On our 10th day in the Republic of Georgia, we left the ancient city of Mestia high in the Caucasus mountains with its medieval Svan Towers and wandering cows and travelled south along the long and powerful Enguri River until we reached the mighty Enguri Dam. We were fortunate to tour this engineering marvel, which captures the force of the Enguri River to produce an enormous amount of electricity.  Construction began on the dam in 1961, and when it was completed in the 1970s it was the tallest hydro-electric dam in the world and remains one of the tallest in the world today.  It was ingenious in the way it was…

On Day 8 of our trip we hiked to the Chalaadi Glacier (approximately 3-hour hike). It was stunning – one of my favorite activities on the trip so far. I felt like I was in the Swiss Alps. After the hike, we walked into town and had a late lunch with a local family in their home. That meal was another extraordinary Supra.  Afterwards, we visited the Museum of Svan National History. This was another small, but excellent museum. Again, I skipped dinner and watched soccer. The rest of the group had dinner at a local’s home with traditional Svan Singers. On Day 9, (July 2nd), I woke up to…

On Day 7 (June 30th) of our trip in Georgia we left Kutaisi and began our 6-hour journey North to the mountains of Svaneti and the city of Mestia, which sits fairly close to the Russian border. Because of the mountainous terrain, we had to first travel west to within 15 miles of the Black Sea and the port city of Poti. Located in the region of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti, Poti is near the site of the ancient Greek colony of Phasis, from which it derives its name. As a major port city, it is also home to the primary naval base of the Georgian Navy. See map. Being so far…

Days 5 and 6 in Georgia would be spent in and near the city of Kutaisi. On Day 5, we visited a church in central Georgia that had been built in the 11th century. Because it was a Sunday, there was a service and we were allowed to quietly enter. It was a honor to watch locals take the sacrament. Afterwards, we left central Georgia and headed to western Georgia. However, we made a pit stop in Gori for a bio-break. We decided to use the bathrooms at the Stalin Museum there. We ended up visiting the museum for a few minutes, including going inside his personal train car. He…

On Day 4 in the Republic of Georgia (June 27th) we left West Georgia and travelled almost three hours east with our first stop being Mtskheta Village, east of Tbilisi. In Mtskheta we had lunch and a wine tasting with winemaker Lago Bitarishvili (the Wizard of the Chinuri grape). After lunch we received a special treat – a tasting of his wife’s cherry liqueur or Chacha.  It sells out so fast they had no bottles to sell to us. And believe me, we wanted to take some home! After yet another amazing meal at Lago’s Winery we proceeded to the Kartli region of Central Georgia. Near the town of Ateni…

Our third day, Friday, June 26th, was another full day in the Kakheti Region of Eastern Georgia. After a leisurely morning, where I had the opportunity to go for a nice run on the beautiful estate that our hotel sits on, we left our impressive hotel and travelled further east, reaching the town of Sighnaghi. At this point we are almost in Azerbaijan – it was probably a day’s walk away. We visited Pheasant’s Tears Winery near Sighnaghi with a wine tasting and tour of the vineyards with John Wurdeman, who founded the winery 20 years ago. Afterwards, we had an amazing meal at the winery on a delightful porch…

Our second full day in Georgia will be all about personal hospitality — being entertained in people’s homes. We left Tbilisi in the morning and travelled  three hours through the Bombori Mountains into the Kakheti Region in Eastern Georgia, where much of Georgia’s wine is produced.  One thing we learned from yesterday was that wines in Eastern Georgia, which is hot and dry, tend to be more full bodied than wines in Western Georgia.  When we arrived in the beautiful Alazani Valley, we went straight to the little village of Zemo-Alvani, where we visited Shota Lagazidze and his family. A small producer, his company, Lagazi Wine Cellar, only produces three…

After arriving in Tbilisi on Tuesday afternoon, still feeling melancholy, I checked into our hotel, the Iota Hotel, and then walked around for a few hours to check out Tbilisi. I decided to buy street food and eat dinner at Rike Park, located across the Kura River, which runs through the middle of the city. It is one of the longest rivers in the entire Caucuses Region.  To get across the river, I walked across the beautiful pedestrian Freedom Bridge. After exploring some more, I went back to my hotel and watched some World Cup Soccer – still feeling melancholy.  The next day, our first full day in Georgia was to…

Last night a few folks from our trip went out to a late dinner at a restaurant called Amra for Abkhaz cuisine.  Jonathan, the owner of Supra, wanted to go there because the food from that region of Georgia is unique.  But sadly, that region is no longer a part of Georgia.   While Abkhazia is recognized by most countries, including the United Nations, as a separate republic inside of Georgia, it really is not.  The border between Abkhazia and Georgia has been closed since 2020 and you can now only enter the country through Russia.  To be blunt, It has become a Russian puppet state. It is a complicated…

Background I was playing golf earlier this week with the Chairperson of a very important non-profit organization in our community when I told him that I was leaving for a two-week trip to the Republic of Georgia. Having travelled all over the world himself, he asked, “What in the heck made you decide to go to Georgia? Over the next 16 holes, I told him in bits and pieces why I chose to go to Georgia. There is also an episode of the show “Feeding Phil” on Netflix where the host visits Tbilisi, the capital of that wonderful country.  It is worth the watch.  Phil opens the episode with “Most…