05.41 No this is too early. I am going back to sleep.

08.00 Yes this is better. The time has come to head for new places. We are going to the birth country of the man of steel.

10.03 We have walked down through a nearly springlike Sundsvall and have reached the railway station. We just sat down on the train going to today’s first stop, Arlanda international airport north of Stockholm.

12.23 We´ve just had coffee and a cinnamon bun in the bistro on the train. We are on our way to Georgia, but not on our way to Atlanta in the United States. We are going to Georgia in Europe. We will first make a short stop in Latvia before we go there. Our flight with Air Baltic leaves from Riga.

13.35 We just had a quick lunch at 7 Eleven here at Arlanda. Soon we will arrange with suitable currency before we get to terminal 5.

14.52 We just checked in and are standing in the line to the security control. It is a long queue. Roberth surfed the internet before we got here.

15.31 We have passed the security check. I passed it twice to be on the safe side. I had forgotten to send my phone for screening.

15.57 We are sitting on the bus which will take us to the plane to Riga. We are flying with Air Baltic, the Latvian company which sometimes are cheaper than Ryanair.

16.48 We are up in the blue with a Fokker 50. I think we will be up here for around one hour.

LATVIA

19.12 We have touched down in Riga and set our watches one hour ahead. It is time for dinner at the airport restaurant which is one of the restaurants in the chain called LIDO. They have brought us food before (25/6 2001, 21/6 2005, 3/3. 8/3 2007). Now we will have sausages, drumsticks and filet of chicken, ribs and potatoes. To this we will drink beer that whistles as we open them.

Dinner at the LIDO restaurant at Riga Airport.

20.23 Last year we had problems finding the “right” check-in counter and we had to go to Air Baltic’s information desk. There we were told that the flight had been cancelled and that they would direct us to another flight. This year the check-in existed but we still had to visit Air Baltic to pay a fee for our bags. A male trainee took care of us and he had some help from a female of the same kind.

21.42 We are over the next threshold. We are beyond yet another security check. Roberth is able to surf the net with the code he bought from Sidewalk Express at Arlanda.

Friday 21st of March

00.31 I have set myself and my watch for Georgian time. We are seated and soon the others are so as well. The Good Friday is here.

02.12 We have bought and emptied a bag each, a bag with a small sandwich, four health biscuits, one tiramisu and coffee. The light is on in the cabin and people are talking merrily.

03.49 We are descending through the black Georgian night. We can see the lights from towns and at the airport there will be a man with a sign with my name waiting for us.

GEORGIA

04.25. We have entered Georgia. Swedish citizens only require a passport to enter. The man with the sign, George, took us to “his” Mercedes. We have pre-booked transfer to our hotel by http://www.airport-transfer.ge. Will we be let inside our upcoming home? The time has come to see yet another capital, Tbilisi.

05.24 George brought us to Hotel Gutsa http://www.hotelgutsa.ge at Kostava 12. He showed us the way to the hotel. He also helped us as an interpreter between us and our hostess. She signed us in using the inner part of a pen. We have also booked a transport with George to the airport when we are going home on the 28th.

09.37 We have slept a little and I just stepped out of the shower. Next I will have to choose clothes for today. How warm will it be today? After that it will be time for breakfast. We´re only allowed to use the shower for two minutes each time.

10.37 As we entered the breakfast room our hostess Mrs Chkikvadze was checking her blood pressure. We sat down and she served us coffee, bread, some kind of cheese, boiled sausage and more. The breakfast ended with a glass of strong vodka. She gave us pamphlets about the hotel, information about the area and told us about her and her twin daughters’ passion for art, realism and neorealism. Sure, she spoke a mix of English, Russian, Georgian and French but we understood most of it.

Roberth and Peter along Rustaveli avenue in Tbilisi

11.57 We have walked along the Rustaveli Avenue. Here we have changed money. Now we are in a courtyard. Roberth is on his way to leave a report via the internet.

12.49 We are on the Rustaveli Square below a statue of the very same national poet. Soon we´ll walk to the Armenian embassy to see if they can arrange with visas to us.

13.51 After having looked and searched, poor guidebook map, we have found the embassy. We are calling on an intercom by the gate. No answer.

Kebab and khachapuri, a typical Georgian lunch.

14.10 They answered and informed us that they have closed for the day. They will open again come Monday. That is good for them but too late for us. Now we will have lunch at a place with only a Georgian menu. The waitress was kind and helped us order, kebab, lemonade and some Georgian bread with cheese, khachapuri.

15.58 It is time for, who knows which time, a bench break. We are sitting in the Alexandrov Park not far from the Parliament.

Roberth and Peter with a new friend.

Political campers outside of the parliament. "Free elections" one sign said.

