains. The gears cranked ...

... The city is split in half by Mtkvari river and dominated by heavily lit brand new Tsminda Catedral [yes, religion in Georgia is on the rise...some people even cross themselves just when passing by a church]. Btw, the last two places are one of the few bit lonely ones in the town where couples of Georgians can meet and even, argh my god how naughty, kiss and hold hands. Because normaly people can't/don't want to/don't even think about showing any kind of affections and for a rendez-vous ...

... 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 ...

... to prepare for tomorrow's early start. Wednesday 11 June Tbilisi - Telavi Away on time, out of Tbilisi. Stop on the outskirts where there is a massive covered market selling cheap Chinese goods. We stop for a look, have to be careful not to get lost. Buy a Mercedes cap for 2 Lari, 2 glasses chains for 4 Lari each, no reduction for quantity. Back on the road, up into the mountains, come upon an escarpment with wide views over the ...

... acquaintance with the Georgian people. When we started to walk around Mtskheta to look for a taxi - we were terrified to see two big brown cows walking alone in the streets, like they know exactly where they are going. The streets of Mtskheta still looked empty. Irina was right: if in 9:00 Mtskheta sleeps, then in 11:00 it sleeps as well, just in the middle of the dream. When we arrived to the centre of town, we saw two people: both taxi drivers. "Jvari?" one said, and we ...

... these days anyway? Although it's a complex issue, clearly Georgia was trying to enter the country club, though now beyond the pale looking West. Walking from the train station, I passed a street newly named after President George Bush--another George in Georgia--who visited here and is popular, for all his help. Many Peace Corps people are here teaching English, aid is in abundance, and people call Americans "friends." Much of this has roots in the Cold ...

... rapidly shattered. The children loved the countryside of Eastern Uganda, held in awe by the rain forest and general lushness of the vegetation. They were unimpressed by the lack of planning in Kampala. Rockie decided that the worst roads in Zimbabwe still had merit over Kampala's unimaginably bad roads and general confusion, but was somewhat bemused by the sheer number of people in ...

... with its sulphur baths (pHew) and biggest Cathedral in the Region, we headed for Armenia. Stayed in an old Soviet hotel, huge rooms, no water and matronly hotelier. We then headed into the hills and did the UNESCO sites, Sanahin and Haghpat before being put up in a Soviet-era holiday camp, only we were the only ones there.... Apart from a family that lived in a shack down the road (who briefly turned up to let us in and take ...