October 9 through December 9, 2013, Tbilisi
Hostelland Germany 70 Lari for double with bath
 
We're having beautiful autumn weather. Many fresh blue sky and sunny days, temps around 13 to 18C (55-65F)

 
Nino's Guesthouse

We had plenty of time to take-off and visit one of Georgia’s neighbors, Azerbaijan, Armenia, or Turkey. We couldn’t get enthused about those options. We had a nice large room in the guest house with a large living room with kitchenette to share with one other room. We enjoyed sharing our floor with the odd person or couple who would stay for a day or two. However, we have to admit that we preferred having the whole area to ourselves.

Nino made pancakes, lobiani and katchapuri for us a several times. Nino is the Manager of our guesthouse and the one who speaks English as well as Georgian, Russian and Turkish. She was the best and predisposed to be gracious, kind and helpful. Maria and Anna are the assistants who kept the place clean and took care of us too but we were always happier when Nino was on duty.

 
Alegra and Ryan

We had the fun company of Alegra and Ryan (staying in the small room on our floor). He is from Nova Scotia, Canada, she from Ohio, USA. They met a year and half ago in Ecuador where she was teaching English and he on vacation. Turns out she is 37 he 28 (although you'd never know it because he has lots of graying in his neatly trimmed beard) Great peeps, very sensible. He is accountant and owns property and businesses with his brother and she taught history in NY before they decided to travel for year and half!! Amazing. They left Georgia on November 7th on their way to Delhi and then on to camel-fair in Pushkar. where we were last year. Here in Georgia, they mostly would do their own thing during the day and, several times, we made dinner or they made dinner (Alegra made a killer lentil soup) and we'd talk or watch TV programs or movies together. They got us turned on to the series "Breaking Bad" about a science teacher who found out he has cancer, getting into making crystal meth. I am still not "into it", and don't think I will. I love the "locked up abroad" episodes. True accounts of people (most often young people) being caught smuggling drugs but also episodes of kidnappings, etc. Movies we watched: Easy A, disappointing, "Exotica", a dud, turned it off after suffering through one hour, and "Master" - same, couldn't make it past 30 minutes.

 
Where to after Georgia?
 
We are spending our time seriously brainstorming travel options for the next 6 months or so. So far, we have thrown these ideas in the hat:

1) Found repositioning cruise from Barcelona to San Paulo, Brazil (one-way) that sounds interesting. It takes 18 days, with five stops along the way, on Royal Caribbean's Splendour of the Sea’s, a 4-Star liner and is reduced to below $600 per person, plus tips - a steal.

We would have to add some swanky items to our meager wardrobe!! In the end we decided that this is not the time to head back to the Americas.
 
2) Walking the Camino de Santiago (the Way of St. James). Thousands and thousands do this 500 mile walk every year and one rarely walks alone. The Camino de Santiago finishes at the tomb of St. James in Santiago de Compostela in north-west Spain.

3) Prepare to drive in the London to Ulaanbataar Mongol Rally which kicks off every July. I even shot off an email to Junko and Hiro, asking them if they'd be game. It definitively has the adventure we love but, the more blogs we read, the more we felt like we probably wouldn't fit in with the drunken brawls and party scene of the typical twenty-something ralliers.

4) We are not done with India. How about buying a tuk-tuk this time and start in Sikim, Darjeeling, Asam, Nagaland and work our way down on the west side this time to Kerala?

5) We've been on the go for awhile so the idea of settling in a real home for the winter is appealing. We know people who have done house sitting arranged over the internet.


House Caring
 
An amazing house / pet sit opportunity caught our eye through housecarers.com......on Greek Ionian Island for 3 or 4 months. We became members ($50 per year). Sadly, while we were trying to learn how we could get a visa to allow Dave to stay beyond 90 days, the home owner selected other house sitters. It was very competitive so we don’t know if we would have gotten it even if the visa wasn't an issue.

The house sitting possibilities were endless and we were gung ho. As members, we receive new house/pet sitting adverts on daily basis. Our passports expire in 2014 and that might create a hurdle soon. Often, countries will not grant a visa without 6-months validity left on your passport.

