Blogs from Tbilisi District, Georgia, Asia - page 3

Today started by climbing very steep roads that turned into stairs and ended in a dead end. Glyn was pleased and if you read his blog too, I’m sure this will get mentioned no end. I was looking for a direct route up to Narikala Fortress, but instead found a variety of routes, mostly in the wrong direction, so we went up and down up and down the ridge like a game of Snakes and Ladders. We ended up near the Mother of Georgia statue that is situated a lot higher than the fortress, meaning we’d climbed a lot higher than necessary. It was also quite hot, but a small breeze at the top made it worth the trek, oh Glyn is going to bang on in his blog about this endlessly. Narikala Fortress is free ... read more

Day 2 Georgia Breaking ourselves in gently So where were we? Ah yes, our luggage had actually arrived at the same time as us….weird… So we enter into Georgia and our taxi guy is waiting for us wearing a red scarf as promised. Well it’s more like a neckerchief but let’s not split hairs here. The guy has made an effort to be noticed so leave him alone. It is about 4:30am by the way but our man,whose name I instantly forgot, is happy to see us and then wants to know where we want to go despite me having let his firm know twice. I show him the Google maps link using the free airport wifi and he seems to know where to go. He doesn’t. But he gets there eventually thanks to, or despite, ... read more

It was a whistle stop three day trip to Tblisi. One very full day dominated by a single, very long business meeting and followed by life-endangering levels of the famous Georgian hospitality. The next day was a groggy outing taking in old Tblisi before working our way back to the source of some of our issues at the Chateau Mukhrani winery. The winery looked after us well with a tasting and tour, introducing us to a Chardonnay that was reminiscent of the new world - all tropical fruits, there was a robust red and a delicious fortified wine plus the obligatory cha cha with typical memory wiping properties. I get the feeling that the wine concerns run thick through the veins of Georgian culture is searching for its own niche in an European facing society and ... read more

Whenever you explore a new land, you cannot help but make observations about the culture, the people, the geography and the general way in which things are done. Some of the observations can be insightful, rooted in history, a reflection of cultural norms or a product of the nation’s geography. Most of my observations are none of this, they are just random and sometimes very off the wall idiosyncrasies that cannot go unmentioned. I guess what I am saying is, I don’t take myself too seriously most of the time so I am not going to start now. Here is what I noticed while traveling through Georgia. * Georgians love their cigarettes. They are big into smoking and smoking is accepted most places. The non-smoking sections of restaurants are simply a formality. If smoke bothers you, ... read more

There is always one constant about international travel: in one way or another you have a mirror held up to your face and you learn something about yourself. It can be overt, it can be subtle, it can be difficult, it can be frivolous, it can lead to big life changes. I suppose it most likely depends on how willing you are to see the image in the mirror and what the reflection tells you. In a very light-hearted, yet jaw dropping moment recently in Georgia, Kyle learned a little something about himself. What he is to do with the information, I do not know. What will I do with my observation? Think about it when I need a little chuckle to myself. As a matter of course, travel has changed these days because we are ... read more