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Peru South America

Aimless Wandering in Cusco

The day before yesterday in Cusco was our ‘extra’ day. The day when i have seen and done all i wish to see and do. The day when i have time for relaxing or just wandering aimlessly. We had a leisurely breakfast at our hotel and then went for a walk, nowhere in particular, but it took us through less touristy neighborhoods, down and then up again streets and stairs so steep that at times they gave us pause before we proceeded. We visited a crafts market on the San Blas square and generally saw people going about their ordinary lives.

It was a warm day and nice for being outside. The weather actually has been lovely on the whole trip so far. A couple of brief rain showers, but that was it. The evenings are quite cool here and one definitely needs a jacket, but it is very pleasant.

Anyway, we walked. We visited a church high over the city. We saw yet more llamas and followed them around with our camera.

We had lunch at, of all places, an Israeli restaurant; a cozy hole in the wall place busy with Hebrew speaking, young patrons. We had hummus and felafel and salad, which was a welcome change from the Peruvian cuisine.

Peruvian food is fine enough and there seems to be more here for vegetarians than in Ecuador or Colombia, but i am a bit tired of vegetable soup and avocados and spaghetti with only the faintest whisper of tomato sauce. We have had some nice pizzas. One thing i will say is that everywhere the food is very fresh. Every meal is prepared when you order it – like the wood oven pizza we had for which the dough and sauce were made fresh, the cheese grated and the vegetables sliced before our eyes, while someone else chopped wood for the fire.

After lunch we parted ways for a while and i went off in search of a book to read. I found two places with single racks of used English books – mostly an inexcusable collection of John Grisham and romance novels, but i did find a beat up copy of ” Gone Girl”‘ which i bought. I settled in at a cafe of a busy pedestrian street just off the main plaza for a cigar and some reading. I had an espresso and a fishbowl of fresh pineapple juice. It was difficult to get much reading done though when every couple of minutes a man or woman, boy or girl comes by to sell paintings, jewelry, dolls, etc, or offer shoe shines – the last of which i admittedly really needed, but even at the asking price of 1 sole (40 c) i couldn’t be bothered to be bothered to buy. Little urchiny looking children came by and sat down, eyeing my cigar with curiosity before taking sugar from the dish on the table and running off while emptying the packets into their mouths. It was a very nice place to sit, outside, in the beautiful weather and i stayed for an hour or more before starting the steep walk back to the hotel.

In the evening we had a great meal of Thai curry at an Australian-owned restaurant. Not very Peruvian but very delicious and inexpensive. We killed the evening doing crossword puzzles before bed. Overall, a very relaxing day in which nothing extraordinary happened, but it was perfect nonetheless.

Peru South America

Llama Land

We arrived in Cusco yesterday morning after a short, hour long flight from Lima. Cusco was sunny and warmer than Lima, although being high in the Andes, the temperature quickly changes to cool and cold. Cusco sits in the Andes at 10,100+ feet above sea level, which is a about twice as high as Denver and about 2,500 feet higher than Bogota, by comparison. Aside from feeling a bit winded and having a bit of a headache though, it’s not bad.

Our hotel – the Amaru Hostel – is wonderful. Bright yellow with two flowery courtyards and views over rooftops of the city. Our room is small and cozy. We are in the San Blas district of Cusco, which is a short walk from the main square, although that short walk is up (or down, depending on your direction) a very steep street lined with anorexic sidewalks paved with slippery, centuries-old stones. It’s an adventure.

The first day we had the late afternoon, during which we walked the city, getting our bearings, and enjoying the cobbled streets, welcoming squares, and numerous cathedrals and churches.

The city is delightful and is so different from Lima, and even different than other places i have been in South America. Maybe because it is so historic and well preserved, or maybe because of how touristy it is. So far, we like it; lots of places to explore.

Being a very touristy town, unlike on Lima, there are tourists everywhere and the usual touts promoting the best tours, restaurants, souvenirs, etc. English is more widely spoken, but by no means is it universal. I am adding Spanish words and phrases to my lexicon daily.

We went to some of the main cathedrals, through the main plaza, and then to an alleged chocolate “museum” (really just a shop) where i had some wonderful and spicy hot chocolate outside in the square. After that we went walking until we stumbled upon the Mercado San Pedro, Cusco’s main market.

