Back from Berlin, Kiev, Tbilisi and Georgia


Valley and monastery in the hills of Georgia (the country).
Pan-seared scallops, green apple, and the
famous white asparagus of northern Germany. 
Now is the time of day I usually wake up. But I've been up for two hours. I could have slept more, but the appeal of having two hours to myself, to regroup and reorganize some things, after being on holiday for 11 days was too alluring.

In the quiet morning hours, of course I checked in on my social networks and took care of a few things in the house, like making coffee, watering the plants, and tossing together some lunch to take to the office later. But I also just reflected.

Borscht with garlic bread in Kiev.
I thought about how Berlin was so much grander than I expected, wide and spread out, unlike other European cities whose old architecture and 16th Century narrow cobbled streets and passageways weren't  torn down as much in years of war. I flipped through the photo-memories in my mind of Kiev, which was ramping up to host the Euro Cup soccer/football games, and the remarkably good food I ate there: rich borscht, a smoked ham and bacon club sandwich, and tiny strawberries picked no more than a few hours before I ate them. And Georgia... no comparisons fit this unique country or its cuisine (image above).

I'll be writing more about each of these places in the coming days, with many more photos to come as well.