I left you in my last post with a description of the Polyglot Gathering in Berlin, where I had a somewhat exhausting but very inspiring time. The previous year I had regretted not being able to stay in Berlin longer to see more of the city, so this year I planned to be there for a full week intending to use the couple of days before and after the Gathering to do some sightseeing. I did at least do a bit of walking around and enjoyed seeing inside the Berliner Dom as well as browsing a gigantic bookstore called Dussmann (I feel like this could be the start of a list called “You know you’re a nerdy traveler when…”), but unfortunately I found myself lacking the energy to do much else. I guess I should have given myself even more time to account for the toll of jet lag and the mental exhaustion of the Gathering. Oh well, there’s always next year!
After Berlin I made my way to Georgia to visit a good friend of mine.
And when I say Georgia, I mean the country, not the U.S. state. Since many people don’t even know this country exists, much less where it is (and I have to admit I didn’t know either until fairly recently), here’s a map that points it out nicely:

Confession: I totally stole this image from Google. Please don’t sue me?
When I told family and friends in the U.S. I was going to Georgia (“the country, not the state,” I was always careful to specify), the most common reactions were:
- “Where is that?” (Hopefully the above map clears this one up.) and,
- “Is it safe there?”