There are stalls selling handicrafts, but it is predominantly a food market. Stalls of produce, including massive yellow squash and white cauliflowers and sinister black corn; aisles of women selling made to order fruit and veg juice concoctions; walls of rounds of white, salty cheese; stacks of bread, both hearty and decorative; aromatic peppers and spices; fresh olives; huge white sacks of quinoa and other grains….It was endless and wonderful.

We bought some cheese and bread before wandering down to the food stalls where people cook and sell fresh from the market meals to hungry locals. Along side that are rows of fishmongers and butchers. The butchers were some of the most remarkable i have seen. The ground was bloody and dogs ran free searching for dropped scraps. Piles of skinned bulls heads lay on the ground. On the counters were mounds of pristine white stomachs, baskets of red hearts, assorted organs, eyeballs, brains, spinal cords, more skinned heads, and stacks of snouts (from what animal i am not sure). I took as many pictures as i could without making a nuisance of myself.

After that we had coffee and a cigar on a patio on a square (it would seem that the smoking rules are more relaxed here) before having dinner and, after yet more wandering, heading to bed.

Today has been a but more of the same – wandering and exploring the streets and sights, eating, picture taking, etc. currently, we are taking a break at the hotel to wait out a particularly cold rain.

I should say, today was especially similar to yesterday because late yesterday, i lost my camera. Not stolen. Lost. I know where i left it. I don’t lose things and certainly not while traveling when i am especially vigilant, but i got lazy or negligent and i lost it. It was a cheap camera, so the loss in that sense is not great. The pictures are all i care about. The only thing that kept my from panicking is that all of my pictures (except from yesterday) were already backed up on the iPad, so nothing was lost. Today we back tracked to the market and a church or two so i could retake some of the pictures. Now for the remainder of the trip Betty-Lou and i shall be sharing a camera. One less thing to carry home for me i guess.

None of this stopped me from getting about a million pictures of the Andean women in their standard and traditional dress of sturdy skirts, woolen leggings, sweaters, long black braids, and tall, brimmed hats. I also have tons of pictures of the women dressed in colorful fancy dress and their baby llamas. Vancouver would be a much happier place if its streets were filled with baby llamas.

I don’t know what’s up for the rest of today, but tomorrow we head out of Cusco for an over night journey that includes Ollantaytambo, Aguas Callientes, and (of course) Machu Picchu.
dale

Peru South America

Barranco

Our final day in Lima was quite relaxed. I had seen most of the things on my list so we just went for a nice meander down to the sea and than over to Barranco, a neighbourhood next to Miraflores, considered to be bohemian. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day for a stroll along the cliffs and then into Barranco. There isn’t a ton to see there, but it is a nice neighborhood with colorful buildings in just the right amount of disrepair to make them especially charming.

There is a legendary church built by fishermen in the 18th C after being led to shore safely by a phantom light. The church was built on that spot from which the light came. The church was damaged by a hurricane in the 1940s and has been left unrestored and uninhabited – except by flocks of huge, black vultures, making for a creepy site.

We walked down and around the paths in the neighborhood before settling in to an outdoor cafe under a tree, where we spent a couple of hours, relaxing and enjoying a cigar before winding out way back to the hotel through busy commercial streets, past colorful graffiti.

By the time we got back it was evening, so we went to a vegetarian restaurant in Miraflores for dinner. What it lacked in atmosphere is made up for in food – delicious vegetable soup with quinoa and ceviche made with tofu instead of seafood. Yum. My expectations for South American food as a vegetarian are so low (aside from the fruit, which is awesome) that it is a delightful surprise to be able to eat something other than potatoes and corn.

The next day we flew to Cuscso. I’ll save that for a separate post, however. All is well. Lima was lovely, but after two and a half days i was happy to move on.

Peru South America

Miraflores to Market

Day two in Lima started with breakfast at the hostal El Patio. Bread and olive spread, coffee, fresh juice and fruit. We started with a walk down to the sea. Lima sits along cliffs overlooking the ocean and on the cliffs is a wonderful pathway that meanders through parks, all with lovely views of the water and surfers catching waves.

Along the way Limeños were out for Sunday jogs and dog walks with some people working out with outdoor gym equipment that was set up along the way. We walked down to Larcomar, which is a very South Florida feeling outdoor mall, which also had some nice cafes with great views of the ocean, where we had a coffee.

