Georgia recap with pictures

As I mentioned in my previous post, Nancy and I just got home from Georgia. I was there for work, and Nancy went along to do some sight seeing with the wife and sister of our local partner (who she had met when they visited Rochester last October). It was a very busy week, but there were the usual Georgian dinners and socializing, which are always enjoyable. On the way there, we had a 12 hour layover in Munich. If I was travelling alone (like usual), I would have alternated between doing work in a hotspot somewhere and walking laps around the airport. Since Nancy was with me, we decided to take a train into Munich, which was a city neither of us had been to. Below are some pictures from the trip.

This is from a tower in Munich which we had to take a long elevator to the top of.

A picture from the other side of the tower overlooking the City Center of Munich.

We signed the guestbook in the tower. This layover was the bulk of how we spent our first Valentine's day as a married couple. Not your average dinner and a movie, eh?

Nancy in the Center City Square.

My buddy Scott Schneider (from Philly) told us to check out his namesake's brewery in Munich. We found it, but it was closed until 5pm and we didn't have time to stop in to sample the local brew, as we had to head back to the airport to catch our flight to Tbilisi.

During all of the week days that we were there, I was tied up with work and Nancy was being shown the sights of Tbilisi and the surrounding areas.

Nancy was able to experience several traditional Georgian dinners as well. In addition to my good friend Kevin, who seems to live in Tbilisi these days, Sylwek (a Polish engineer who works for us) was also in town doing some work for us. Over the years, I've spent a lot of time with Sylwek in Poland and he's a good friend. It was great that Nancy was able to meet him as well for the first time. The next few pictures are from one of the Georgian dinners.

Left to right is Sylwek, myelf, Nancy, and Irakli (who works for our local partner and is always a gracious host).

Kevin and Bata (Ivane's friend). Bata has no business relationship with us, but Kevin and I have hung out with him socially a few times over the years and he's a great guy. It always amazes me how warm and welcoming Georgians are from the very first time you meet them. Bata is a great example of this as every time he sees Kevin or I, since the first time we met him two years ago, he always greets us with a big smile and a hug.
Mamuka (another of Ivane's friend's who we've run into at many a Georgian feast) and Ivane, who's apparently thinking very deep thoughts.

Temuri, Sylwek and I. Sylwek is very well respected by our customers here as well as in Poland. Usually one of the first questions I am asked when meeting with an end user is "when is Sylwek coming back? We have more questions for him."

Myself, Kevin and Sylwek. Sylwek convinced the bar tender this particular night to make Polish "Crazy Dogs" for everyone, which is a mixture of raspberry syrup and vodka and taken like a shot (it layers in the shot glass like the Polish flag). I've had many of these in Poland, but this was my first in Georgia, and Nancy's first ever. Sylwek officially certified Nancy as "tough enough to bring to Kielce." Kielce is a very small town in Poland which hosts a trade show that we attend every year - there are a lot of crazy dogs that happen there.

The Saturday that we were there, I finally had a break in the work side of things and Nancy and I were able to walk around Tbilisi, Georgia to see some of the sights. She had already been given the full tour of the major sights in Tbilisi by our hosts and most likely knows more about Tbilisi than I do at this point.

Nancy in front of a major traffic square.

Me in front of a massive statue. The statue is looking down on me and I have to admit, I was a little intimidated.

Later that night, Ivane and Bata took us to do some more sight seeing and then took us to dinner at an "Elvis Bar". The Elvis Bar served all of the following Georgian food, pizza, sushi (first time eating sushi outside the US for me), Chinese food and ice cream and had a live Beatles cover band playing. It was a pretty unique experience for sure! The picture below is Nancy, myself and Ivane in front of the theater in Tbilisi, outside the Elvis Bar.

I know Nancy has many more pictures on her camera, so maybe I'll be able to do another post with some of those. Overall it was a really good trip and Nancy had a great time seeing the sights and experiencing some excellent Georgian hospitality.