16.33 It is time for another stop, this time at the Freedom Square. High above the Square is a statue of Saint George and the dragon. Cars of various ages are passing by and I´ve got a craving for some coffee.

17.40 The café was smoke filled, smoke from several cigarettes. We didn’t get any coffee. Roberth has made a stop at a pharmacy. Now the three of us has bought some soft drinks for later.

19.26 We have slept for a while and we wonder what we will do next.

20.30 It is time for dinner at the Mexican restaurant Santa Fé http://www.info-tbilisi.com/santafe at Akhvlediani 20. We can hear Chris Rea in the loud speakers. We are drinking Argo, an excellent Georgian beer. The restaurant door keeps swinging open and we look out who closes it and who leaves it open. I guess this is the most interesting thing as of now. On the other side of the street there is a man with a sword. He stands outside the restaurant there.

21.58 We made a stop at an internet café just close to our home. The food was as the beer excellent and the traffic is still heavy.

23.36 We just had a balcony beer each and will now try to start our TV.

Saturday 22nd of March

08.25 We managed to switch on the TV but weren't able to find any channels. We are awake and ready to face the new day.

09.34 Today we got bread, cheese, yoghurt, sausage, mashed potatoes and coffee. Now we are taking it cool. There isn’t much energy in me today. This day is filled with must be done things. I wonder which they are.

11.17 One thing is done. We have gone outdoors. We bought postcards and some expensive postage, $1.70 for each card. Now we are at a flea market in a park on the other side of the river Mtkvari which runs through the city. Here a lot of things are sold straight from the ground.

Tavisuplebis moedani (Freedom Square), Tbilisi

Old town, Tbilisi

11.49 We just sat down on the vegetarian Café Lotus not far from the Freedom Square. Here we are having coffee and pastries. We are sitting here writing postcards. On the wall there is a picture of animals telling that they aren´t food. Pretty soon we will walk on again. We are on our way to the Old Town.

13.26 We are standing next to some sulphur baths. Memories from the sulphur last summer (28/6 2007) comes towards Christer and myself. Around us we can see various kinds of religious buildings. The skies are gray and I think it might start to rain soon. Roberth is trying to find a way to the citadel above the city.

13.31 He hasn’t found any way to the citadel. We haven’t found any mail box to put our postcards in either.

14.05 We found a way up to the citadel (fort) Narikala and now we´re sitting in the blowing wind next to an orthodox church. The view from above here is wonderful. Soon we will walk down again to have some lunch. Some guys just wished us good morning. Another gang of guys are doing paintings of the church here.

Beautiful views from the Narikala citadel in Tbilisi.

Walked a cross here

14.41 We are searching for a brewery restaurant. It is supposed to be here somewhere. Roberth brought some large bread with him as he got back from his latest hunt. Maybe our lunch?

14.54 We have been sitting outside a wine store. Let’s see what will happen next. The question is if this was a smart thing to do. We are not full but not hungry either. We are thirsty though but that doesn’t make things better. Christer has bought a t-shirt from a shop on the other side of the street.

Roberth is hungry.

15.18 We have found the restaurant/brewery Kaiser Bräu http://www.info-tbilisi.com/kaiserbrau/. Here they make their own beer. We´ll soon find out how it tastes.

16.20 The beer was great and the enchiladas as well. The staff spoke to us in German. Now we are walking along the dirt brown river Mtkvari with houses and hotels on the edge of the cliffs on the other side. We are trying to figure out how to get to the international bus station Ortochala. We will leave for Armenia from that station tomorrow.

Christer by the river Mtkvari.

17.10 It is time to ride another tube (metro). We bought some orange coloured plastic tokens. You place it in a slot and pass the turnstile. In a booth at the end of the escalator we saw a lady who makes sure that everyone behaves. We have seen this kind of work earlier on our trips. The price for going on the Tbilisi metro is astounding 0,40 lari (26 cents) and then you can go where ever you want in the metro system. On a power station down by the river we saw some reliefs of Lenin and Stalin on the wall.

Signs in the Georgian alphabet and language.

17.56 Now we are making up plans for the evening. We mustn’t forget to post the postcards. Tonight we will have local wine and food.

20.53 It is time for dinner at Khinklis Sakhli in Rustaveli 37. We are having Georgian food and wine. Before we got here we went to the post office and put the postcards in a wooden box. I hope it is for postcards. We were told so by a man in a small telegraph kiosk.

22.10 It was really delicious and the wine Alazani Valley was excellent as well. Georgia is the motherland of wine and has some excellent wines. The Georgian word gvino has been borrowed by several languages. The only down thing was the fact people in the restaurant smoked more than they were eating. Now we are back in room 2. It is time to pack and tuck in.

Tbilisi