We walked back to the hotel and then caught a taxi back to central Lima. We arrived at the Plaza where a marching band on horseback played triumphant music in front of the palace with other mounted men in full regalia waited on a side street for some sort of procession to start. We didn’t wait long enough to figure out what was going on but it was pleasant to take in the sights for a while.

We were on a mission to go to the central market for lunch. The central market is an enclosed, three story structure with vendors selling meat, produce, various other food items, and housewares. The meat sections were busy with various animals being butchered for sale, and the produce sections were colorful stalls selling familiar and exotic items. I love both equally. I dragged Betty-Lou through aisles of dead chickens, cow stomachs, and pigs feet before we bought some fruits (plums, pitaya, & granadilla) and had a fresh strawberry juice at a counter.

We had lunch at one of the counters next to the fish vendors where all the locals were eating (mind you, i didn’t see anyone aside from locals in the place). Betty Lou had some kind of mystery meat dish and i managed to wrangle a salad and some rice and beans. Eating vegetarian in South America always requires some extra explanation.

After lunch we walked through Lima’s small and crowded Chinatown before heading to our main destination for the day: the bullfight.

To be continued…

Peru South America

Arriving in Peru

Lima!

We arrived mid-morning to a bustling airport and busy traffic as we made the drive in a taxi to Miraflores, the area in Lima in which we are staying. Miraflores being a slightly upscale area (by which i mean not slummy) centred around a pleasant city park (Kennedy Park) and extending down to the sea. Our accommodations – the Hostal El Patio – are delightful. Simple but comfortable rooms around a colorful and charming patio.

Miraflores is a pretty long walk through some not so interesting areas to the centro historico, so we have been taking taxis to that area. On day one, after settling in, we taxied to the Plaza San Martin, and then commenced walking around central Lima. Many large, stately buildings in classical styles with the unmistakable south american colors (yellow, mostly). The area around the Plaza de Armas is particularly lovely.

We walked the streets, checking out churches and side streets and stopping to photograph the guards at the national palace. The streets were busy with traffic and pedestrians and people selling random toys, candy, and other odds and ends. We walked over to the Monasterio de San Francisco, still a working monastery, but with a beautiful church and grounds to tour. Underneath the buildings are catacombs, filled with bones and crypts. (No photos allowed.) Though they were neither as labyrinthine or bone-filled as those in Paris, i still dug them. In certain areas we were directly below the cathedral and small vents above us let through light and the sound of the mass carrying on.

After that we headed back to Miraflores and to Kennedy Park where we looked at some art on display and marveled at the number of cats. Kennedy Park is an unofficial cat sanctuary. The place is filled with cats – beautiful, healthy looking cats roaming free, napping, sitting in trees….

We had dinner on a pedestrian street just off the square after which I went for walk and smoked a cigar before bed.

Some initial observations. Lima is certainly a lot fancier than Quito or Bogota. By comparison, it is clean and feels far safer and less dodgy. Very few children begging (unlike Quito) and there are not soldiers and armed guards on every corner (unlike Bogota). Very little graffiti. No packs of tough looking stray dogs. It’s very nice and i have enjoyed looking around, but i would rank it as somewhat less interesting than those other cities (since i prefer my cities on the dodgy and dangerous side).

Very little English is spoken, but thankfully my Spanish (what little i know) has come a long way. (Thanks to Duolingo & Sesame Street.) Betty Lou knows only two phrases – “i am a woman” and “with cheese” a but she says them beautifully.

The weather is perfect; a bit cool in the mornings and evenings, and warm in the afternoon.

Smoking? Well, it seems that Lima has gone the way of much of Europe and North America: no smoking indoors or on restaurant patios. (Although as i write this i am on the patio of a cafe, so there is some flexibility.)

And that was day one in Lima. We did also get some tickets to a bullfight, but that deserves its own post.

Georgia Trip 2014 Poland

Return to Warsaw

My flight to Warsaw landed a bit late, at 7am. I flew through security and passport control and hopped the train to the city centre. Unlike my last layover in Warsaw, this time it was not cold and raining, but a beautiful, blue skied, sunny day. Due to this change in the weather i decided to re-walk the path from the train station up Nowy Swiat to and around the old city. Everything looked so much more beautiful in the sunshine, all of the churches and, narrow, decorative streets looked so much more colourful.

