A Boring Little Blog With Great Pictures

    Hey, friends, fans, family, and lurkers. I haven’t been updating this blog as much as I should, and while not a great deal of exciting stuff has been happening, I will try to make the boring stuff as interesting as possible.

Still reading? Wow, you people are dedicated.

    I had to make another visa run to Georgia. I hope this is the last one! Not because I don’t like Georgia but doing the 3 x 3 bounce is so old. What is a three by three bounce? This is when I have to fly three hours in one direction to fly back, albeit at a slightly different angle, three hours to Tbilisi. In reality, it is two hours and twenty minutes in one direction and two hours and thirty in the other direction, but that sounds overtly precise and hence boring.

    Georgia was as welcoming as it always is for tourists. I think I am getting used to this sincere and generous welcome past the point of surprise. Not that I am taking it for granted. I would never do that but, I was less surprised when my friend/brother (from another Mother) picked me up at the airport and joined me for a great lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. We spent the afternoon catching up and enjoying each other's company as if it hadn’t been a week. It had been almost three months.
I returned to the Mais Guest House and settled in for the potential two or three-week process to begin on Monday. While I have found a professional person to do all the filing and paperwork it is always a gamble when it comes to time. I had the weekend to kick back and enjoy some cigars with friends at the Davidoff Cigar Lounge. It was a great reunion, and we all fell back into the comfortable routine cigar smokers have and understand. If you’re not a cigar smoker well, I can’t explain it. We all caught up on current events, and I spent lots of time and effort explaining exactly what is a Donald Trump and how this could have happened in the self-proclaimed greatest democracy in the world. It was very much like watching your high school tough guy get his ass handed to him by a Catholic School Cheerleader Squad for the Georgians. They were kilometers past 'couldn’t believe it' status. I got the impression it shook their faith in the democratic process. To put this into perspective, you have to remember how hard and how many people sacrificed everything to achieve the government they now enjoy. We are not talking distance past events or obscure events referenced in speeches by people they don’t know. No, we are talking individuals who held the very hands of the dying. The ones who lived for months without power, water, and getting bread required a ticket and a trip across town. A city plunged into chaos and lawlessness while staring down the twin barrels of external influencing super powers.
I did as much as I could to explain the electoral college and how that system worked and how the courts would act as a buffer to the more crazy ideas that the Office of POTUS might try to run with. It didn’t go a very long way to reassure, but it did add up to some very good topics to discuss and so the room was lively with the discussion.

   I arrived Monday at the office of my professional paperwork person. I had brought a package of Russian special cigarettes to him as a gift. This is a good thing for foreigners to remember. The act of tipping in North America is standard. But this is not the case in other countries and if you just do the same thing you would do at home you reaffirm the RICH American/Canadian tourist idea. The act of bringing him something from Russia meant I thought of him before I left Russia and carried significantly more impact than just saying “keep the change.” This was my third time filling, or rather watching someone else, complete the paperwork.
    The Russian Consulate is in the Swiss Embassy compound and the line up to get in is a chaotic affair. Line and turns are never as simple as saying they are in London England. When I finally got to the window the lady behind the glass recognized me and smiled and seemed impressed that my Russian had improved as much as it has. She commented my accent is getting better. She then also handed back my paperwork and said I needed to complete it in Russian. I was surprised as the last time she wouldn’t take it completed in Russian.
I returned to my professional, and she was as surprised as I was. So surprised that she pulled out Google Translate to make sure what I was saying was what she understood I was saying. Translation complete we did the paperwork again in Russian and added a photocopy of my last visa to the one containing my identification page of my passport. A new addition to the requirement from last time.
I returned with two sets of applications, one in Russian and one in English. The Russian one was kept, and I was handed back the English one with a sticky note that I could pick up my visa on Friday after six in the evening. I walked out of the office surprised that my visa would be ready in only five days.

    The next week included numerous invitations for supper. Supper in Georgian means a feast. So for tourists, it is important you know that giving time between these invitations is wise. The liver will need at least forty-eight hours of healing. My liver is an Olympic superstar, so I did three of these in a row. Max made a great traditional dinner at his home and brought me home safe and sound. Nodar took me out to a great traditional restaurant and then escorted me back to Mais Guest house. Shalva, Bekka, David, and Zura organized a couple of dinner deliveries to the club, and thankfully the club is a close stumble home. Public Service Notice for Canadians. Georgians may think you can keep up with them when it comes to consumption of Wine and Brandy as a result of my poor judgments. To paraphrase Riddick; “Do not step up if you can’t keep up because you’ll just die.”

I went back to the Embassy on Friday only to find out it was closed.

    I picked up my visa on Monday and booked my return trip to Anapa Russia. Short notice bookings are never cheap, but I was glad I had not booked it ahead of time. The return trip saw Max and his Wife stepping up again and taking me to the airport at one in the morning. Flights from Tbilisi are less than great for connecting to anyplace other than Turkey. So Anapa saw me arrive with zero sleep in twenty-six hours. Home in my bed saw me doing a “just to be safe” two-week detox program. Not that I needed to, or have a problem, but kind of like doing your oil change early because you’ve been doing some hard driving.

    Ever notice how cats are usually sitting alone? They never look lonely. I have this local cat that recognizes me and yet never approaches. In fact, if I talk to him he gives me a look like I just disturbed him from solving Einstein’s issue of gravitational waves. Cats can be like that sometimes, but I do envy their ability just to sit and seemingly enjoy the moment. I love walking in Anapa and routinely walk several kilometers a day. If I try to sit and enjoy a view for longer than nine minutes, I get restless. I need something distracting, like cigar ash falling into my lap or a conversation. This conversation doesn’t have to include anyone else. I am a writer I can talk to myself; it’s on my Writers Guild card. These conversations usually focus on things I need to do, should do, and want to do but can’t. I hate the first and last ones the most. I need to write a blog! Well, we see how effective that one has been.

