Greetings from Georgia

Arrived here yesterday from Turkey and am staying in a coastal city on the Black Sea coast named Batumi, which oddly has the feel of a faded banana republic - wide tree lined streets with palms and lots of colonial style buildings that have seen somewhat better days, in amongst a fair number of soviet tower blocks. Stalin lived here for a while apparently, and they still haven't got around to removing his busts. Perhaps they're rather proud of him as a local lad? The town is very atmospheric and the countryside we have seen so far simply breathtaking, with snow-capped mountains tumbling down to a colbalt blue sea. The land is green and abundant, far more so than anywhere we saw in Turkey. Everywhere brown cows wander around and onto the roads which I suspect must impact on mortality rates in this country given the amount of vodka drinking that goes on here.

Last night night we did a little training on the vodka in preparation for a homestay later in the week where the vodka toasting is liable to get a bit scary. We had a meal at a fabulous old restaurant with wooden booths and a violinist playing mournful tunes before heading out for another comedy clubbing experience. Ordering drinks was very peculiar as the club barman didn't actually appear to have any beer behind the bar. Whenever one was ordered he left the building only to reappear a few minutes later clutching the bottles.