New 5 Minute Rule

It's hard to believe our 2 years in Georgia are coming to a close. It's such an amazing place, and I'm sorry I haven't shared more about it. I shall try to regularly do quick 5 minute posts before we leave, to cover some of our favorite things here.

Last night I returned from Svaneti, the remote mountainous region in west Georgia (near Sochi, where next year's Olympics will be held.) Svaneti is a truly extraordinary place. You take one look at Ushguli and immediately think, "Wow! THAT must be a UNESCO world heritage site!" (and it is: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/709)

Trips to amazing places are fabulous on their own, but the people really make them special. We had a fabulous team of Georgian guides with us, and they expanded our experience of Svaneti so much. The group of us from the Embassy was filled with people that made the trip more fun, from Yahtzee night to the dance party on the bus!

Bringing Thomas with me really increased our interactions with others, too--everywhere we went he was treated like a rockstar, kissed, held, played with, and generally fussed over in all the best ways.

I did my first-ever hike up to a glacier, with him strapped to me the whole way! It was beautiful and totally worth the exertion. We also did a strenuous hike up to an ancient church, and thank God one of the guys on the trip gallantly carried Thomas the final quarter of the way. (We couldn't see our destination, it was raining, the trail was incredibly steep, and Thomas just got too heavy after awhile!)

Svan towers are amazing--ancient stone towers used for defense and residences.

The air in Svaneti is fundamentally different than elsewhere.

Have to run, but here's something!