So i walked that route again, although a bit quicker than i did a week ago. I didn’t venture inside any churches in the old city this time, but the streets themselves were so much more lively, with throngs of people walking, sightseeing, and lunching, buskers, and crowds and crowds of soldiers gathering and preparing for some event. The streets were lined with flags, as were the churches and public buildings. I don’t know if it is a holiday or what, but the atmosphere was festive.

Finishing my route through the old city, i got on a tram headed across the bridge, past the zoo, and to the Praga district.

The Praga district is one of the only parts of the city that is fairly intact from before the war. It is truly the old city, with aging brick buildings, old seedy market places and wonderful graffiti, as well as an abandoned vodka factory (which is, it appears, about to be renovated into flats and offices). I also stopped by one very crowded orthodox cathedral and watched a bit of the Sunday mass, with its singing (admittedly not as beautiful as that in the Georgian churches). It was a very different walk than on the other side of the river and far less touristy. Unfortunately, it was so early that very few things were open, but it was still a lovely walk.

I probably meandered a bit longer than i should have before heading back. I got back on the tram and to the old city about two hours before my flight, but rather than heading back to the airport immediately, i opted for one plate of piergoies on the old town square, before hailing a cab back to the airport.

As i write this, i am somewhere over Sweden. It has been a wonderful trip. Georgia exceeded my expectations (seriously, it’s great, i don’t know why more people don’t go there) and My two short visits to Warsaw made me look forward to visiting Poland properly one day.

Alas, back to reality…and time to start planning the next trip.

Asia Georgia (the country) Georgia Trip 2014

Kazbegi: Tsminda Sameba Church

Yesterday morning i awoke in the bed at my home stay in Kazbegi. Lela had prepared a large breakfast, which i enjoyed until my car arrived to take me up the mountain.

Kazbegi is dominated and famous for the Tsminda Sameba Church, which sits alone atop a mountain overlooking the town. This is not only the most famous image for Kazbegi, but really one of the most famous images for Georgia, that small church on top of a mountain, ringed by green valley and snowy peaks.

There are two ways up the mountain to the church (which sits at 2200 meters): hike or drive. Originally, based on reading the guidebooks, i planned to hike, but then when i saw how bloody high it is and realized how muddy everything was from yesterday’s rain, i opted for a car, a decision i ultimately felt good about. My driver, who spoke no English, picked me up in his old Lada Niva and we made our ascent. First we passed through a charming village of cottages, cows, and a couple small cemeteries, then we really began to climb.

The road is a narrow, unpaved adventure of boulders, muddy crevasses, hills, and giant holes, and everything was slick with mud. We bounced and jerked up the mountain. The driver wouldn’t let me wear a seat belt and laughed on the way up saying more than once “Georgian Autobahn”.

At the top the road gives way to a green plateau, with a small hill sitting at the edge of a cliff. The 14th century church is on top of the mountain. The church is pretty, small and simple, with religious paintings, candles, and incense – not too different from some of the other churches i have seen on this trip. What makes it extraordinary is the setting.

The views are stunning and that is even with the low lying cloud that was there the day i visited. The village sits in the valley below and all around are gentle green valleys which turn, sharply into very high, slow and glacier topped peaks. I’m sure that those who hiked to the top felt pretty pleased with themselves, but as i escaped the bracing cold in the car and drove down comfortably (more or less), i felt pretty pleased myself.

After that i walked up to the Rooms Hotel, which is a large, modern hotel built sort of above the village and across it from the church. The hotel is really amazing. It has this long patio across the front which gives you a perfect view of the village and mountain and then inside, all along the front is a massive series of windows and a long, super beautifully decorated lounge, with lots of open bookcases and cozy groupings of leather sofas and chairs. The place is big and modern, but the building itself is really well designed so it doesn’t stand out or detract from the setting.

I sat in there for an hour or two and had tea and a cigar and some incredible wild mushroom soup before walking back into the village to catch a marshrutka back to Tbilisi. On the way, i way i was distracted by three large pigs which were running the streets, clearly up to no good.

