Georgia on My Mind

Verena and I just got back from a trip to Tbilisi, Georgia. For all you Americans who never had geography lessons, Georgia is indeed a country, and is an ex-soviet state, who claimed independence from Russia in 1992.


Our good friend Ufuk has been working at the German consulate there for over a year, and my longtime friend Michael the Great has also been there since December, doing internships for aid organisations. So, seeing as I have a semester break at the moment, it was the perfect time to go and visit.





I really had no idea what to expect from the country, which can be a very good thing. We arrived on an Air Baltic flight at 4.30am, so we were dead tired, as were Michael and Ufuk, who were there to pick us up from the airport. It was great to see them again! Ufuk drove us back to his place, where we chatted a bit, but shortly after we all went to bed for obvious reasons. The real beginning would start the following day. We didn't get much of an impression of the city, as it was late, the streets were empty, we were out of it, etc. etc.
















So, similarly to other trips I've taken, I'm going to blog it here to share with all of you. Our general conclusions of the trip would be:

- Georgians are extremely friendly, hospitable people
- Ufuk and Michael are great people and everyone should be lucky to know them
- Georgia is highly affordable, even when you go to the more posh places
- The landscape is beautiful
- The country is poor
- Churches are everywhere
- There is infrastructure, but just barely, and it's not always comfortable
- Tbilisi is a traffic nightmare, not to mention the smell of smog reminiscent I would say of the early 80's.
- Georgian food is tasty; very much of the meat, bread, cheese, fat variety
- Georgian beer isn't fantastic, but isn't horrible either
- People get dressed up alot

Anyhow, the following was written at various points during the trip, and I'll try to post it in chronological order. The hardest thing right now is finding the photos to post, since we took so many, and saw so many beautiful sights along the way.