Arrived in the Republic of Georgia

I consider myself a well-traveled person but the list of places I still want to visit is quite long. When planning my next overseas trip I came across a tour in the country of Georgia. Not knowing much about the country I started reading about the country that was once part of the Soviet Union. This particular tour is an all women group I am part of online; I have been intrigued with joining one of their tours for a few years now. I quickly booked the tour last fall, putting a deposit down on a single room – I don’t mind touring with strangers but sharing a room with someone I don’t know is just not what I am willing to do anymore (with the exception of a dorm thing that might be required on some hikes). The tour is short and concentrates only in a small part of the country so my intent is to tour other cities on my own. I start a list of all the other places I am interested in visiting and gathering logistic information. Originally I set off on planning a road trip for the solo portion of my trip. Meanwhile a friend inquires on joining me on part of my trip. She’ll travel with me before my scheduled tour.

I continue building the itinerary, filling in more details but it seems like the activities I have planned at best will leave us very exhausted. We devise a new plan to limit our stays to two cities and use day trips to visit locations outside the cities. In this plan we no longer need a car rental. Our new plan works out well for the most part with a couple exceptions that I’ll describe later.

There are two flights to get to Georgia and that includes an eight hour layover in Munich. Both of us have been to Munich before but eight hours seems to long to lounge at the airport. We make a plan to travel into Munich for our long break. The airport has other plans for us, everything we estimated takes twice as long. We wait for over an hour to pass through passport control in order to be able to exit the airport. They have us wait in a long line for the machines to complete our first steps and then are told to move to a “faster” line on a different floor but that line ends up being even longer. By the time we get past passport control it only makes sense go with our backup plan – take a bus to the even closer Bräustüberl Weihenstephan in the town of Freising. Weihenstephan is the oldest brewery in the world. Even though I don’t drink beer anymore I order a flight to sample some of them but eventually switch to a good riesling, I do miss the dry German rieslings. We don’t have too much time left to waste so we return to the bus station for our return trip to the airport. We pick up our checked bags and go find our gate for the next leg of our trip, Tiblisi.

We arrive at our hotel around at 5:30 am. Luckily we book the room for the previous evening so the key is waiting for us when we arrive. We shower and take a long nap; neither one of us slept much on our flights. Our alarm is set for ten in the morning. We will still be sleep deprived but we are determined to get on a normal schedule – we have a walking tour scheduled at noon. I wake up but I am having a hard time getting ready for the day. We are very jet lagged.

We are not ready for a welcome drink at 5:30am

We meet up at Freedom Square and a local guide starts our walking tour around the city. During introductions a dog joins us and makes his presence known by barking and approaching everyone in the group. He is one of many Tbilisi street dogs, the large group of unhoused dogs that roam the streets. The dogs are homeless but are vaccinated and somehow well cared for, at least most are. He protects us periodically running into the streets and barking at suspicious cars on the road. He stays with us a little while but eventually wanders off and we are joined by other dogs in our tour. It seems to be a common theme in Georgia.

We are told about the history of the city that has historically been on the Silk Road trading route. The land here has been sought after or fought for by Russia (and Soviet Union) but also the Ottoman Empire, Persians, Greeks and other invaders. Even after many different occupations they still maintain their unique language and culture. Their language is formed using a 33 character alphabet with unique sounds only heard here. The language has three different versions and to simplify it they can be referred to as the old version, the religious text version, and the current version. There is no gender in the language but there are words to describe people and some seem to be reversed to what is normal in Latin languages – mama means dad, and dada means mom. They also claim to have some of the oldest bread due to types of wheat that only exist here.

We see the remnants of the old city wall and we walk through old town and learn about the courtyard life. Many of these houses with the distinct courtyards used to be single family homes but now are often divided into different aparments or set up as a hotel for tourism.

We walk through old town and see the clock but it is not operational today due to a power outage. Luckily we are in town for multiple days so we have more opportunities to see the clock perform. It is right next door to a popular puppet theater. Unfortunately it is one of those tickets that have to be booked in advance so we probably won’t see a show during our stay in Tbilisi.

We walk over to the bridge of peace, the bridge that connects old Tblisi with the new.

We wander around a few other areas in old town then end up by the sulphur baths. The city was literally founded because of the sulphur spring. King Vakhtang I Gorgasali hunted in the area with a falcon and the story is the falcon is lost and later found dead in the sulphur spring. The king decided to create a town and name it after springs. If we have time we may come back for a massage or time in the spa rooms. I’ve heard it is a unique spa experience.

