reelrook

This is a monastary in South-Eastern Georgia right on the border of Azerbaijian. Very cool place. Shared a meal and a blessing with the local priest back in 1991, two days after the declaration of Georgian independance from the Soviet Union.

Back again. Had a blast. Check out our blog at http://wtf-intheworld.blogspot.com/ you can read about Japan or many of the other places we’ve been.

One of my absolute favorite places on the planet.

My pic. is of me at the top of Ngungun.

We had the best curry yet in a tiny place across the street from the Skytower, went mountainbiking on the west coast of the north island and met a genuine Kiwi nutter. Fun was had by all.

The wife and I went to Oostende and walked around in the rain before stopping at a little restaurant for lunch. It was completely empty except for the owners and us. We had the best steamed mussels I’ve ever eaten and a big plate of french fries. It was amazing.

I arrived in Georgia the day they separated from the Soviet Union and Zviad Gamsakhurdia became president. It was an exciting time for the Georgians, but to be short-lived. By the next year, they were embroiled in a civil war and two years later, they had killed Gamsakhurdia. Unreal.

I was born here, and even though I’ve been around the world 12 times, I still keep coming back home.

On the way from Tblisi, we stopped at a farmhouse of some family friends, and they had a still in the back yard. They were distilling their version of grape moonshine. Babushka dipped a glass in the collecting tank and handed it to me, still warm. Powerful stuff! I got very inebriated very quickly. Then we had walnut and grape jerky (if you know what I’m talking about and you know what it’s called, let us know!) and bread and fatty sausage. What a country!

I was there as a peacekeeper in 1993-1994. It was an interesting experience to say the least, and I’d love to go back to see how much it is changed.

Malta was more and less than expected. The cities are kind of a mix of 3rd world facade and first world economy. Charming, but weird. It was really hot, so I’m glad we didn’t go in the summer. Countryside looks nothing like I expected and the cacti are huge! Tarxein was a huge disappointment (don’t redo ancient stuff with concrete. Duh!) , but the other ruins were very cool.