Gone From Istanbul, Been to Barcelona, Now I’m in Georgia

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One of my favorite activities in Istanbul, Turkey, was riding the ferries across the Bosphorus and Golden Horn to visit the many different parts of this large and captivating city.

It’s been too long since I last posted. I was in Turkey at the time, which was two countries ago on my continuing journey.

For the past 11 days I’ve been in Georgia — the country, not the state — and before that I spent a week in Barcelona, Spain, where I visited a friend who I first met in 2017 in Medellin, Colombia.

A tourist in Barcelona, atop the Arena, a former bullfighting ring transformed to a shopping mall and viewing platform overlooking the historic Plaza Espana.

Barcelona normally would not be on my itinerary, though its reputation as a tourist destination is well deserved, as I found out. There were parts of the city that I enjoyed, especially the museums and architecture, but a week in Barcelona seemed about enough for my travel tastes.

Before Barcelona, I enjoyed spending three months among the immense, exotic, multi-cultural wealth of Istanbul and I am eager to go back to spend more time in Turkey outside of its largest city. It’s a large, diverse country, but I had no choice but to leave when I did as I was at the limit of my 90-day visa.

Istanbul was a mixed bag of joy, Orhan Parmuk-inspired melancholy, and strange stirrings I haven’t felt in other places. It was fascinating. I was only going to stay for a month, which turned into two, then a third, when I ran out of time.

Being drugged and robbed in Istanbul in early July took more or a toll on my mental state than I thought it would, however. I posted an account of what happened within days of the July 2nd incident, along with a couple of other posts, but lengthy dealings with Turkish police and bizarre treatment by one of my banks (more on that in an upcoming post), sapped a large amount of my energy, motivation and concentration, and put me in a blue funk. A professional may have termed it clinical depression, I think.

Rike Park at night in Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital city.

But Georgia’s been super so far and I feel my travel writing mojo returning to form. This former Soviet Republic is rich in history and culture, and I’ve got so much material now to draw upon after such a long layoff.

So look forward to more frequent posts. Send me your comments and questions, and if you like what you see, subscribe to the newsletter to be among the first to receive an email notice of new posts as soon as they’re posted.

Travel well, my friends, wherever your heart takes you.