Georgia wines from the birthplace of wine, and honey cake

 At the London Wine Fair, a trade show held at Olympia May 18-20th 2026.

A trade show in 2026 I learned about Georgian wine and food.

The picture on the label shows sheep and symbols from the old language.

Presenter Sarah Abbott, who is a Master of Wine (MW for short).

I recommend Georgian honey cake. Walnut and honey cake.

Georgian Food In London

Walnut & Spice

tel 07941560277 or 07540477982 - does home delivery and catering for events.

Useful Websites on Georgian Wine

Information on the history and wine labels from

https://www.georgianwine.uk/

https://www.georgianwine.uk/find-a-stockist

Lists lots of familiar names, from Waitrose supermarket to Hedonism shop in central London, as well as shops and wine bars all over England, such as the Old Bridge Hotel in Huntingdon which contains a wine shop, and a supplier in Scotland.

If you do a search you will probably also get ads from

https://www.georgianwineguild.co.uk

and Amazon and Ebay.

The next London Wine Fair trade show is in 2027.

Food and Wine Tours to Georgia, birthplace of wine, And Armenia.

 

At the World Travel Market in London. Armenia wwine tours. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

The next World Travel Market will be 4-6 November 2025 at ExCel exhibition centre in East London.

Useful Websites

Armenia

https://www.explore.co.uk/experiences/food-drink-tours

Georgia

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attractions-g294194-Activities-c42-t204-Georgia.html

World Travel Market (trade show)

https://www.wtm.com/london/

Georgia: Part 3: The Country In Eurasia - a Christian Land of Cathedrals, Caves and wine, sandwiched between the sea, Russia and Turkey

Georgia the country has a flag with lots of crosses. Five.Red crosses. The flag of Switzerland has one cross. (A small one on the centre of the flag. The red Cross has a red cross on white, but the flag of Switzerland is the reverse, white on red.) The flag of England has one cross; a red cross runs from side to side and top to bottom But Georgia has five crosses.All red crosses. As you might expect, the major religion is Christianity. The name Georgia might be related to St George or to Sanskrit for land of wolves.

Georgia is in Eurasia, Eastern Europe and Western Asia. 

Its west coast is on the Black Sea. To the north is Russia. To the south are Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan.  

Best of both worlds? We'll see. You decide. 

Its UNESCO recognized heritage sights include a cathedral. Cathedral are two a penny, as they say, meaning commonplace, in most of Western Europe. Although here the cathedral looks more Russian or Orthodox with its turquoise almost conical green domes on towers and filled white arches in walls. 

After the cathedral was apparently extensively renovated, UNESCO decided the building was no

longer sufficiently entirely old and removed the status. 

I think that is a pity. I would love to see many more  old buildings restored to look the way they once were. The Japanese rebuild everything as new after earthquakes using plans. It is good to have buildings restored and once again, places you can inhabit.

Description	Polski: Katedra Bagrati. Kutaisi, Imeretia, Gruzja. English: Bagrati Cathedral. Kutaisi, Imereti, Georgia. Русский: Храм Баграта. Кутаиси, Имеретия, Грузия. This is a photo of a monument in Georgia identified by the ID  591
Date	24 May 2014, 09:41
Source	Own work
Author	Marcin Konsek
Attribution (required by the license)	Photo: Marcin Konsek / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

However, I thought the cave city was more unusual.If rather desolate.

Description	ქართული: უფლისციხე, შიდა ქართლის მხარე, საქართველო. Polski: Rezerwat historyczno-architektoniczny. Uplisciche, Wewnętrzna Kartlia, Gruzja. English: Historical-Architectural Reserve. Uplistsikhe, Shida Kartli, Georgia. Русский: Историко-архитектурный заповедник. Уплисцихе, Шида-Картли, Грузия. This is a photo of a monument in Georgia identified by the ID  1953
Date	24 May 2016, 12:01
Source	Own work
Author	Marcin Konsek
Attribution (required by the license)	Photo: Marcin Konsek / Wikimedia Commons /

Food and Drink

Specialities include dumplings, meat and other dishes with walnuts, wine. Sounds yummy. What's not to like!

