Fromeward Bound

Taking the long way home from Japan to Frome, UK

Category: georgia

Georgia Route

December 5, 2016 / / 0 Comments

I think I can safely say our visit to Georgia was pretty much all about the cities! And the wine.

We really wanted to drive out to some of the northern countryside regions, but after driving south from Russia through the Caucasus Mountains it was apparent that both winter and the snow had arrived making access difficult. We tried one route over a mountain between Kutaisi and Batumi but got turned back after 40km as the road was closed due to snow 🙁 We’ll just have to come back another time!

Not that being in the city was a hardship. Good food, fine wine and a massive range of beer to choose from!

Impressions of Georgia

December 4, 2016 / / 0 Comments

#1 Tbilisi, the capital, is wonderful

#2 There is a delicious salad of tomatoes, cucumber, spring onions and a truly scrumptious walnut dressing. Georgians must eat a huge amount of walnuts

#3 The Georgian script is crazy looking (looks a bit like Thai script)

#4 Mountainous landscape so there’s lots of skiing resorts in the north

#5 Georgians grow grapes so there’s more delicious red wine than even I can drink

#6 Most people, especially in Tbilisi, are terribly stylish – and wear really nice shoes

#7 There’s a petrol station called Gulf that sells ‘G Force’ petrol – which fans of ‘Battle of the Planets’ will appreciate

#8 Batumi, which is a Black Sea costal town, is gorgeous

#9 Feels really European

#10 Lots of the houses, in the countryside and in the towns, have ornate verandas or balconies

#11 Loads of cabbages and persimmons

#12 I LOVE Georgia

Beauty is in the Detail

November 28, 2016 / / 4 Comments

One of the best things about this trip is that there is a nice balance between routine and spontaneity. I love routine and with a trip like this there’s lots of routines to get your teeth stuck into. Living in such a small space means you have to be organised and you naturally fall into a pattern of chores that need doing. From opening the curtains each morning to setting up the tea making paraphernalia. From checking the drawers are locked to closing the sun roof cover. From locking the car each night to lying in bed watching something on the computer.

But unlike being at home and going to work where, no doubt, everyone has their own set of routines and chores: we are constantly on the move. So each day is different. Each day we have different vistas and different experiences. And it is here where the beauty of travelling lies. Each day is filled with hundreds of small un-noteworthy details that don’t amount to much. But combined, these small strokes build up to create one large painting. And it’s in these small details, that happen in the gaps between each routine, where the real beauty lies.

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Growing Old Gracefully

November 24, 2016 / / 2 Comments

(A companion piece to Building with Botox)

I have literally fallen head over heels in love with Tbilisi; the capital of Georgia. We are staying in the old part of the town which nestles under a 4th century fort perched high on the hillside.

Where Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva have been renovated to within an inch of their lives, parts of Tbilisi sit preciously on the edge of destruction. It’s like walking around a city that has just been discovered, decaying under a mesh of grape vines that criss cross from one side to the other creating a canopy of forbidden fruits. The eclectic mixture of architecture: from Middle Eastern, Moorish, Neoclassical, Art Nouveau, Soviet and Modernism only add to its utter charm.

Crumbling doorway

Crumbling doorway

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