I’m kind of obsessed with all the stray pups in town. They all look super well fed. They’re tagged. They’re vaccinated. And there goes one right now. [music] Ah, Georgia, Georgia, Georgia, Georgia — I had heard things about Georgian hospitality. It really is just unreal. I started in Tbilisi, which is this beautiful city, and had some amazing food. I got my first introduction to khachapuri. I met some people. We went out at night and had some chacha, of course. Didn’t get a lot of sleep, as you might tell. That’s because I was just having so much fun. So I got on a train the next morning, went through the countryside and ended up in Batumi, which is kind of this resort town on the Black Sea known largely for casinos. I was expecting more Vegas. And I was glad to see that it’s not that, at least when I was there in the off-season. Just biking along the boardwalk, rather pleasant. But then it just started raining, and it didn’t stop raining for days. The weather has been terrible here in Batumi. So I improvised. And that’s what you’ve got to do when you’re traveling like this. Can you guys tell me where we’re going right now? [laughter] “I don’t know myself.” “Hello. We are going in Mtirala National Park.” I got introduced to this guide through a friend of a friend, who then just said, “Hey, I’m picking you up at 5:00.” And we drive out to this little village called Mirveti. So we just drove about 30 minutes outside of Batumi, and this is what you find. It’s, like, prehistoric meets “Lord of the Rings,” or something. We’re walking through this very jungly flora. So where are we going? “To the waterfall.” To the waterfall. But whose house is this that we’re going to? [inaudible] “It’s my cousin’s place —” O.K. “— where he’s making the wine tasting.” Oh, O.K. Then we ended up at this guy Jamal’s house. He built this little house in the middle of the forest, where he sources grapes from all over the country and just makes his own wine. “Grape, West Georgia.” And so I sit down for a supra, which is a traditional feast. The toasts begin. [laughter] You have to come to Georgia to learn how to laugh. And they don’t end for hours. [glasses clinking] Thank you. [non-English speech] “You are welcome.” Thank you very much. And now, in Georgia, it’s customary. After each toast, it’s not just cheers, cheers, cheers, sip. You’re supposed to drain the whole glass of wine. So in the interest of cultural respect, I did that. “Ooh.” [clapping] Ah! Again, and again, and again. And wow, it was a lot. I mean, it was so much fun. But the next morning — not so much fun. I organized an excursion out of the city. So we went up into the mountains. It’s beautiful, just gorgeous countryside. I’m spending the day outside of Batumi, exploring the mountains. It’s very peaceful, very tropical. It’s not what I would expect out of Georgia. This man Timor, who was our driver, he was, like, “I know a place for lunch,” where he clearly is very good friends with the owners. And they bring out the chacha. I have no idea what I’m about to eat. I heard there might be wine and more chacha involved. Fine with it. I wasn’t about to say no. “Sebastian, God bless you.” God bless you. You can tell him that I hope one day I can welcome him like this in New York. Then I got back in the car, and we continued our way back up into the mountains. And that’s where the real adventure started. When we get higher and higher, the weather is getting worse and worse. And at a certain point, we basically hit, like, the line between snow and no snow. And then we’re in snow, a lot of it. And some of the worst roads I’ve ever seen. So we get up to this area called Beshumi. It’s a ski resort. And the season’s just ended. But there’s still plenty of snow. So much snow, in fact, that as we’re pulling up to the hotel, we realize the road to the hotel is completely blocked. So the snow’s too bad. The road’s too impassable. And if we stayed the night here, we’d risk being stuck up here — so change of plans. We ended up in another town that’s home to this big fortress, super beautiful. Had some more chacha in this little guesthouse, just the three of us. There were toasts upon toasts upon toasts. “Cheers.” Cheers. Then I stumbled into bed. If you’re asking, All you did was drink in Georgia? Once again, I drank too much chacha last night. When in Georgia — there’s some truth to that. And I met some wonderful, wonderful friendly people. But anyway, my takeaway from Georgia is it’s just stunning, and I can’t wait to go back and see other parts of the country. Everyone, when I told them where I was going, they’re, like, oh, that’s great. But you really need to go here and here and here and here. I think Israel is going to be a detox, I hope. Maybe not. There’s no chacha in New York. But we’ll have whiskey or something. Yeah. [non-English speech] It’s all good. [non-English speech] [laughter] You’ll be [inaudible]. [laughter]