Do read the travel and health advisories from the governments of the UK and USA and wherever you are for up to date information on visas, travel, health and safety.

 Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_(country)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagrati_Cathedral

Wikimedia

Wikitravel

Wikivoyage

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Georgia_(country)

About the Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Noah's Ark and Noah's Burial Place, Nakjchivan in Azerbaijan

Go east of Turkey and you come to Armenia, inside which you find an enclave of Azerbaijan people. 

Distinctive features of architecture include arches, tall oblong tower, sometimes with conical tops, magnificent mosques and mausoleums, ornamental brown brickwork and beautiful blue tiles.

Monument to the prophet Noah. Wiki.

Mausoleum. Photo by Sefer Azeri in Wikipedia.

You will see a lot of fine mausoleums. 

Smaller, but unusual monuments are the rams on gravestones.

Ram on gravestone. 

Sad to see that historic Armenian gravestones have been destroyed. This is what they looked like.

Author, Angela Lansbury

Travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Amazing Churches, Chapels, Cathedrals & Monasteries, In Caves & More Worldwide

Wacky Wedding Venue
Whether you want a wonderful wedding venue, a funny photo or just a moment of quiet contemplation, you have plenty to amaze and uplift you worldwide. Which is the most amazing and memorable church? The most bizarre church is the Wedding Church in Taiwan shaped like a lady's high heeled shoe.

Description	English: Glass High Heel Church in Budai Township, Chiayi County
Date	8 February 2017, 15:31:49
Source	Own work
Author	Accord14

The most atmospheric is one in the cave in Cairo, Egypt. Others are in Italy

Wikipedia has a long list of monasteries in caves.
For example, Vardzia, Georgia, from the bell tower.



Cave Monastery in Vardzia, South Georgia (country of Georgia, not the US State).

Over in the USA, not Georgia but Arizona, is a chapel built into a rock face, Chapel of the Holy Cross.

Out to sea, in Hawaii, is St Benedicts in Honavnau.

The most stunning church interior on mainland USA, in my view, is the tall one with the light coming through - it is The Cathedral of Christ the Light, in Oakland, California, USA.

Interior of Cathedral of Christ the Light, Oakland, CA
Date	11/05/2008
Source	Own work
Author	Skier Dude

Evening photo by Cam Vilay.

Another practical use of surroundings is the floating Catholic church in Tonle, Sap Lake, Cambodia. Maybe other countries could pick up tips from this, notably Holland in the Netherlands, Venice in Italy and Jakarta in Indonesia.

The trompe l'oeuil frescoes reate an air of grandeur and are impressively skilful at St Benedicts in Honaunau in Hawaii.



This church's painter inspired others, such as the Star of the Sea.

In the UK we have many magnificent buildings. One of the oddest is the twisted spire of the Anglican church of St Marys and All Saints in Chesterfield, Derbyshire.

I cannot travel right now because of Covid19. So I can console myself by recalling that many buildings are not the photographer's delight you might imagine. I have arrived at cathedrals to find them covered in scaffolding, closed for renovation. Or impossible to photograph from the front gate underneath.

Yet in books and online you can enjoy the buildings immortalised at their best moments of lights and glory.

Book:
Amazing Churches of the World by Michael Kerrigan, Amber Books, 19.99 pounds sterling.

