Unfortunately, like certain militaries in this area, we had to divide and conquer to make this happen, which means that I'm travelling here alone while Hannah and Pete head to the Hammonds in Weymouth. Travelling alone having recently done so with a toddler...wow. The answer to "would you like something to drink?" suddenly becomes positive and alcoholic, and hand luggage is all I carried.
There aren't any direct flights to Tbilisi (can you believe?) so I had to connect through Istanbul. I could have got a cheaper flight on Air Ukraine through Kiev but Hannah vetoed that - apparently she isn't yet ready for this to become a war correspondent's blog. But that was the right choice, because I am only ever flying Turkish Airlines from now on. The aforementioned booze is free, the seats are huge, and they never stop feeding you! I also got to visit Istanbul.
Ah, Istanbul. Ancient seat of the Ottoman Empire, home of the Blue Mosque, the Topkapi Palace, the sixth-century Byzantine masterpiece that is Aya Sofya...none of which I got to see during my one-hour connection through Sabiha Gökçen International Airport. It did have some lovely duty free shops.
The airport didn't seem to do announcements, but I found the gate and waited with everyone else while the gate attendants kept shouting something. It turns out they were saying "Tbilisi" in Turkish, and only when they switched to English with "last call for Tbilisi" did anyone in the departure lounge understand what was happening, get up, and rush the departure gate. I suppose I should be more worried about journeying to countries where I can understand no one, but I spent five years in the USA so I'm kind of used to it...
Istanbul airport. Not bad!
Turkish coffee.
It's possible to find civilisation wherever you travel.
And I made it to Tbilisi! But more on that later.