We leave the tour group and eat at a khinkali restaurant recommended by our guide. Khinkali is a similar to a soup dumpling, it’s usually filled with beef, beef and pork, mushroom, cheese or potatoes. Some have juice or a soup like liquid inside. We try two different khinkalis, one meat and one mushroom. I would have like to try more types but each order is a minimum of five and khinkali are already very filling. We also order one khachapuri and the waiter warns us it is very small and only enough for one person. Not sure how much he thinks we can eat but is more than enough food for the two of us. This is not my first khachapuri, my first experience is at a restaurant in Brooklyn, New York. There are different variations of this dish but my favorite is when it is shaped like a boat filled with melted cheese. A raw egg is put on top. You are to mix in the egg right away with the hot cheese to give a rich cheesy bread dip.

We are very tired and jet lagged but we decide it is best to keep going so we adjust to the time change. We pick a destination on the other side of the river to resume our sightseeing. We once again cross the peace bridge and spend a moment at Rike park on the way. We view a Ronald Reagan memorial statue, a group making a TikTok video, the now unused futuristic music theater, and some other interesting architecture on the way.

We arrive at Fabrika Tbilisi, a repurposed former clothing factory that is now a hip hotel and hangout area. There are clothing stores and hip cafes around. Seems like a good time to stop for a rest and a pick me up drink. Espresso martinis are a great idea right now. We spend some time enjoying the mild temperatures, people watching and observing the behavior of the street dogs that have seemed to make themselves comfortable in this district. This part of town also has the interesting courtyard and balcony architecture.

We cross the dry bridge and glance at the dry bridge market, vowing to come back to this area on our full free day. We now are aiming for the Atoneli Wine Window, a window that has a man waiting at the lower level for you to ring a bell to request a glass of wine for purchase. The first wine we order is tossed away for being inadequate after the host smells the wine poured and declares it bad. Not sure we would know the difference not being wine experts but we are impressed that he cared to make sure he was serving us quality wine. We drink our newly poured wine on the street outside and return our glasses back to the window.

Our next plan is to take the cable car up to to see Mother of Georgia, the large statute, up close but we navigate to the wrong cable car and end up by a large amusement park at the top called Mtatsminda Park. After watching the sunset from above we tour the lit up amusement park by foot, hoping to find a path to Mother of Georgia from here. We are unsuccessful so we admire the views some more and then take the cable car back down for our return trip.

We walk back towards our hotel which seems to be a long walk from here but we make a shopping detour as well and buy some chacha (Georgian homemade vodka) and homemade wine from a van on the street served out of reused plastic bottles. We are aiming for the authentic experience here.

We have a morning tour booked tomorrow so no late night adventures for us tonight.

Krakow: Food Tour and Nowa Huta

I wake up early today grab a coffee and head down to Plac Nowy in Kazimierz to start my food tour. There’s a market here today but vendors are just setting up for the day.

Our guide is a polish native, spent some years in Chicago but decided she missed living in Poland. There is only me and another woman on this tour today. My companion is very nice and in town for a couple weeks volunteering her time in Auschwitz.

We start in Plac Nowy in order to try Zapiekanka which I had tried yesterday. Today I try it with different toppings, more vegetables. So far I have not found a bad combination. I’ll have to just keep trying to see if there is one I don’t like 😀.

From here we go to the first stop at pub called Singer. Singer, a lively pub in the evenings, is only closed for about 3 hours in the morning. This historic bar of over 30 years is distinct because it is decorated with the theme of Singer sewing machines. The bar is filled with cute bistro tables with sewing machines on them. It is here that I try two vodkas: honey vodka and wormwood vodka. I admit that wormwood vodka is probably not most people’s favorite since it is kind of medicinal tasting but I quite like it.

The next stop is the “secret” stop of our secret food tour. We try a local take on shaksuka. The flavors of the sauce are perfect. Instead of a full egg it is the yolk only. It is all topped with sour cream (sour cream is what makes it polish). I also try a mulled beer. People know me well know that I never drink beer anymore because it tends to make me feel sick . I take a chance with this mulled beer, so far so good. With ginger and other spices it is very flavorful – something perfect for the cold holidays.

We walk toward old town to digest some food and our guide points out some things along the way.

The next stop is an official milk bar (Bar Mleczny) where I try some official pork pierogis and kompot fruit drink that sounds very easy to make at home.

