Author Archives: admin

Armenia – Gegharkunik, Lori, Shirak, Tavush (Gyumri) November 29, 2019 OBSERVATIONS 1. Currency. Armenian Dram – AMD. Exchange rate (Nov 2019): 529 AMD = 1€. 2. Drivers. Easily the worst thing about Armenia is the aggressive drivers. Of the “accelerate … Continue reading →

Nagorno-Karabakh, officially the Republic of Artsakh, is a country in the Caucasus. It is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but is closely linked in every way to Armenia and accessible only through Armenia. WARNING: There is a very high … Continue reading →

My interest in this religious ethnic group that emigrated from Georgia in the late 1890s, is that I lived in the West Kootenay of British Columbia where the majority of Doukhobors finally settled permanently.  Originally from Ukraine, they were relocated … Continue reading →

Azerbaijan – East (Baku, Quba, Lankaran, Yevlakh) November 24-27, 2019 CASPIAN SHORE DEFENSIVE CONSTRUCTIONS (24/10/2001) The Caucasus Mountains on the northern border of Azerbaijan was a natural defensive obstacle for foreign campaigns. They gave access to the narrow Caspian Plain, … Continue reading →

Azerbaijan – West – Ganja-Qazakh, Shaki-Zaqatala – November 23-24, 2019 Currency. Azerbaijan manet (AZN). Exchange rate November 2019 1€ = 1.88 AZN Capital. Baku Population. 10 million GETTING IN Visa. Most citizens of Western countries can enter with an e-visa … Continue reading →

Iraq is a republic in the Middle East. While Iraq contains ancient Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization, it has been ravaged by war and oppression for the last century. WARNING: The political situation in Iraq remains extremely unstable, even though the war was officially … Continue reading →

Georgia – Kartli Shida/Kvemo, Mtskheta, Kakheti (Tbilisi, Gori) November 20-23, 2019 GORI Stalin House and Museum. Now in a park, Stalin’s birth house is housed under a monumental stone canopy. The tiny, flat roofed, brick house had 2 rooms, one … Continue reading →

Georgia – Imereti, Svaneti, Samtskhe Javakheti, Guria (Kutaisi, Poti) November 19-20, 2019 COLCHIS WETLANDS and FORESTS. A Tentative WHS (24/10/2007), this approximately 74, 826 ha area is one of the last remains of the landscape belt, rich in tropical and … Continue reading →

Georgia – Ajaria (Batumi) November 18, 2019 Currency. Exchange fate November 2019. 1€ = 3.28 Georgian Lari (GEL) Alphabet. The Georgian alphabet is ancient and only related to Armenian. All road signs are also in Latin script. There is little … Continue reading →

TO SAVE THE CHURCH, DISMANTLE THE PRIESTHOOD To save the Church, Catholics must detach themselves from the clerical hierarchy—and take the faith back into their own hands. by James Carroll Atlantic: June 2019 I. “The Murder of a Soul” To feel … Continue reading →