Then we found an interesting 3 month stint in Charente, France. We'll look after two pampered cats in, what looks like, a beautiful home. The owners are Mike and John are going on trip to Far East.

 
Passport Renewal

Embassy logistics are much more convenient in Tbilisi, Georgia than in France. We have time and decided to stay in Tbilisi and get our passports renewed.
 
My Dutch passport proved problematic because of the very strict requirements for the picture. And, in spite of the fact that I had gone to their recommended photographer, I had to buy four sets of pictures before they got it right. The Embassy security guys smiled all knowing when I came and went. The Embassy has an optical reader that measures the image and makes the decision. Embassy staff is not allowed any discretion. The nice woman behind the counter at the Embassy said that one guy the week before had to return 11 times before he brought an acceptable photo. A little template might help. I started to wonder if it was a little conspiracy with the photographer to increase his bottom line.

Our American passports were straight forward and efficient. We filled the forms out on-line, printed them, scheduled an appointment, walked in with a recent photo, and were told new passports would be ready in one week. All went like a well-oiled machine.

In the meantime, my Dutch application was rejected at the regional processing office. My signature was too light. I had to go into the Tbilisi office and submit a fresh application. I began calling about the status when it should have been ready. A different woman at the local office said she did not have it yet and would try to determine the status. After two weeks, we went to the office to ask face-to-face. The original woman we had dealt had returned from holiday on that day and found my new passport had been put on her desk while she was out and had been collecting dust. It was not like the well-oiled machine at the American Embassy but we were relieved and happy that this task was complete.


26 Countries in the Schengen Agreement

We have been staying in touch with a number of travelers we met. "Rick", the 60 something American we met in Georgetown, Malaysia for one. He was hoping to settle-down in France but, in the end, that proved to be complicated and his income didn't qualify him for a permanent residence permit. Next, he went to Germany and was able to get residency permit but decided not to stay there and went to Portugal They agreed to accept his application to transfer his German resident permit to Portugal. He loves the climate and people he has met there. And he sounds soooo enthused, we have to go and check it out.  

One problem is that Dave is limited to 90 days per 180 days in the group of 26 Schengen countries (most of the EU). The longer stay principle is simple and straight forward. You can stay if you can demonstrate that you will not become a burden on the social welfare system. Just show you have an adequate means of support and health insurance and you can be approved to stay for more than the normal 90 days. The devil is in the details. Each country has its own process, exception criteria, and byzantine bureaucracy. We checked with Dutch embassy if there is was a way. They basically said no there is not unless we already live in NL and they also have some of the most cumbersome hoops to jump through. We emailed with the Portugal Embassy who said we should apply from our country of residence but, if we applied at the Embassy in Ankara Turkey, they would take a look. Having not lived in the US for the last few years, and no immediate plan to go back, we don’t want to go to the US to apply.

We were shocked to find the French Embassy in Tbilisi welcoming. The Embassy official outlined what documents we would need and scheduled an appointment. Dave submitted everything asked for and, after a brief review with the Consul, his application was accepted! Two days later, they called and asked Dave to pick up his passport. Upon further review, he said Dave needed to apply in the Provincial Office in the area where we would reside within two months of our arrival The Provincial Office would need the same documents and it would be up to them to approve my stay, as the spouse of an EU Passport holder. That was deflating to hear but there seemed no way around it. We’d have to arrive in France with the uncertainty of how long we could stay. It is a good thing we are adaptable.
 

Costs to Live in Georgia

Georgians do not make much money and it is a fairly poor country. So we were surprised that hotels and guesthouses in Tbilisi are expensive and standards low. You can get a bed in a hostel for 10 lari ($6) but those are not the kind of places you’d want to linger long. Our private room with ensuite bath was one of the better values in town at 70 lari. And, if we realized we were going to stay put for as long as we did, we would have gotten a decent apartment for a third of the price.

Our $82 per day expenses for two included two cameras, dentist and pharmacy visits and a bit of on-line shopping. Taxis and transport and wine are absolute bargains here. And we cooked many of our own meals so we were eating well for $18 per day for the two of us.

Georgia was one of the most expensive places we been in outside of western Europe, Japan or the US.