The ride back was nice, even if the driver did drive perilously fast. The sun was shining and i snapped a few pictures from the moving vehicle, although a lot of the really interesting stuff (tiny villages with crumbly buildings featuring ancient, colorful mosaics, people selling knitted items in the middle of nowhere by the roadside, and fields of snow), I wasn’t able to get.

The drive took about 3 hours and dropped me off by the market, which i again poked around in for a bit before taking the metro back to Liberty Square and then walking to the old city.

Last night was totally mellow. I just walked around, ate some ice cream, and looked for a place to eat, until i decided i was too tired to do anything but sleep.

Today is my last day in Tbilisi and there are still a couple more things i want to see before i leave tomorrow morning. But first, a coffee and breakfast cigar.

Asia Georgia (the country) Georgia Trip 2014

Things Eaten & Things Seen: Tbilisi Day 2

Tbilisi day two has been just as enjoyable as day one. I went out early for breakfast at a place on a square in the old town called Qalari Samiktao, which was filled with locals (all men). It is not at all charming, but has a wonderful view of the square and the river and has a big, open kitchen with a large wood burning oven for cooking. Everything on the menu was Georgian. I had a coffee and a khachapuri (ხაჭაპური) which is basically a bread boat filled with some combination of cheese and butter and sometimes an egg or meat. I had the cheese variety. These are a staple in Georgian cuisine. The bread here is remarkable and when filled with cheese and fresh from the oven, it is delicious. That being said, i could only bring myself to eat a small amount of this heart attack on a plate, which seemed to concern the waiter, who asked, “it is not good?” I assured him it was, but i said “if i eat more i will die”, which he thought was funny. Oh, and can i just say how wonderful it is to smoke inside, to have ashtrays on every table. It is the best.

Bread and cheese in various forms are sold everywhere, including kiosks for take away seem to be constantly baking everything fresh, producing delicious aromas, from even the most uninspiring looking places, like this place in an underground passageway.

Most people here speak Georgian and Russian, although it seems that most people working in the hospitality industry speak some English as well. So far in Georgian the most i can manage is please, thank you, hello, good bye, yes, and no. But I’ll always try new words, with varying degrees of success.

After breakfast i walked across the bridge to the Metekhi Church, which sits on a cliff over the river. No services were happening but there were women inside, praying.

I then left the old city and walked down Rustavelis street, which is main thoroughfare through the city, lined with the national museum, gallery, opera house and other large impressive buildings, as well as many well known, European stores. I didn’t find it as interesting as the old city for visiting, but it was a nice walk and one church had a service underway which had the same beautiful singing as i heard elsewhere on Sunday. I also stopped by and had a coffee in the leafy courtyard of an English language bookstore and coffee roaster.

I then went down to the dry bridge market, which is really a flea market of mostly paintings, dishes, felted objects, ceramics, daggers, drinking horns, soviet collectibles, and other odds and ends. Nothing really caught my fancy but it was fun to look.

I made it back to the old city just before noon, in time to catch the show at the whimsical clock tower. At noon, the top door opened and an angel came out and hit the bell with a hammer 12 times, then a second door opened and music played as figures rotated, showing a man and woman getting married, then with a baby, then showing them old, then their tombstones.

For lunch i went to another Georgian restaurant, and had two dishes i had wanted to try: badrijani nigvizit (ბადრიჯანი), which is eggplant slices topped with a garlicy walnut paste and garnished with slices of onion and pomegranate seeds; and khinkali (ხინკალი), boiled soup dumplings often containing meat, but in this case, mushroom. If there is one quintessential Georgian food, it is khinkali which is served everywhere. They were both delicious and bursting with flavor. I sat outside and had a cigar, on the narrow, pedestrian street, watching the passersby.

One other Georgian food i have tried is Churchkela or ჩურჩხელა, which is nuts (walnuts or hazelnuts) strung on strings and dipped in grape juice until it forms a chewy, slightly sweet coating. These are for sale at markets and on the street, hanging and looking like sausages or candles. The different colors apparently come from the different grapes used and is made as a byproduct of Georgian wine making (which itself is a big deal – Georgia is, according to archeological evidence, the first wine producing country and it is a big product today). The churchkela is tasty – kind of a nut and dried fruit combination.

