Sean and Marlous travel diaries
#squiglemoose2019
After splashing out on an amazing (and still cheap) stay at Sazano winery and bouging out on all the free wine related tours, we headed to Kutaisi airport and left Georgia. After seeing our post that we were on the way to Barcelona, and having a free weekend away from study, Rebekah spontaneously jumped on a plane from France and flew to Barcelona to hang out and party with us!
Now, imagine 12 people packed into one tiny Mashrutka (name for local mini buses). The driver is holding a cigarette in one hand and talking into his cellphone with the other. Meanwhile he is also driving 100km/h + along a rural ‘highway’, which is basically just a one lane windy road through the fields and mountains. Add a few full-grown “free range”cows in the middle of the road (usually hiding just around a blind corner) and you’ve got a pretty good picture of what our Mashrutka trip to Svaneti was like
Which other city in the world has a fountain that was literally created to dispense alcohol?? The chacha fountain of Batumi: Chacha is a Georgian vodka brewed from grapes and usually between 60-80% alcohol. This fountain was literally built with the intention of dispensing Chacha however the chaos of people trying to fill their bottles with free chacha caused the attraction to close within the first two hours... These days it still functions on special occasions but under the close watch of security guards who ensure the pubic don't run wild.
After many months spent chasing the sun across Asia, the Middle East and Europe we decided to switch things up and head for the fresh mountain air of Georgia. The great Caucasus mountain range with its 5000m peaks, picturesque Svan towers, monasteries, famously hospitable local population and low living costs are just some of the things that drew us to this country. I should also clarify that we are talking about Georgia the country, NOT the state in the USA (a common misunderstanding). Technically the country is called Sakartvelo and it is not clear where the English name ‘Georgia’ is derived from. Don’t ask me which continent it belongs to because I still don’t know! To the north is Russia, south is the Middle East, east is Asia and west is Europe. It is separated from Europe by the Black Sea and separated from Russia by the Caucasus mountains. Georgia declared itself an independent state in 1918 but in 1921 it became part of the Soviet Union and was a military republic until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992. Despite a large majority of the country bordering Islamic states, the population of Georgia is 84% orthodox Christian and there are countless beautiful monasteries scattered throughout the countryside and mountains.
Our 750 km Cycle Adventure We shortened our ambitious 21 day 1500 km cycle plan to a more manageable 16 days (11 days cycling, 5 days exploring) so that we could spend quality time with our family and friends. This meant we could use our remaining week in the Netherlands to go to Down The …
The day began with operation ‘Tread Quietly’. We decided our best plan of attack was to empty our rooms of luggage, load everything into the car and pay for the rooms before attempting to smuggle the bikes out of the bedrooms. Rather than sneaking out one by one we settled on a bold approach and in a line of 6, each carrying a bike, we tiptoed down the stairs. The operation was going well until “code red!”
The Costa da Morte, literally translated to death coast, is a section of coastline in Galicia Spain that was named because of the dangerous combinations of waves, currents, cliffs and winds that have resulted in a huge amount of shipwrecks and deaths over time. According to our research, the Costa da Morte was meant to be a dangerous, but a beautiful rough and remote stretch of coastline with many imposing lighthouses on towering cliffs (and a bonus was not many tourists come out this far).
There are over 200 Quintas (vineyards) in the Douro valley and we were lucky enough to stay at one. Quinta da Padrella provides campervanning tourists with a free place to park their vans overnight, as well as a free wine tour and tasting! It’s no wonder this was one of our favourite places in Portugal!
Did you know, Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world? It is believed to be the oldest city in west Europe, predating even London, Paris and Rome. This makes it the perfect place to do a free walking tour of the city.
Imagine an old farm in the middle of nowhere, no electricity or water (all off grid), an outdoor composting toilet and shower barely hidden from view by a holey bamboo fence and 2 shipping containers filled with tools. Mix in a couple of glamping tents, an old caravan and a nifty tree house and “Voila!” you have the homes for us and our fellow volunteers.
Sean and Marlous travel diaries 