Tblisi Summer trip 2010

Tblisi, Georgia, July 2010.

What a gorgeous place this is in the summer time. This is a photo I took with my own camera in the evening from a walkway overlooking the river towards downtown and also the tower that stands up on the mountain overlooking Tblisi. The evening temperatures are just perfect, not requiring sweaters or shorts, just perfect summertime temps for strolling around and catching a bite to eat or whatever. We went to the World Cup semi-final between Germany and Spain and there was a restaurant that had set up a projection screen with the game going on while they served food and drinks outside. During the halftime show a group of teenagers from one of the schools in the city came by and entertained us with a dance routine set to good old Neil Diamond songs from the USA. It was just a great evening and with our favored team, Spain, winning, it was a great time. Another evening we went to a local Georgian restaurant where they do the local folklore dances complete with costumes and so on. The food and the entertainment were great and it sure is a lot different from what you could find around downtown Chattanooga or Pittsburgh, the last two US cities that I have spent any quality time in.

Then, we got up one morning and headed up the same road where we went snow skiing last January, only this time we turned off on a dirt road and headed for a river where there is the flow required to make a nice spot to go river-rafting. It's about a 1:30 ride on the river with the highest rapids being a class 2.5 or so. But, in the heat, the water is cold and it was a pretty good workout to take this trip. Afterwards our tour guide, Andro, the same guy we skiied with in January, had arranged for some cooks to come out and have a nice cookout with food and drinks and all. It was outstanding fun and so cool. Our little busload of people contained people from Estonia, Britain, India, Japan, America (me), and Lithuania, as well as the local Georgians, so it was a very diverse crowd and quite a good time. Of course as we rode back down into Tblisi in our un-airconditioned bus in the hot afternoon, we were all just about to die of the heat. But, when we got home and took a cool shower and cleaned up, it was definitely worth it. I have river rafted for years not far from my home in Tennessee, USA, and it was definitely higher rapids and a scarier ride than this but just the exotic place that I was and the international crowd made this a very pleasant memory. Of course, I am now nursing a little sore muscle action, as well as some sunburn - but still worth it, and ready to go again.

So, it's been a really nice second visit to Tblisi and we are now thinking of either going back to Delhi tomorrow or Tuesday and that means that our visit will soon be over for this time. Now it will be back to our work a day routine and waiting for our next exciting adventure of flight on the other side of the world.

I hope you are enjoying the photos and stories. I will try to keep you updated and send out another batch of photos from this trip which will include a lot more to see than the few that are posted on the blog.

Take care,

Dan