A base for exploring in Kutaisi, Georgia

Kutaisi, Georgia/ Kimberly Sullivan

On our roadtrip around Georgia this past summer, we based ourselves in several towns and villages to explore the region. Kutaisi, in western Georgia, was one of our bases on this travel. Kutaisi is Georgia’s third largest city, after Tblisi and Batumi (the latter, we also visited during our time in Kutaisi). The small city,…

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Georgia’s haunting Tskaltubo spas

Tskaltubo spa, Georgia / Kimberly Sullivan

On the edges of Kutaisi, Georgia is the spa town of Tskaltubo, very much in vogue when this was a part of the USSR. We went to visit these haunting remains of this elegant spa town. This was a favorite spa destination of native Georgian Joseph Stalin, and the infrsastructure exploded around his visits, making…

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Visiting Stalin’s birthplace – in Gori, Georgia

Gori, Georgia / Kimberly Sullivan

Many years ago, I remember reading a biography of Joseph Stalin. I was living in Prague and struggling with the grammar of that difficult Slavic language. Although I knew Stalin was originally from Georgia and that Georgian is an isolated language and not Slavic, until that biography, I did not know that Stalin never perfected…

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A touch of Tuscany in Georgia’s Kakheti wine region

Kakheti, Georgia / Kimberly Sullivan

During our recent visit to Georgia, we loved our little touch of Tuscany – in one of the Caucasus’ best known wine regions. For those who don’t know, Georgia is well known for its wine, and especially its robust reds. Although, I still chuckle when I think about how a sommelier asked me what my…

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