Unusual Religious Buildings by Country
Cambodia - Floating Catholic church and other floating buildings, Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia
Egypt - Virgin Mary and St Simon Cathedral, Cairo, Egypt
Georgia - cave monastery in Vardzia, S Georgia
Italy - cave
Taiwan -
UK - Church of St Mary and All Saints, Chesterfield, England, UK
USA - Chapel of the Holy Cross, Arizona, USA
Cathedral of Christ the Light, Oakland, California, USA

Useful websites
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-8196877/Incredible-images-worlds-jaw-dropping-churches.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ico=taboola_feed

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cave_monasteries

Author, Author! About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. (Not related to the actress.) See books and profiles on Lulu.com and Amazon, such as Wedding Speeches & Toasts, Quick Quotations, Who Said What When. Also watch videos on YouTube.
See other posts on singers and statues and languages and destinations.
Please share links to your favourite posts.

See Plaque to Jingle Bells From Medford, Massachusetts, USA

Luxury and love in Georgia? And the Farsi Language used in Iran.

Flag of Georgia. From Wikipedia.

Problem
Georgia? Where is it? I've been to Atlanta, Georgia, in the USA. But not Georgia over in Eurasia.

Answer
I had just finished an aqua class in London, in Harrow, a very cosmopolitan area. In previous centuries immigrants arrived by boat in the East End of London. Nowadays they arrive at Heathrow airport and live nearby in Harrow.

A dark-haired, brown-eyes lady accidentally bomped me on the head with a sponge noodle. "I apologise!" she said. We locked eyes and smiled several times. When the lesson ended, she and her friend were talking in the water and I went to join in.

She is originally from Iran and speaks Farsi. That language is also spoken in neighbouring Afghanistan.

She recently returned from a holiday in Georgia with family from the UK, USA and Iran. When some of the family can't get back to Iran, it's easy to meet up in Georgia, which was formerly part of Russia but now independent. Currently (November 2017) you can enjoy luxury hotels at low prices, she says. She stayed at the second best standard hotel, because her group wanted enough bedrooms for all of them in the same hotel, in summer, which is high season there as it is elsewhere in the world.

I asked, "What is a well-known landmark which everybody should see, like the Eiffel Tower in Paris?"

"The animated statue of the lovers," she said. "It's a giant statue. The boy and girl move backwards and forwards, towards each other, away, then back again. It's based on the (true?) story of lovers, Christian and non-Christian, who had to part.

"It's not in the centre of the capital city, but the seaside, very nearby."

The statue is called The Statue of Love, or Man and Woman, 8 meters tall, in the seaside of Batumi, inspired by the story of Ali and Nino.

"What about the Farsi language?" I asked. Now I know that it's useful in more than one country, I am more interested. I heard an amusing talk about the Iranian language, Persian, at a Toastmasters meeting in London. We have had two memorable members, charismatic characters, who were originally from Iran.

I thought I would start by learning a useful and an easy word, used in English, and universally. Taxi.
"Is taxi the same word in your language?"

"Yes, we say taxi in Farsi."

I told her that my third level of learning languages will be Arabic and other languages with 'difficult' script. I already speak English and fluent French as a second language. I am learned Latin at school so Italian, Spanish and Portuguese are relatively easy, just a matter of putting in the time. After that, German and Scandinavian languages and Dutch.

I am learning the Cyrillic alphabets for Russian and Bulgarian. I am also learning Greek, and Hebrew which is like Greek, with one of two letters reversed right to left such as the Gimel. (In Greek alpha beta gimel delta; in Hebrew alef, bet, gimel, dalit). The gimel looks like an r in Greek but like a 7 in Hebrew.

I told her that Romanian is similar to Italian (Romania means under the rule of the Romans) with a few French words, such as Mersi for thank you.

"Mersi is also thank you in Iranian!" she said.

My family and a group of friends are already planning a trip to either Madeira (for which I need to learn Portuguese) or Bulgaria (for which I need the Cyrillic).

So now I can say taxi and thank you in Farsi. So can you.

I now have my eyes on learning Farsi, and visiting Georgia. What was previously just a name on a map, is one step closer.

If you are interested in learning languages, a free ap is Duolingo.