One thing i saw on my walks that amused me was one of those machines that you put money into to operate a claw so you can pick up a toy or prize, it had teddy bears inside, and plastic eggs with prizes inside. Normal enough, but this machine also had packs of cigarettes in addition to the toys. No wonder everyone here smokes. I guess they start young.

This afternoon was more aimless wandering, followed by a nap, and then i sat inside one of the many many hookah lounges (the Cairo bar) enjoying some shisha and tea. Certainly there are tourists at these places, but judging by the languages spoken, it seems that it is mostly locals partaking in the hookahs, backgammon and dominoes.

It is raining. Nothing else planned for the evening. Tomorrow i will make a day trip to the towns of Mtskheta (the former capital of Georgia from 3rd century BCE to to the 5th century) and Gori (famous for being Stalin’s hometown and where a number of people were killed during the Russian/Georgian war of 2008). I will also visit Uplistsikhe, a cave city and former silk road trading stop dating back to about 5th century BCE. These are all places i had wanted to visit, but couldn’t do it all in 1 day, as i was going to travel by marshrutka. Fortunately, two guys (whom i haven’t yet met) staying at the hostel have hired a driver and were looking for a third to share the cost, so i will join them. It should be fun.

Back at the hostel now, calling it a day. I am very happy with my hostel choice. My room is cozy, and it is nice to have my own kitchen for making tea. The staff here speak perfect English, and the shared bathrooms are clean (they also have signs on them advising that sex is not allowed in the washrooms – good to know).
ძილი ნებისა (good night)

Asia Georgia (the country) Georgia Trip 2014

Tbilisi Loves You: First impressions

My flight from Warsaw landed in Tbilisi at 4:00am, a time i am well acquainted with but after almost two days of plane travel i was bleary eyed. The sign that greets you at customs says, “Tbilisi: the city that loves you.” And i felt the love, or at least, i felt welcomed. It was too dark and early to do anything, so i settled into a comfortable cafe in the airport terminal and drank coffee and smoked (inside the cafe) until the sky lightened. I haggled briefly and successfully with a man who said “i have car. I drive you,” and we drove to the city. (The price: 25 lari) i wasn’t able to gain access to my hostel until 9:00 so i spent 3 hours walking around the old city part of Tbilisi and around the river.

Wow. This place is awesome. Seriously, from the sleepy early morning until now, the lively evening, it is beautiful and and so incredibly interesting. My pulse quickened as i walked down the winding streets with their beautiful, dilapidated buildings, medieval-looking churches, pocket sized squares, cafes, and shops, all nestled beneath mountains dotted with more churches and imposing fortresses, along a rushing river. There are also a handful of crazy super modern architecture structures, which add to the old world charm by way of their juxtaposition.

I know what you are thinking:”your pulse quickened? Cut the hyperbole already.” But it did. On first glance the whole place was just that exciting. It is that unique: not quite European, a bit middle eastern, a bit Central Asian…but wholly enchanting. And none of it feels precious or artificial. It’s just…great.

First impressions aside, i was exhausted and must have looked it, bedraggled as i was, with my pack on my back, that as i stood looking up at a synagogue, a man, the caretaker, invited me in to sit. I hung out there for about an hour, chatting with the man, drinking his coffee.

After that relaxing interlude, i went to my hostel to drop off my bag. I am staying at the Old Town Hostel. I have a private room with a kitchen on the 4th floor. Shared bathroom, shared, living room area, on one of the particularly ramshackle side streets, which is, as far as i can tell, walking distance to everything.

Dropped off my bag and set off again. The day was beautiful – sunny and warm. I walked all around, stopping to have breakfast and a cigar in one of the squares. Happily the rumours are true: everyone here smokes and there are no restrictions on where they do it.

I went to so many churches today. All simple, medievally looking ones, beautifully painted on the inside and decorated with candles, urns, and gilded pictures of saints. Unfortunately, i haven’t any pictures from inside the churches, as they were filled, crammed, and overflowing with worshippers. This is a religious culture. People cross themselves, just when walking past a church. Women cover their heads to enter, and everyone seemed to be going. They lit candles and incense, prayed, took communion from dramatically dressed and dramatically bearded orthodox priests, and they kissed everything: pictures of saints, the floor, the interior and exterior walls, crosses, each other… And the singing was some of the loveliest i have heard in church. Each stop was wonderful, although in some cases the best i could do was stand outside and listen, as the church was so full, that worshipers stood outside doors and windows to participate.

