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Last weekend our friend Rezo invited us to his boyhood village. Rezo himself hadn’t been back for over 20 years so it was an especially special occasion. The village was a little ways outside of Vani. For the cartographically oriented, we were a bit south of here (in the hills).
As they mark every special occasion in Georgia, we were to be guests at a supra. Our host was Rezo’s cousin and related family (lots of cousins young and old around this weekend!). The supra itself was an all afternoon and evening affair consisting of seemingly endless toasts to various things such as friendship, parents, those we’ve lost, etc. My glass of wine was also endless as the hosts continued to fill it even when only a sip was gone (you soon learn to drink as little as possible on each toast in order to survive the affair!).
I’ve been in Tbilisi almost two weeks now and am just getting around to some posts. Sorry for the delay! I’ve been having a great time enjoying a thick slice of America at the home of my friends Mike and Cassandra who both work at the U.S. Embassy here. Eating “Joe’s O’s” for breakfast, watching football on AFN (even if it means staying up all night!), and enjoying fast, free, Internet to catch up on work.
That’s not to say we haven’t had a bit fun along the way. My very first day here our friend Rezo took us north of Tbilisi to an area I didn’t get to my last time in Georgia (this past March). We drove all the way to Russian border. I wanted to sneak in, but was talked out of it. Here are some photos from that drive.
Georgia is a beautiful country and often “missed” by most travelers. If I can help get even a few more people to this wonderful place, I’ll consider that a success. More to come!
I have three side trips on the overall “No Airplanes” journey. The first was to visit my friend Liz in Okinawa. The second was to Cairo. It’s one of those “must do” destinations for any traveler so I went down to check things out.
I did all the usual first time stuff - Giza Plateau, Saqqara, Memphis, a Nile cruise, and a sunset horseback ride around the Pyramids to see them from a different perspective.
My hotel was fantastic and I’m looking forward to getting back to cruise down to Luxor to see the Valley of Kings (and other great stuff).
My third side trip is to Tbilisi to stay with my friends Mike and Cassandra. I’m in Georgia now and will be here until the middle of the month. Posts from the land of khachapuri and khinkali coming soon!
Helsinki was the first stop in a week’s run through Scandinavia. In order to fit in a quick trip to Cairo (which is where I am as I write this, I’m a bit behind on the blog!), I only left myself two nights each in Helsinki, Stockholm, and Copenhagen.
Being a bit museum’d out, I spent most of my time simply walking around, sitting on park benches, and eating outside. So I don’t have much to say except that each city was great and I’ll get back for a longer stay in the near future. The weather was fantastic in each place (especially after the heat of Russia) save a bit of rain in Denmark. It’s a wonder what nice, cool, weather does for the mood!
Here’s a batch of Helsinki pics. Stockholm and Copenhagen to come.