Today I got to it. The need to do box is at this moment ticked with the proper Government issued pen. The want to do but can’t is still on hold. The center does, after all, hold what the rest can’t.

     I also managed to get my train ticket today to celebrate my Russian Mom’s Birthday. My Anapa friend Lasha was lots of help in this endeavor. If only to confirm it was done right. Luckily he was as the girl messed up my last name. In fairness it is hard. My last name in Russian is spelled KOBE, and so she had dropped the Y and added an E, COVEE. So if you remember your grammar lessons “Drop the Y and add a…” Hardly could blame the girl as in the head it does sound right. Probably would have worked but correctly is better. The trick now will be seeing if the conductor of the train will let me jump ship at the village before Beslan. It isn’t a proper stop, and the train only stops for five minutes for a “mechanical check.” Wish me luck and thanks for reading the boring and mundane.

You want excitement order or download my newest book  Redemption’s Bullet from Amazon!

Moscow Girls Make Me Scream and Shout. But Georgia's Always On My Mind.

   My visa ran out before my new invitation letter arrived. This statement will create stress for anyone that travels. Thankfully as a Canadian I don’t run into this situation too often. I can most certainly relate to friends from other countries when planning an overseas trip is an exercise in paperwork and bureaucracy. So I had to leave my beautiful Anapa and travel back to Georgia. Now I love Georgia too but at this time of year its cold. I had to fly through Moscow to connect through to Tbilisi, and so I got to feel real cold briefly as the minutes ticked away toward my expiring document. Sitting in the lounge, having gone through passport control, drinking a beer I became an illegal alien moments before my redeye flight to Tbilisi boarded.

Flights into Tbilisi are made less than convenient for large aircraft because the airport in Tbilisi is being renovated. I hope that this renovation is complete soon as it severely limits tourism to this wonderful city and country. It reminds me of when Vancouver was upgrading its airport. We saw Abbotsford and Bellingham's airports step in to take up the slack and the customer base. Many like myself discovered it was much easier and cheaper to fly to Vegas from Bellingham.

Because of this construction large aircraft land at night and passengers have to negotiate the taxi ranks at an hour usually spent sleeping. Taxis and airports are a small pool hunting grounds the world over and Tbilisi is no different. Many hotels have shuttles to bring you to your hotel and marked taxi’s gather to pick up passengers. Prices are very fluid and difficult to negotiate so I won’t give you a price other than to say it will be the most you spend on a taxi in the city. So simply pay the fee and know you will make up the difference on subsequent taxi costs during your vacation in Georgia. Ten Lari is usually sufficient for any trip in the city, corner to corner.

Returning to Tbilisi after living here for a year did feel like a form of a homecoming. Friends welcomed me in the traditional way, and so my first few days were filled with food and gatherings. They were interested in how my trip home to Anapa was and what I thought of current events shaping our shared world. Cha Cha and wine flowed along with stories about the previous three months apart. Culturally Georgians accept guests with grace and open arms. For me this felt like more of a family gathering, it was as if three months had never passed. We fell into our routines of speaking, translating, waiting for translations, like I had never left. My Russian has gotten better too, so this makes it a little easier.

If your a frequent reader of my blog you know I’ve lived here for a long period on and off. I know the city, the areas, and how to get a good deal or the best value for your money. Arriving late I stayed my first night at an inexpensive guest house near the old Dry Bridge market.  I was determined to check out a new place I had heard of. It was this “I know a guy connection” that allowed me to find a super place to stay.

The Mais Guest house is close to the University and was built by a couple of guys that know what foreigners expect from a good guest house. I know both of them spent time in America researching ideas and expectations. The guest house runs as an extension of the Mais Cafe and Resturant and the staff there has a good command of English and an even better command of Russian. A word for my North American travelers. Understand these hosts speak several languages and don’t get to practice English as much as they would like. North Americans usually speak one language, or perhaps two if you're lucky. Here two languages are the norm, and many speak four or five. So slow it down a bit and try to articulate the word clearly. The hosts will go out of their way to help you, it isn’t just a company idea, it is a traditional cultural expectation.

I arrived and was pleasantly surprised to find that they had room for me. It is the offseason, but its location near so many year round institutions makes it attractive. It is set back from one of Tbilisi’s busiest streets and is close to everything the city has to offer. For me, the main highlight was that it was very close to my favorite cigar bar. The staff showed me all three rooms, and I took the second largest room. It has a great balcony for sipping coffee and smoking something Cuban. The small room isn’t small by European standards, and I laughed when my host called it the small room. I recounted my London stay in a broom closet for two hundred Euros. By comparison, the largest suite is really big, and it has a balcony capable of hosting eight for dinner. The three private spacious bedrooms share a common reception and kitchen. Each bedroom has its large bathroom outfitted with five-star amenities. The beds are comfy, fine linens and special windows ensure guests sleep soundly. I was surprised to find English TV channels and having been struck down with the dreaded MANCOLD I curled up under the thick down comforter and pulled out my computer to write to you all.

So looking to the future I am certain my days here will be warm, and with the Mais Cafe just downstairs I won’t be going too far till this cold abates. They even let me use the backdoor to come and go, so I don’t have to go outside. Georgian Hospitality Once Again!