The Georgian Military Highway has existed as a route for traders and invaders since before the 1st century BC, but had only evolved into a crude horse trail by the time the Russians finally converted it, through the Herculean efforts of 800 soldiers, into a carriage road in 1783. Today, it offers tremendous scenery and … Continue reading
I was exploring some of the back alleys of Tbilisi when I stumbled across this church: I could see that it looked abandoned and so I slipped in past a boarded up section where I was shocked to discover that the entire church had been absolutely gutted by fire – and fairly recently too. The … Continue reading
After following the Georgian Military Highway to the Russian border, my Italian interpreter and I felt like stretching our legs a little after so much driving. I stopped at a crude dirt track leading up into the mountains of the Caucasus and we decided to hike up the road to see where it went. On … Continue reading
I’m not sure what’s wrong with me, but I have some weird fascination with industrial sites. There’s an artistic element to this fascination, but I can’t quite articulate it other than to say that I see some sort of raw beauty in them… So, when I saw this rusting train abandoned on the tracks shortly … Continue reading
An accordion player performing in the streets of Tbilisi, Georgia… The video is here if you want to listen to him play: In an effort to preserve the integrity and objectivity of The Velvet Rocket, I should probably state my bias immediately: I loved Tbilisi. In fact, I would probably even put it in my … Continue reading
This is one of those places where the journey really is the destination. It isn’t just the drive out along the Georgian Military Highway to the town of Kazbegi (Stepantsminda), but also the drive up to the church as well. The Gergeti Trinity Church sits high on a ridge west of Kazbegi, silhouetted against the … Continue reading
My original intent for this post was to simply give my dear readers a sense of the southern Georgian landscape outside of the Caucasus Mountains, which I have already described. However, as I was uploading the pictures, I realized that I possessed valuable information for someone making the drive between Tbilisi and Yerevan – information … Continue reading
The Velvet Rocket 