Some stats on our trip so far:
4 airports: sfo>munich>kiev>tbilisi
4 alphabets: latin, cyrillic, georgian, armenian (yuliya refers to the latter two as "squiggleys")
3 hostels
3 countries visted
I agree with Yuliya that our flight with Lufthansa met expectations. The flight attendants kept speaking to me in German for obvious reasons. I have learned some of the cyrillic alphabet and about a dozen Russian words. I have learned no parts of the georgian and armenian alphabets and none of the words.
The georgian and armenian hostels we stayed at are actually homestays that are recently remodeled and very nice. The georgian homestay has a pair of delightful lovebirds. The family gave us some home made freshly fried bread with bean paste which was amazing. The hostel in yerevan was in the city center and had a view of the cascade from our room (okay just the top of it).
At the Armenian/Georgian border we met a delightful orange tabby that we named border cat. I also composed a song about it. It put fear into the diapered miniature schnauzer that was riding with us on the marshrutka (katie calls it a rutiera).
There seem to be no other tourists in yerevan/tbilisi except for at the homestays, so it's been interesting. So far the locals have been nothing but welcoming, friendly, and exceedingly polite. We say good bye to Katie tomorrow morning, but reunite with her in about a week.
-Amy
Monday, April 11, 2011
Pictures from the first week
The 20-meter tall aluminum woman warrior is visible from most of Tbilisi.
We are sharing a carafe of Georgia's famed wine but Katie doesn't want to share.
Our first hostel room was so Soviet I couldn't help recollecting my childhood and insisting on a picture.
Whirlwind first week summary
The first week of the Circle has been hectic, full of good food and lots of traveling in three (!) countries. I will try to summarize.
The flight to Kiev from San Francisco was good and Lufthansa met my expectations of German efficiency. It seems that most people in Kiev can speak Russian so I don't stand out terribly except that my friends and I are the only three women in the entire city not wearing stilettos.
The very next day after a delightful traditional breakfast involving syrniki (here's the Wikipedia link), we headed to the airport and flew to Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. Georgia is a small country in the Caucus mountains known best for its delicious food and attractive men. Pictures coming up. Of the food, not the men of course. The Georgian language and script are not even vaguely related to any languages we know so we spent a good amount of time wandering about. Since its recent military conflict with Russia, Georgians took down most Russian signage but they are thankfully friendly enough that they will speak with me in Russian regardless. We spent an entire day wandering the old churches and neighborhoods of the city including a beautiful fortress up on a hill neighboring a 20-yard-tall aluminum woman warrior statue.
The next day we took a 6-hour marshrutka (route taxi) to Yerevan and made friends with half the people on the van. Our new friends ranged from 1-year-old David who was feeding the entire time to a large Armenian man that encouraged us to try the wonder of fresh-baked puri (flat Armenian bread also popular in other countries. Again, here's the Wikipedia link).
Yerevan is wealthy and cosmopolitan compared to Tbilisi's run-down and even falling-down historic buildings or Soviet apartment blocks. The day included one sad and depressing visit to the Armenian Genocide Museum, a rainy walk through the main architectural attractions and a curious discovery that the band System of a Down is Armenian. The drive back to Tbilisi from Yerevan took us through beautiful snow-covered countryside and here we are, back in the land of khachapuri. No, seriously, you have to click on that link because it's the most delicious food.
The flight to Kiev from San Francisco was good and Lufthansa met my expectations of German efficiency. It seems that most people in Kiev can speak Russian so I don't stand out terribly except that my friends and I are the only three women in the entire city not wearing stilettos.
The very next day after a delightful traditional breakfast involving syrniki (here's the Wikipedia link), we headed to the airport and flew to Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. Georgia is a small country in the Caucus mountains known best for its delicious food and attractive men. Pictures coming up. Of the food, not the men of course. The Georgian language and script are not even vaguely related to any languages we know so we spent a good amount of time wandering about. Since its recent military conflict with Russia, Georgians took down most Russian signage but they are thankfully friendly enough that they will speak with me in Russian regardless. We spent an entire day wandering the old churches and neighborhoods of the city including a beautiful fortress up on a hill neighboring a 20-yard-tall aluminum woman warrior statue.
The next day we took a 6-hour marshrutka (route taxi) to Yerevan and made friends with half the people on the van. Our new friends ranged from 1-year-old David who was feeding the entire time to a large Armenian man that encouraged us to try the wonder of fresh-baked puri (flat Armenian bread also popular in other countries. Again, here's the Wikipedia link).
Yerevan is wealthy and cosmopolitan compared to Tbilisi's run-down and even falling-down historic buildings or Soviet apartment blocks. The day included one sad and depressing visit to the Armenian Genocide Museum, a rainy walk through the main architectural attractions and a curious discovery that the band System of a Down is Armenian. The drive back to Tbilisi from Yerevan took us through beautiful snow-covered countryside and here we are, back in the land of khachapuri. No, seriously, you have to click on that link because it's the most delicious food.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Unimportant Details Part II
My first post! I am 98% packed, but my backpack is 100% full. Thank you to Karl for both babysitting my car while I am gone and driving us to the airport!
I will be leaving Kiev on April 28th at something ridiculous like 4am. I make a quick stop in Frankfurt (like 2 hours) then on to SFO. I'm back in San Francisco at 12pm on April 28th.
Unimportant details
Ok, let's get the small unimportant details out of the way. The (very tentative) itinerary:
April 5-6: Flying SFO-Munich-Kiev. Spend the night in Kiev and meet with our third travel companion, Katie.
April 7: Lovely breakfast in Kiev. Temperatures in the brisk 30s-40s. Flight to slightly warmer Tbilisi, Georgia
April 7-12: Georgia and Armenia. Somewhere.
April 12: Katie leaves us for Moldova and we fly to Istanbul
....Dates at this point get fuzzy....
- Istanbul and maybe somewhere else in Turkey
- Bulgaria
- Romania
- Moldova. Visit Katie and do other stuff
April 28: Amy flies out of Kiev. We've left Katie behind in Moldova
Next few days: I visit my sister in my hometown of Kharkov, Ukraine
A little after that: I travel through Ukraine to possibly L'viv or Odessa and hopefully Southern Poland
May 10: I fly Kiev-Frankfurt-SFO
May 11: After getting in at 8pm the night before with a 10-hour time-difference and jet lag, I show up to work. Productivity ensues
Goodbye Happy Hour
Each trip must begin with an important traditional American send-off. That's what I've been taught by knowledgeable Real Americans. Ours took place yesterday, Sunday, at a hot dog place in the Mission. What could possibly be American?
I admittedly enjoyed a vegetarian hot dog which I'm pretty sure violates tradition entirely but we did have the typical going-away hops-based drink. All in all, I'm starting off this traveler thing well: hot dogs (sausages, if you want to be technical), beer and taking pictures in bars like a tourist. I'm ready!
Postcards?
If you'd like to get postcards from one or several Eastern European countries, leave your address as a comment here or email me. I make no promises.
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