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Georgia Travel Blogs

The region of present-day Georgia contained the ancient kingdoms of Colchis and Kartli-Iberia. The area came under Roman influence in the first centuries AD and Christianity became the state religion in the 330s. Domination by Persians, Arabs, and Turks was followed by a Georgian golden age (11th to the 13th centuries) that was cut short by the Mongol invasion of 1236. Subsequently, the Ottoman and Persian empires competed for influence in the region. Georgia was absorbed into the Russian Empire in the 19th century. Independent for three years (1918-1921) following the Russian revolution, it was forcibly incorporated into the USSR until the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. Despite myriad problems, some progress on market reforms and democratization has been made since then. An attempt by the government to manipulate legislative elections in November 2003 touched off widespread protests that led to the resignation of Eduard SHEVARDNADZE, president since 1995. New elections in early 2004 swept Mikheil SAAKASHVILI into power along with his National Movement Party. To be updated

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By Everette
September 27th 2009

Georgia to Georgia Asia » Georgia » Tbilisi District » Tbilisi

Bronze Statue of Young Man
Rub the feet for good luck!

Hi Everybody! Walt and I had a long journey (27 hr.) to get to Tbilisi. We had to wait 7 hr. in Istanbul for the daily flight (11:30 PM) to Tbilisi. Needless to say, we were pretty tired by the time we arrived. We were immediately impressed with the friendliness of the people and the beauty of the city. The terminal and subway station were brand new and modern in every way. The metro had not opened so we took a taxi to our hotel. The driver actually took us to the wrong hotel. He was ready to get our luggage [View Full Entry]

By Cigdem Yorgancioglu
September 18th 2009

Hicran Cigdem Yorgancioglu Georgia Tblisi Gürcistan Asia » Georgia » Tbilisi District » Tbilisi

Hicran Cigdem Yorgancioglu Georgia
Hicran Cigdem Yorgancioglu Georgia

Hicran Cigdem Yorgancioglu Gürcistan Tiflis /Georgia seyahatinden Gunluklerinde bir kac kesit Eser Sahibi (H.ÇİĞDEM YORGANCIOĞLU) Bu gezi yazısına dair 5846 sayılı Fikir ve Sanat Eserleri Kanunu’ndan doğan mali ve manevi hakların gerçek sahibidir. GÜRCİSTAN Yola çıkıyorum . Doğu Türkistan'da olanlar hiç te iç acıcı değil .Bu arada Gürcistan Devlet Başkanı Mihail Saakaşvili, Tiflis'in tek taraflı olarak çatışmalara son verdiğini belirten bir ateşkes belgesine im [View Full Entry]

By Toolman
September 17th 2009

Leg 5 - Black Sea states Asia » Georgia » Tbilisi District

Full Cycle to date
London to Azerbaijan

I have often pondered, but never resolved, what criteria grants a country the privilege of being referred to in the definite article? The Ukraine gets added to my list of The Gambia, The Sudan and The Lebanon. Anyone? (by the way, I don't count The USA or The Czech Republic, as they are simply adverbed) Before I was able to put the UK in the Ukraine, I had just the 5 border checkpoints to negotiate. 3 out, 2 in. I find something quite appealing and evocative about crossing the lesser-trodden frontiers. This one I shared with a tractor, horse and cart, [View Full Entry]

By rrruss
August 15th 2009

Batumi on the Black Sea coast Asia » Georgia » Adjara » Batumi

Joe's Friends!

After a long time with no views of the sea, unless you count the Caspian of course but that's really a lake (!), Batumi was a breath of sea-breeze fresh air. It's just a shame about the hotel we chose. If you choose the cheapest room in a hotel, it's usually the cheapest room for a reason, and we paid up front for 2 nights!! It was stuffy, damp (our hand-washed clothes didn't dry in almost 2 days!), noisy (overlooking the courtyard which is used as a car park and backgammon room for the owners) and smoky because the window didn't [View Full Entry]

By rrruss
August 13th 2009

Kutaisi - we're getting a bit cathedralled out! Asia » Georgia » West » Kutaisi

Our wonderful hostess

The journey to Kutaisi was uneventful. It's probably a beautiful road running through the mountains but the rain was too heavy and the cloud too low for us to really appreciate it! The big problem then was that we had no idea where we were when the driver dropped us off! That meant getting a taxi, and he didn't know exactly where we wanted to go!! It all sorted itself out though and he took us to the Hotel Beka which is featured in the Lonely Planet. Getting there involved many twists and turns up steep cobbled streets and we were [View Full Entry]

By rrruss
August 12th 2009

Mtskheta - unpronouncable but beautiful! Asia » Georgia » East » Mtskheta

View from above

Getting to Mtskheta was easy, even though it wasn't! We went to Didube metro station and fought our way past the crowds to the chaotic marshrutka station. There, with the help of some squiggles on a piece of paper (მცხეთა) which prevented the ignominy of being unable to pronounce our destination, we got on the right minibus. Just over half an hour later we were jumping off in Mtskheta. Considering it used to be the capital of Georgia, we were quite surprised at how small the place was. It did lose th [View Full Entry]

By rrruss
August 12th 2009

Gori - Birthplace of Stalin Asia » Georgia » East » Gori

Stalin

2 Pages of pictures again! In 1878 Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili (იოსებ ბესარიონის ძე ჯუღაშვილი) was born in the Georgian town of Gori (გორი). He went from being a theological student to being Stalin, quite a turn around! Knowing there was a museum dedicated to his life, we decided Gori had to be on our itinerary for this trip and prayed that Russia decided not to do anything stupid around the anniversar [View Full Entry]

By rrruss
August 11th 2009

Back in Tbilisi - Fond farewells to old friends Asia » Georgia » Tbilisi District » Tbilisi

Giant Watermelons

The second time around in Tbilisi we got to stay in the ZP Hotel which is owned by Georgian basketball player, Zaza Pachulia, who plays for the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA. They agreed to let us have a room for just US$50 a night which was a bargain! First of all though, we had to say goodbye to Rob. Hopefully our trip will go to plan and we will see him again at his house near Varna, Bulgaria, in a few weeks time. We ate German style sausages and toasted each other over a few beers before we headed off [View Full Entry]

By ConnieF
August 8th 2009

The prettiest town in Georgia Asia » Georgia » East » Sighnaghi

Welcome to Sighnaghi!
The approach with town square with bronze statue on the right. Statutes of this sort abound all around town.

Our visit to a fairy tale town Sighnaghi is the most beautiful town I have seen in all my travels, including Netherlands, Turkey, Romania, Spain and Italy. One of the few medieval towns that still has all its' city walls, Sighnahi is perched on a hill overlooking a vast valley, with the lofty, snow covered Caucasian mountains opposite. The entire town was recently redone by the Georgian government in an effort to boost tourism. Apparently this cost something like 1% of the GNP for an entire year. May I say it was worth the investment? While tourism is sharply down this [View Full Entry]

By ConnieF
August 8th 2009

Carpets Galore Asia » Georgia » Tbilisi District » Tbilisi

Family Rug
Specifically, belonging Irakli's mother-She has good taste, doesn't she?

Artistry in wool and silk As my husband knows only too well, carpets (er, Rugs) fascinate me. Even though we have wall to wall carpet in our flat, I have several wool area rugs. My mother Eleanor loved rugs, and we had many of them in our home growing up. She taught me how to look always at the reverse side, which in good hand made rugs will be almost as colorful and clear as the front side. Apparently, Irakli's mother Gulika likes them too, as she had a stunning one in their flat. So, no matter where I am, I [View Full Entry]

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