Georgia: A cheesy, snowy heaven

What can I say about Georgia? It was on our bucket list of Doha travel for a while now, and once we found some airline tickets on a sale we decided to pull the trigger! Kristal played travel agent for this trip and was able to find an amazing little ski town called Gudauri, about 2 hours outside of Tblisi.

Our first Georgian experience was at passport control where they took our passports, gave us a stamp, and then handed us a bottle of Georgian wine while saying “Welcome to Georgia”. Not only were we shocked but this kind of hospitality was experienced over and over in our time there. On that first day we drove through a snow storm, on a windy two lane road, to the town of Gudauri. Visibility was poor and our driver took the turns at high speeds considering the conditions. We were thankful to make it to our hotel which include breakfast and dinner so we washed up before grabbing a meal.

When we woke up for the second day of our trip we were shocked to see the storm had passed and we were faced with bright blue skies and stunning mountain peaks. We spent the whole day on the ski slopes, with me learning and Kristal being patient. The cost of the ski resort was like a $12 shop. Lift ticket: $12, Rentals: $12, Lesson: $12, Experience: Priceless (I couldn’t help myself). The slopes were scattered with bars and restaurants pumping house music, $1 coffees, and Katchuporis. Speaking of, Katchuporis are the national dish of Georgia and essentially is a cheesy bread that comes in different forms. Check out the photo.

 

The mountains were so incredible that we wanted to maximize our time there and cut out some of the time we were supposed to spend in Tblisi. The morning of our second day we actually decided to Paraglide from the highest peak down to the bottom of the slopes. It was my first time Paragliding and it could not have been a better place. We have videos that we hope to post soon. After our paragliding session it was down to Tblisi for our own eating tour of the town. We only had one night in Tblisi so we could only scratch the surface of what it had to offer. Cobblestone roads, history, beautiful churches, food, drink, and ice cream were all around us. As we got ready to hop in a cab back to the airport we wished we had more time, although we say that every time.

 

If you get the chance, Georgia is a gem. From what we hear surrounding countries like Azerbaijan and Armenia are incredible as well. We were thankful to even get a few days there and hope to get back one day. A Katchupori magnet proudly hangs on our fridge to commemorate the few days there!

UK and Irish Holidays

As Christmas and New Year’s approached this year, Kristal and I hoped to be able to travel for it. We started to explore some options when we found out that our friends Laura and Paul would be getting married in Belfast on December 22^nd and the decision was made for us, it would be a UK Christmas!

One of the big themes from this trip was having the chance to visit and catch up with friends each stop of the way. Our first stop was in London to visit Kristal’s old flatmates from New Zealand, Ben and Yve. While in London we got to see the Book of Mormon, visited Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, and toured the Tower of London. One of the big highlights was the Bavarian Village in Winter Wonderland that came equipped with an Oktoberfest tent!

From London we hopped on a quick flight to Dublin to begin the Irish road trip part of our trip. We rented a car and drove up to Belfast for the wedding. We spent about three days in Belfast doing some touristy things like a Black Cab Tour and the Titanic Museum, but mostly we were there for the wedding! We got to celebrate Laura and Paul while we shared an apartment in the city with our friends Eunan and Hannah. 

 

After the wedding festivities we dropped our friend Eunan at his parent’s home in Donegal County before driving down the coast to Galway. Galway was a quick overnight before driving down to Cork to meet up with Ben and Yve again as they rented a beach house with two other Kiwis to celebrate Christmas. Christmas Eve and Day were spent in a sleepy beach town called Ardmore that hosted a polar plunge on Christmas Day and had next to nothing open while we were there! We got to cook a Christmas dinner, spend all day in PJs, and watch the best in holiday cinema like Christmas with the Cranks! The best part of Christmas was getting to Skype with both of our families back home as well. Nothing replaces being there in person but we really appreciated seeing people open presents (especially Jaxon and Alexis!). Next year we hope to be home for the holidays to join in the fun!

We left Ardmore with Ben and Yve on Boxing Day/St. Steven’s Day to drive up to Athilone to meet up with the one and only Will Nestor. Will and his partner Deborah met us there and we had a great night exploring the town and catching up. The following day we were back on the way to Dublin for our last two nights. The trip could have ended here and we would have still had an amazing time but Edinburgh awaited!

Ben, Yve, Kristal and I flew from Dublin to Edinburgh on the morning of the 29^th. When we arrived we had blue skies to welcome us and we began exploring the city. It was my first time there, although Kristal had been a few years back. We spent the next few days on walking tours, visiting castles, and sneaking into pubs. We were also there for Hogmanay, which is the city’s New Years celebration. There were three days of events which included a torch procession, massive street party, and city wide scavenger hunt. Hogmanay was absolutely the best New Years celebration I have been too and I was able to enjoy it wearing a kilt! Some of the highlights from Edinburgh were great free walking tours, fireworks over the Edinburgh castle, visiting Doune castle (the location of Monty Python), and visiting our friend Robert for a ceilidh (traditional group dance). 

 

 After our time in Edinburgh came to a close we made a quick stop in Istanbul overnight to visit our friend Cagri and to buy some decorations for the wedding. By this time in the trip we were run down, sniffly, and ready to get back to Doha! 

All in all it was an amazing way to bring in the New Year. We have a few photos that we have shared but we also made a little highlight video to show some of the fun. While we had a great time we really missed friends and family during the holidays. Thanks to everyone for all their holiday wishes and stay tuned for more adventures!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a358J1OhCU4