Tag Archives: travel
How to rock a layover in Munich, with or without marital aids
On the way to Georgia this May we had a 8 hour layover in Munich. Hot diggety dog—a layover in Munich! A chance to see Munich seemed like a special treat, since, even though we’d transferred at Munich Airport a dozen or more times, we’d never actually visited the city itself. In anticipation of our layover visit, we broke […]
Ushguli: you will be astonished, you will be covered in mud
My hands tingled in Ushguli. Technically, this was due to the altitude: Ushguli is said to be the highest permanently inhabited location in Europe. Though these tingly fingers and my shortness of breath seemed more like symptoms of astonishment than of altitude sickness. Austere. Astonishing! Ushguli is made up of four villages strung together in the mountains of the […]
Living an art history lover’s fantasy in Svaneti, Georgia
Over dinner at our guest house in Kashveti I asked our host Vaktang about the village church. “We have an 11th century church with original frescos” he informed me, “but it’s closed to the public.” Naturally, I was disappointed, but of course there were so many other wonderful sites in this UNESCO protected region of Georgia, […]
We tried to eat everything in Tbilisi
“We want to eat street food!” we announced to Irakli, the host of our guest house in Tbilisi’s old town. “No, not street food” Irakli instructed. “Instead you’ll eat fresh-cooked food from simple restaurants.” It was more of a demand than advice, and since Irakli is a expert on making people happy in Tbilisi, we set out […]
Waylaid by a flock of sheep on the road to Jvari Monastery in Mtskheta
Church builders in Georgia must have all had the same thought process: “Hmmm, I think I’ll build a church. Better put it in an impressive location. How about here? No, not dramatic enough. Over there? Well, nice, but still, does it scream ‘magestic’? No, try again…….Ah, there it is, the perfect hill! Everyone will bug their eyes […]
Folk music in Svaneti, Georgia
Imagine this: you’re stuffed with fresh home-cooking, toasting Saint George with potent local chacha (vodka). There are charming children, a fire in a wood-burning stove and outside your temporary home it looks like this: You’re warm and comfortable but your hair is standing up. It’s the music. The music of Svaneti, a mountainous region of […]
How ancient jewelry inspired a fountain in Kutaisi, Georgia
We were sweating when we arrived at the enjoyably chaotic bus station in Kutaisi, still dressed in mountain weather-appropriate layers. There are palm trees in Kutaisi and an almost tropical humidity, which explains the omnipresent ice cream bars. This is a city of ice cream bars—multiple coolers of ice cream bars on every block. We’re not talking artisanal ice cream […]
An overnight train and a marshrutka from Tbilisi to Svaneti, Georgia: paper sheets and landslides
We’re in Svaneti, a region of Northwest Georgia full of cultural treasures. Getting here was dramatic. First step: an overnight train from Tbilisi to Zugdidi. This is the part of the trip that had stressed me out the most. As it happened, the journey was uneventful, even pleasant. We showed up at the Tbilisi train […]
Insomnia in Tbilisi
It’s dawn in Tbilisi, where we arrived yesterday morning at 3:35 am. We napped a bit on arrival and I’ve been awake ever since, awake in fact for the most of the past three days. I was awake at midnight when the other residents of our guest house snuffed out their candles on the balcony […]
That obligatory post about my travel mistakes
It’s like this; I could stay home, or I could travel a lot and make mistakes. So yeah, I’ve made plenty of mistakes and I’m ready to own all of them. Cringe along with me, why don’t you? This coat. I visited at least four countries in this coat with it’s gigantic fur collar. These days […]
Picnic at the Cathedral 