Dominating the small Georgian town of Mtskheta, the cathedral of Sveti Tskhoveli rises on the site of the palace of the kings of Iveria. The final resting place for numerous Georgian kings, it is also supposedly where the robe of Christ is buried. The first church in this location was built of wood in the … Continue reading
Category Archives: Places We Go
A Breakdancing Competition In Tbilisi, Georgia
While wandering around Tbilisi last week, we came across an impromptu breakdancing competition in front of the presidential palace (you can see it in the background). I thought it was pretty cool… Continue reading
Photo Of The Day: The Botanical Gardens Of Tbilisi, Georgia
These gardens were established as a royal pleasure ground in 1636 on the right bank of the Tsavkistiskhevi (Fig Ravine). The Tbilisi Botanical Gardens with their natural waterfall became a municipal garden in 1801. In its 128 hilly hectares there are 4,900 species with over 900 species of tropical and subtropical plants in greenhouses. The … Continue reading
Gypsy Begging Techniques At Work In Tbilisi, Georgia
I’ve observed gypsies engaged in some pretty ignoble behaviors, such as stealing donations in Berlin from a memorial dedicated to those killed attempting to cross the Berlin Wall. However, despite these prior observations, some of the extortion begging techniques of the gypsies in Tbilisi, Georgia still raised my eyebrows. The picture below demonstrates one popular … Continue reading
Goats In Nagorno-Karabakh
There’s a certain enlightened demographic that will appreciate this post more than others… Contrary to the typical Eastern European experience, the people of Nagorno-Karabakh were universally friendly and generous. And the high number of goats in the region is an additional testament to the fine character of this population. Continue reading
Yerevan, Armenia
Unfortunately, despite its impressive history (Yerevan is older than Rome) and reasonably appealing center, Armenia’s capital of Yerevan is not a particularly attractive city. Too much of the city is comprised of crumbling, gray Soviet-era apartment blocks such as those pictured below… This dreary Soviet influence is due to the rapid expansion of the city … Continue reading
Shushi, Nagorno-Karabakh
I can honestly say that I have never visited a town like Shushi before… By the way, Shusha is the Azeri name for this town whose majority population for most of the past century (until the most recent war) was actually Azeri; it is the Armenians that call it Shushi. The town used to possess … Continue reading
The Velvet Rocket 