Next we go to another shop where I get to try again the highland smoky sheep cheese but in the proper form warm grilled served with fruit sauce. It is salty but I enjoy it. I must go back to try some of the other cheeses. Apparently they travel well but I am too early in my travels to carry a bunch of cheese around with me.

Next we stop at another older pub called BaniaLuka, which was also recommended by another tour guide yesterday. Here I get to try bigos which is a sort of cabbage stew with meats like chicken and sausages. It is said to be an excellent hangover cure. Luckily so far I haven’t had enough alcohol to cause a hangover but now I know where to go if I do. I also try drinking a traditional lager to test my luck. I had ginger syrup added to it, apparently a thing people do, and I only drank about half because I didn’t want to press my luck with the beer issue.

Next we stop for a pączki, a polish doughnut. Trying the popular flavor of the yeast doughnuts, filled with wild rose jam topped with candied orange bits, is on my list so I am lucky to try one right out of the oven. The thing is you have to eat these things fresh. I’m notorious for taking a couple bites and squirreling away the rest for later and with pączki it’s just not the same.

Finally we stop at one more bar where I try another drink, this time a shot. The shot is a mix of polish limoncello and ginger syrup with pepper on top. When you drink it quickly it is said to taste like coca-cola and it does.

I say goodbye to tour guide and the other attendee because I am heading across town to check the planned community of Nowa Huta.

Nowa Huta was started in the 1950s when Poland was under the Soviet Union communist rule. It was set up as an ideal town with a steel mill with a neatly formed city to house the workers and families. The architecture is a mix of what you might see in Paris or London but some of it just looks brutalist to me. There is a lack of color and life you might see as you do in other parts of town but apparently these days it is a very popular place to live, especially since communism is long gone in Poland.

I especially enjoyed touring some of the underground in the Nowa Huta museum. Many emergency bunkers were built under the city in case of bombing because you have to remember this was all constructed during the Cold War. The museum also has exhibits on World War II and the Korean War and even the USA’s role in those wars. They definitely had a different propaganda machine going than we did.

The guide from the museum points out other things around town like underground air vents, an interesting church, and different types of architecture.

I visit a second museum that is associated with the Nowa Huta museum but is optional. It is not as extensive but worth a quick visit if time allows. It talks more about bunkers in general and other examples around the world.

Exhausted I catch the bus back to my part of town. Even after all the food I have had today I still feel like I need dinner so I grab something quick and head back to the hotel. I should be out enjoying the evening on a weekend but I am exhausted and I have another tour booked tomorrow.

A Good night.

Český Krumlov, Bohemia love

A look ahead

My last evening in Český Krumlov is perfect for me. It is humid and overcast but is cool in temperature most of the day. I am on the back patio of my hotel room and reflecting on my visit before I leave for Austria tomorrow. I could spend the evening trying a local beer at at nearby tavern, but for now I am enjoying the cheap bottle of Vetliner I bought at the puppet & wine store a couple doors down (There is a puppet museum that sells wine bottles. Skipped the puppets but bought some wine).

Arrival in Český Krumlov

The train ride to Cesky Krumlov isn’t too bad at a couple hours from Prague. The train station seems to be far from town but fortunately the walk is all downhill into town. I leave in a few day by bus and it seems like the bus station isn’t as far of a climb uphill.

I walk through an arch that has a walkway above that belongs to the castle above. I plan to visit in a couple days from now but I admire the architecture on the way in.

This town is a must see on the Czech Republic checklist since it represents closely how things looked during the Bohemian kingdom. The town still has a sort of Bohemia feel to it. Bohemia was a kingdom in the Holy Roman Empire and eventually part of Austrian Empire and then the complicated things of the 20th century. Due to the country being aligned with Germany during WWII the city suffered virtually no damage in the wars.

In the past the major industry of the region was mining and then the land and castles passed hands many times. During the communism era the town fell into disrepair but now with its UNESCO designation and boost in tourism it has turned into its charming look into the past as it is today.

I go on a walking tour, eat some meals and wander aimlessly during my time here.

Castle area

I see the revolving theater I really want to visit within the castle garden. UNESCO is trying to make them remove it because it is not historical but within a protected area. Unfortunately all the shows were sold out during my time in town.

