We are Jasper and Barbara. This website is out little window on the world and the countries we have visited. The unpretentious café where we had lunch, antique shops, a cute dog, beautifully tiled floors. Small things that are generally thought to be commonplace.
A mountainscape is where we find our inner peace and a city with brutalist architecture, book shops and a foodmarket is where we come alive again.
about us
3 weeks
29.07.2023 ---- 15.08.2023
GEORGIA IN SUMMERTIME is a land of milk and honey. Ever since we read The Eight Life by Nino Haratischwili we wanted to visit that magical country with vast steppes, the wine region in the East, the Caucasus in bloom, and the subtropical Black Sea.
Besides the beautiful nature and little-known but fantastic cuisine, Georgia's uniqueness also consists in how it manages to charmingly play off the traces of the former Soviet Union. This is reflected in the architecture, but it is also impossible to imagine the streets without the Lada.
georgia
1 day
Kakheti
2 days
Kazbegi
4 days
Svaneti
2 days
Imereti
2 days
Adjara
3 days
Tbilisi
itinerary
01
Capital
Tbilisi
02
Population
3.8 million
03
Location
Western Asia
04
Area
69.7 thousand km²
highlights
Trek fom Mestia to Ushguli
Every day of this four-day trek offered another spectacular landscape. One day we hiked through villages, another in caucasian flower fields or through a glacier river.
Tour of Tbilisi's brutalist architecture
Like many ex-Soviet cities, Tbilisi has some amazing brutalist architecture, with the Former Ministry of Highways Building as it's most striking example. You can visit the landmarks on your own, but to make sure you can find them all, a tour is a worry-free option.
Tskaltubo sanatoria
Dilapidated sanatoria in old Soviet style reminisce on past glories. With a dozen of sanatoria, the Soviet elite once gathered in Tskaltubo to relax. Stalin was also a well-loved guest there. Today, mainly photographers and amateurs of old Soviet architecture find their way to the town, although a revival process seems to have started.
Shukura Tsikhisdziri
This delapidated sanatorium serves as the background for a (rather expensive) pool. It is a glorious break from the rather wild black sea though and the showers are a glass brick lover's dream.
food
Khinkali: dumplings filled with either cheese, meat or mushrooms
Khachapuri: every region has it's own version of this cheese filled pie
Chicken Skhmeruli: chicken in a creamy garlic sauce
Badrijani: aubergine filled with walnuts
Kharcho: beef in walnut sauce
Fish at the Batumi fish market: you buy some fish and take it to one of the restaurants nearby to be prepared
architecture
Sanatorium Imereti - Lado Alexi-Meskhishvili, Levan Janelidze
Sanatorium Medea - Aleksandre Intskirveli, Toma Potskhishvili
Laguna Vere - Shota Kavlashvili, Ramaz Kiknadze, Guram Abuladze
Tbilisi metro - various
Former Palace of Rituals - Victor Djorbenadze, Vazha Orbeladze
Nutsubidze Skybridge - Otar Kalandarishvili, Gizo Potskhishvili
Former Ministry of Highways building - Zurab Jalaghania, Giorgi Chakhava
Former Archaeology Museum - Shota Kavlashvili, Shota Gvantseladze
Saint Nino Monument - Otar Kalandarishvili, Gizo Potskhishvili
analog
