Yes, we're alive. This fall kicked our butts even more than last year, I think. Although we didn't have the apartment renovation to deal in between our various work trips, our apartment seems to be on some Kyiv B&B list - some days the sheets barely had time to dry before the next guests arrived! We love having company, and are ever so grateful that our friends enjoy our apartment as much as we do - it was just a hectic fall!
But, the insanity is winding down, we're both done traveling for the year (yeah, yeah, I know, there's less than 2 weeks left in the year, but still). We put up our Christmas/New Year's tree the other night, and I took some pictures of our neat ornaments from all over. When I went to upload the photos to Flickr, I realized I have photos from way back in September that I hadn't posted yet. Good grief! I'll work my way through them soon, I hope. In the meantime, Happy Holidays!Our international Christmas/New Year's Tree, with ornaments from Ukraine, Crimea (yes, part of Ukraine, but Crimean Tatars are unique ethnic group), Germany, Russia, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, the USA, Serbia, and Azerbaijan.
The newest ornament - picked it up last week in Baku
Lots more fortress photos on Flickr.After a hike back to our hotel, we quickly headed to the beach to cool off.We're in Batumi, Georgia, on the southeast side of the Black Sea.
We flew in on Saturday, and stayed a couple days in a small town called Kvariati, close to the Turkish border. It was interesting to see as many as four languages on shop and cafe signs! Georgian, Turkish, Russian and English all make appearances. We chose the hotel in Kvariati primarily due to its proximity to the Gonio fortress, which we were super excited to visit. Note to self: do not pick a hotel primarily due to its proximity to a place you want to see. While we now know what it's like to take a shower while seated on a toilet, it was an experience we both could have lived without, among other oddities at this strange hotel with very strange people. But, it was not a total loss of an obscene amount of money, as the the fortress was super awesome (and a total bargain!). Photos are slowly uploading to Flicker, I'll write more about the fortress when I have some nice visual aids. We moved to Batumi yesterday, staying in a nice apartment that a family rents out in the summer to tourists. I was in Batumi two years ago and was impressed then. The 2009 edition of Lonely Planet's guide to Georgia mentions the plans "to make Batumi an attractive place to visit." Success! There's still a LOT of construction and renovation going on throughout the town, but the waterfront is superbly designed, with a looooonnnggg boardwalk, bikepath, sports spots, and a smattering of cafes. No hotels or other big buildings right on the beachfront, which probably drives the major chains insane, but it's nice to see a beach that isn't all crapped up with too much development. We spent the afternoon on the beach, had a nice dinner nearby during an evening rain shower, and relaxed on the balcony with delicious Georgian wine in the evening. Today, no plans at all, just total R&R. We'll explore some of Batumi later this week and let you know what we find. Off to the beach!
Update: Flickr is being very uncooperative this morning. Two partial sets are uploaded, a few of the Gornio fortress photos and some other weekend photos. I'll try to upload some more tonight.