Braised beef in cream sauce with dumplings

Had fun watching the action on the water

Next day

This morning I have a ticket for the number one sight in town, the Baroque Theater. There are only two theaters like this left in the world, the other being in Sweden, but this is the oldest and best preserved. This unesco protected theater is is in such great condition because it has actually only been used a handful of times in the past (with the exception of the now once a year show). Apparently common with the times were pyrotechnics at the end and thus many of these theaters simply burned down. The ruler who built it was the black sheep of the family and definitely influenced by Italian arts. We tour the theater in a small group in the morning. Granted I booked only a day or two before but I see only one English tour a day. It is pretty limited to get in so I feel lucky. At tour start we initially walk in and snap photos because it is amazing and unique. When our guide enters and starts her history she tells us that no photos are allowed and to hope the photos we got so far were good. Many museums lately are “no photo” plastered everywhere so I appreciate that we are given a grace period. The lights remain dim inside but the stage is lit. Our guide describes the pieces of the set and how perspective is used as well as how the candle lighting caused the effect of movement. She tells us about the parties of the day and how these shows were attended by very drunk viewers who often participated in the show by cheering or booing as needed.

We then walk down underneath to see all the “bells and whistles”. She talks about how talented the men where who worked underneath since they had to be musicians (to know their cues), engineers to operate the pieces, and men of strength to lift performers and their heavy costumes through the trap doors.

We aren’t allowed on stage because it is fragile and all the parts above are original and quite frankly they don’t trust tourists to mess it all up. I don’t blame them even when we were there some in the group were wandering in places they shouldn’t.

I am very happy I booked the tour.

Afterwards I decide to get a ticket to tour the castle. Most of it isn’t exciting, especially compared to the theatre but I really like the masquerade ballroom at the end. The masquerade party in the ball room consists of paintings of costumes, different cultures, fun, mirrors, and symmetry. We learn the ballroom connects to the walkway to the Baroque theater.

One thing that is disturbing is the bears. There are kept bears on the premises as there has been for 100’s of years. One of the past inhabitants had some strange tendencies and holding bears on the premises were one of them. The bears are still there today due to tradition. According to the guide yesterday this current group are all rescues and they have a better life now – but not sure I believe that. I don’t talk about it much but I am not a big fan of contained animals, for that reason you’ll rarely see me talking about visiting a zoo. If I do have animal encounters its usually with some sort of rescue organization. So lets just say I am not a fan of this bear situation.

Lunch is at a vegetarian restaurant Laibon where I have a view of the water. One family at the restaurant docks in front of the terrace to come grab lunch then resume their paddle. I try a Czech specialty Bryndzové halušky, a sheep cheese and cabbage dish. I am finally enjoying a Czech meal.

I later enjoy ice cream coffee and chocolates, then wine (as mentioned earlier) to finish my visit. Český Krumlov has charmed me. I’d definitely come back here one day.

Prague Castle

Today I wake up early to tour the Prague castle grounds. I splurge for the audio guide to assist in my visit. I use my combo ticket to get into the St Vitas cathedral and a couple minutes after my entry the audio tour dies. Before I exit I ask if re-entry is available since I have to run back and get another device. When I am unplugging my headphones from the device something seems weird but I ignore it and carry on – I realize later that I probably dropped something at this moment. I obtain a new audio guide. The cashier seems puzzled but I assure him this is normal for me (I’ve had my share of audio guides die on me or be in the wrong language). I head back to the church to start my tour again and realize I no longer have my ticket. I thoroughly search my purse and look around the floor of the church and it is no where. I head back to my audio guide guy with my sob story and he tells me I need to buy another ticket. I dump my purse out on the bench in the office and the ticket is still not there. I huff in frustration at my stupidity but in the grand scheme of things the ticket isn’t that expensive so I get my credit card out to purchase another one. When I get to the cashier he has a smile and a ticket for me free of charge. I guess a little dramatic show sometimes works. I am very grateful.

St Vitas Cathedral

Prague castle

Prague castle was built during the time of the Kingdom of Bohemia. It is supposed to be the largest ancient castle in the world. I tour it and it doesn’t seem that large but maybe they are including the whole set of buildings nearby. Also some of the palaces are privately owned and are separately ticketed. The St. Vitas gothic church is pretty great but my favorite part of the complex is probably the area called Golden Lane. It is a row of houses that are set up to be representative of places in the past.

St George’s Basilica

Golden Lane

Golden Lane (Zlatá ulička) is a small street where goldsmiths, among others, existed and also contains the former home of Franz Kafka’s sister where he is famed to have written there as well.

After I leave the castle complex I enter an old medieval pub to escape the sun and heat. U krále Brabantského is medieval style, eating with hands and the waiters act at times like they have attitude. For instance when I got my check it arrived stabbed into the table with a knife.