Currently (nov 2016) you can learn:
Chinese (hatching - in preparation - maybe you or a friend can help
Czech
Danish
Dutch
English (for speakers of various other languages)
French
German
Greek
Hebrew
(Hindi - hatching ie in preparation, maybe you or a bilingual friend can help)
(Indonesian - hatching ie in preparation, maybe you or a bilingual friend can help)
Irish
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Norwegian
Portuguese
Polish
Romanian
Russian
Spanish
Swahili
Swedish
Turkish
Ukrainian
Vietnamese
Welsh

USEFUL WEBSITES
www.duolingo.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jV9cNxfwfDQ Video of Man and Woman sculpture by Tamara in Batumi, seaside of Georgia.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, teacher of English and other languages.

Flying from cold to hot or hot to cold - weather, whether or not

Problems
Your flight goes from a hot country to a cold country and back? What do you pack and wear on the plane there and the plane home?

Answers
Pack and dress layers so your clothes suit all seasons. Take gloves and warm underwear and socks. They are small to carry, hard to find in a hurry in the wrong season, and give you a warm base. Carry or pack on top of suitcase or on the right so you know where it is when you need it instantly on arrival, or pack in hand luggage one or two pairs of heavy boots and a warm hat or scarf and umbrella. Similarly, for hot weather and staying in hotels overnight, I take a swimsuit, a bikini if my figure and local customs allow one in hand luggage or handbag. Then if you arrive at sunset you can dash to the pool without spending an hour unpacking.

Story From Finland
I once had to waited half an hour for my luggage from a coach party to be delivered by porters at around six. I gave up, grabbed a towel and raced down to the hotel sauna which would be closed by the time we finished our welcome dinner bound to go on later than eight pm. Instead of showering in my hotel room I showered in the swimming area, got to try the sauna. The group leader (It was a press trip to Finland) apologised that we were not able to sample a Finnish sauna (where you rest on a towel in the nude). I just smiled and retorted, "DOn't worry. I've seen it already." One person thought I was joking. Another one asked, "How did you do that?"

Story From Europe
I went to Warsaw in ankle deep snow and recently to Prague. I took two pairs of boots. My ankle boots gripped my ankles and were good for walking up and down hills. My loose Wellington type boots were for snow but were tiring for long walking. It's good to try to a short foray around the block, ostensibly to take a photograph, to try out your shoes, before committing yourself for footwear for a whole morning walk, a walking tour, or a day out.

Story From The USA
My family learned to ski at the weekend when we lived in Rockville, Maryland in the USA. We went to the snowy hills to ski at weekends in winter.

We drove up north for the autumn cool to see the Fall leaves falling from the trees along the wet and windy east coast.

We would drive south to Georgia or Florida for shoulders season Spring conferences. In high summer it was so hot that local business people left the city and hotels were cheap.

Europe
Across the ocean, jokingly called 'The Pond', in Europe, Paris is deserted in hot August when families go away on holiday and some of the best restaurants are closed just when tourists arrive expecting everything to be open.

Singapore and New Zealand
I like to go from Singapore to New Zealand to ski.

I often go out to Spain or Singapore for Christmas or the cold January to February or March months.

Tips
Book a hotel near transport such as a bus stop or train station. (In Singapore called MRT which you can remember as meaning mass railway transit or travel). In Singapore the central crossroads has the Marriott hotel and adjacent Tang's Shopping mall linked to an underground walkway which goes from Orchard MRT station adjoining IO shopping mall. From Orchard MRT walk underground along the air conditioned and free from sunlight and rain along Orchard Road under shopping malls via two basement levels of shops and restaurants and at one point an Aquarium with lots of small fish in fish tanks.
Similar underground links and above ground links connect hotels to shops for all weather walking in other countries. Some are in Canada and others in South Africa.

Author
Angela Lansbury. Please read my posts on other blogs on blogger.com, see my profile here or on Facebook and LinkedIn. I am a travel writer and photographer and author and public speaker and train speakers and teach English and languages. Like my pages and share.