I also wandered around the area where the public baths are: underground, sulphur baths, both public and private where you can enjoy hot and cold pools, brutal massages and exfoliation at the hands of strong and serious men and women on stone slabs, and all the public nudity you can handle. They are fairly ancient and renowned, but i know i won’t be partaking, not being comfortable with either public nudity or massages.

I have just finished a walk around many of the same areas, but now in the evening. The bars and restaurants are busy. There are a few narrow, pedestrian streets lined with cafes, bars, and lounges, all busy and at least half of them hookah lounges filed with men smoking and playing backgammon.

I’m still a bit tired, so i have opted for a quieter bar/restaurant where i am enjoying a glass of Georgian wine and a cigar, just a few steps away from the louder, busier places, where they are playing a loud mix of middle eastern music, techno, and hits of the 1990s.

There is still so much so see and explore. This is only day one. I am already so happy i came here. Tbilisi says it loves me. Is it premature to say i love it back?

Europe Georgia Trip 2014 Poland

Warsaw Whirlwind

I arrived in Warsaw at around noon and zipped through security and immigration and onto a train which got me into the city centre speedily and without incident. I did a bit of reading up before leaving and knew where i planned to roam around. Of course, upon leaving the train station I promptly set off, quite confidently, in the wrong direction. Walked for about a half an hour before I realized something had gone wrong. No matter though, I got to see some of the more ordinary parts of the city, filled with traffic, cafes, milk bars, and kebab shops.

Once i had my bearings i walked up the lovely Nowy Swiat (street), lined with cafes, churches, palaces, the university, and oodles of inviting cafes and eateries. There were certainly people about but the streets weren’t particularly lively as it was pouring rain and windy. A winning combination. First purchase: an umbrella. Nevertheless, the walk was lovely. The churches were filled with worshipers and three of them had weddings underway, so I watched for a bit. In each case, the bride & groom sat on chairs, which led me to believe that these are long ceremonies. I didn’t stay long enough to find out how they ended.

One church stood out for the fact that it (allegedly) has Chopin’s heart in an urn inside one of the columns in the nave. I was disappointed that it was not on display in a box, like something out of Snow White, but it was cool anyway.

At the end of that street it opens up into a beautiful square in the “Old Town”. I am using quotation marks because this part of the city was decimated in WW2 and then later re-built and restored, painstakingly, into an exact replica of what it was before. So it isn’t technically old, i guess, or at least not entirely, but it really is beautiful. Wonderfully open squares with outdoor cafes are surrounded by colourful buildings, often ornately decorated with design or paintings of people and animals. Of course there are countless places luring you in with their pastries, vodkas, meats, and dumplings.

After walking for quite a while (and getting quite soaked in the process) i cozied up inside a warm eatery with wooden…everything, and lots of books lining the walls. (An observation: there are still tons of bookshops here. Awesome.) i had a plate of golden pierogies and a cabbage salad, washed down with a pot of tea. Perfect rainy day fare.

After that, more walking, including poking around in an antique store filled with soviet and WW2 odd and ends, where i picked up an (allegedly) antique, wood-lined, silver cigarette box with a skull on top of it – with a cigarette in its teeth. There was no way that wasn’t coming home with me.

This really was just a Warsaw sampler. There are so many wonderful looking museums and areas to explore, but i only had 10 hours, and there is still the airport to factor in. I spent the last hour or two in the most perfect cigar lounge, settled into a leather chair with a Bolivar Belicoso Fino and a Punch Limited Edition torpedo, watching the rain and reading. There were some other guys in there, but they were in pairs, talking in hushed, conspiratorial sounding Polish, so i didn’t make any new friends.

I then confidently got on a train back to the airport, with just enough time to spare and rode three stops before i realized i was on the wrong train and did not know any words in Polish to assist. After drawing a picture of an airplane and something that was intended to be Chopin (after whom the airport is named) for a foursome on my wrongly chosen train, much to their amusement, they pointed me in the right direction, and, well, here I am back at the airport, waiting to board my flight to Georgia.

I’ll be back here for a sequel to this Warsaw whirlwind next Sunday, at which point I should have a better idea of where I am going.
On to Tbilisi!

But first, a few more photos: