You may have noticed that I've titled this page "The Caucasus Region" and are wondering if this means I have plans to return and visit Armenia or Azerbaijan. Well...not necessarily. But a year ago, Georgia wasn't on my radar either, so one never knows. You see, sometimes I get the urge to go somewhere I've never been, in a region I've never visited, with a language I don't understand, and food I've never tried. It's that insatiable desire to explore more and more of the world, to examine each piece, and then put them together to get the big picture. To quote Doc Brown, "The intent here is to gain a clear perception of humanity--where we've been, where we're going, the pitfalls and the possibilities, the perils and the promise. Perhaps even an answer to that universal question: why?" Roll your eyes if you'd like--for Doc Brown it was time travel, but for me, just travel. And Georgia is one more piece of this picture of humanity.
You may also have noticed that I listed Georgia as part of Asia, on the "Our Trips" page. Is Georgia in Europe or Asia? There is no definitive answer. Most describe it as being at the crossroads between Eastern Europe and Western Asia. Based on what we learned in the Georgian National Museum, they have wanted to strengthen ties with and identify more with Europe, especially due to their strong Eastern Orthodox beliefs. At every turn, though, we were reminded of the Middle East. The smell of grilled meats as we passed by restaurants took us back to Istanbul. Seeing the Georgian script, with all of its curves, on signage throughout the city felt like anything but Europe. The traffic patterns were reminiscent of Cairo and Amman, in that there were few lights and somewhat of an "anything goes" attitude. (On the taxi ride from the airport, I was truly scared at various moments.) Lastly, on our walk from Old Town to our hotel on the first night, we were both struck by the feeling we had walking at night in Amman, Jordan. It's hard to pin down with words--maybe it was the smell of the air, the sounds of the cars, the sidewalk traffic, the look of the shops and restaurants, or just the presence of people hanging out--I'm not quite sure. But we both turned to each other at the same moment and said, "This is just like Amman!" So I guess it must be.
All of that said, Georgia is a place of its own, and we definitely felt the faded Soviet influence on parts of the cityscape. To this day, Georgians are dealing with Russian encroachment in their country, along with their own political issues. The day we arrived there were demonstrations in front of the parliament building (which was a block from our hotel). Just days after we left, the prime minister resigned due to the protests. You might recall that this happened when we went to Egypt, too, but I swear we were just bystanders.
We flew on Georgian Airways from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. That was how I got my husband on board with the trip in the first place. I started with an old favorite--the Netherlands--and added Georgia to that. From there, we flew on Aegean Airlines to Athens, before eventually returning to the Netherlands. The flight wasn't short--it was over four hours from Amsterdam in a narrow-body aircraft without entertainment. We got fed, though, which was nice. On the outbound, our flight departed at 5:15 AM, which meant our taxi came to get us at 3:15 AM. What surprised me was just how many people were still out and about, and in a normal way, too--not in a "walking home from a club" sort of way. It surprised me, but then again, I usually don't see what cities look like at 3:15 AM. Maybe that's the norm?