I head back to my hotel and clean up for my wine tour in a couple hours. More on that later.

Olso and train to Flam

I have an early morning flight this morning from Alesund to Oslo to meet up with some friends for a fjord adventure. I book a flight too early – I am disappointed with myself because now I have to take a $60 cab ride to the airport because my flight time is too early for me to take the airport bus. I find myself not getting enough sleep last night and it is imperative I rest up so I have energy to hang out with my friends. Not much downtime is expected in this upcoming week.

I arrive in Oslo contemplating waiting two hours or so to meet up with my friend “A” at the airport who will be coming in on her international flight. I decide to wait and find a cafe open at arrivals. I order breakfast and take advantage of WiFi to get some planning done.

Eventually A arrives and we take the airport train into central Oslo. It takes a couple minutes longer than it should to find our hotel that is very close to the train station. It seems that google doesn’t give us the best directions in this area.

Our room is ready early so we are able to check in. We drop our bags and head out to lunch. We eat at a cool street food area called barcode. “A” enjoys a vegan burger while I try a mix of street tacos. After lunch we walk around by the water. One might consider this mild weather back home where I live but here they are experiencing a heatwave and everyone is out sunning along the piers near the water. It is Sunday and everyone seems to be enjoying the day. We admire the modern architecture and nicer cafes in the area. We still have some time to kill before our other friend arrives so we visit the Munch Museum.

The Munch Museum (Munchmuseet), named for the famous Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, has exhibits that displays his famous artworks as well as interactive exhibits about his life. I am impressed with this smaller museum. We enjoy our time here. Apparently the museum has multiple Scream paintings and they rotate them in and out from time to time.

We head back to the hotel to briefly rest until our other friend D arrives. She has an even harder time finding the hotel so we go on a rescue mission to find her. She unloads her bags and we meet up with one of her friends T; T lives locally and met D many years ago while she was on an exchange program in the USA. We walk down the popular Karl Johans Gate and have a nice Italian dinner at an outdoor cafe. We watch seagulls bang their big beaks on the plates of the non-bussed table next to us while others shoo the birds away. We have a good conservation getting to know the new friend. Being all jet lagged (me not really but I woke up too early this morning) we head back to our hotel. We are meeting up early in the morning to go on our two day tour of the fjords.

The next morning

The plan is to meet in the train station about 45 minutes before our train is to leave. We all have assigned seats but 2 of the group booked later and have individual seats elsewhere. We want to try to move all together. When we get on the train we realize this just isn’t possible because the train is very full. The first train is about 4 1/2 hours. We spend the time talking, visiting the cafeteria car and looking at some of the views. Our next train is supposed the be the best scenic train but there is still plenty to see out our windows.

The next train we have from Myrdal to Flam is the old style train where there are no assigned seats. We rush onto the train to try to get seats together. Jury is still out whether there is a good side or bad side to sit. We feel like there is a good view and you’ll feel like you are missing stuff no matter what side you sit on. The only bad thing is the train gets a little stuffy and you are not able to leave the windows open due to the train being really loud, especially in the tunnels. The breaks have to work hard on this steep train.

We do cool down at our stop at a large waterfall. We feel the water and the mist on us while we take photos. All of sudden music plays and a woman comes out to do a siren dance. It is a show of Huldra, a siren who lures men into the mountains. It is quite unexpected and entertaining.

Huldra

We eventually get to the town of Flam and check into our charming hotel. We grab a quick meal because we are all heading out to excursions this afternoon. We eat at the local brewery in town.

Two of us ride an RIB boat around the fjord. Our enthusiastic guide stops the boat frequently to point out sights along the way. It was expecting a rough ride but it ends up being calming. I am toasty and cozy in my suit that is provided to protect again cold and possible capsizing. I find the boat at times almost putting me to sleep.

At the end we stop at Undredal a town famous in real life for its brown goat cheese and in the fantasy world it is said to inspire the movie Frozen. The goats free roam along the mountains and come in at set times to get milked. A couple different common cheeses are made but one local cheese stands out because it is cooked and caramelized to make a distinct brown cheese. Many say it tastes nutty to them. I think it does taste nutty a little but still seems like a cheese to me. The only difference is the texture is vastly different from any other cheese you’ve had. We got to try these local cheeses as well as one sausage.

We head back from our cruise and our entire group meets up again. We decide another meal is in order. It seems like the places that still serve food at this time is extremely limited so we end up back at our trusty brewery. I share a hummus platter with my friend. It is very good.