I have had a little break from posting and am slightly behind on the blogs so I will post just pictures and the descriptions of these amazing places will be in the YouTube vlog! We absolutely loved Gori, it was such an incredible place to visit, the locals were friendly and the amount we learnt about Stalin and WW2 was amazing! Uplistsikhe however, which translates to “Lord’s Fortress“ was one of the most ancient and interesting places we have seen. It is a cave complex you will see below dating from 1000 BC. We took a taxi costing about $12 from Gori to see it, we rushed to see it all! It is one of the oldest places we have seen, and to answer your questions before you ask them. Yes, I definitely was having Indiana Jones vibes with my hat! It was serendipitous that our taxi driver who insisted we call him "Dedo" (grandfather) Kova (he was lovely) was very vigilant about me getting sunstroke, and insisted I take the hat! Honestly, I felt like the real deal, move over Indiana Jones!! (even though my hat was a gift from an elderly taxi driver! If anyone does visit Gori, we honestly cannot recommend enough for you to visit Uplistsikhe in the same day, it made for a fantastic day trip and memories that will remain long after everyone stops viewing this blog!

Here is the YouTube below, which I would say you should at least glance at if you do plan on going so you can see what you will see in Gori and Uplistsikhe:

Gori, Stalin Museum, 3000 yr old Uplistsikhe | Travel Vlog #14

Arrived at Uplistsikhe and look who greeted me! What a cutie!


And the views begin..




















Back at the Stalin Museum




What an incredible museum!


































Back on the train and Ludmila (our train conductor supervisor, was keeping the train in order!!) We saw her smile, but once. She lifted a naughty little boy every time he got in her way, she kept the train so clean and orderly. Ludmila was officious and when we were all stuck in the carriage in absolute horrendous heat, I was struggling and she offered some help... and that is the only time in the entire train ride that we saw her smile, bit a little.



We love Georgia so much!! Stay tuned ��:-::-::-:

For our last day in Tbilisi we visited the ‘Leaning Tower of Tbilisi’ which is a clock tower that is home to a puppet theatre. The tower has mosaics featured on it and is surrounded by picturesque scenery. The fact the tower leans is strange, but it was built by a renowned puppeteer Rezo Gabriadze. The tower is new and was added by Gabriadze in 2011. It is a little fairytale of a structure and is very beautiful. The feel of the place cannot be experience through photos – as an aside rant, vicarious living can only take you so far. It is only when you are standing in amidst this square that you truly experience what this clock tower has to offer. The vibes, the feelings and ambiance are incredible. Like most things in Tbilisi! Tbilisi in itself, is very picturesque and quaint, places like this have an abundance of wealth to offer all those who visit them. They are mish mash of modern and old entwined together to give the end result – Tbilisi. We truly, loved Tbilisi and the other sites we visited. I feel it is one of those places which stays in your heart and that you remember with the fondness of an friend. I love looking at these photos, but it is not until I glance at the photos and videos in totality do I ask myself, how was I ever there? So come and experience it with us, you go gone with us..

Here is the YouTube below which attempts to do Tbilisi justice:

Tbilisi Hidden Waterfall and The Leaning Tower of Tbilisi | Travel Vlog #15

This mosque is incredible! Named the Jumah Mosque it is a Turkish Sunni mosque







I love everything watermelon, so naturally this watermelon drink was hit with me!


This purple wine ice cream we first tried in Mtskheta and it was delicious! We highly recommend this!!! It has become a new favourite of ours!!! And its purple like the galaxy stars you used to draw in kindergarten! Who doesn’t love purple!











This is the amazing clock tower!!!!
















Off to Russia we go!! Stay tuned for more places to see and meals to eat! 😊:-::-::-:

We caught an Aeroflot flight to Saint Petersburg, a place that I have wanted to visit for a very long time. We loved every moment. Ah, Saint Petersburg, how can anyone describe a place that has inspired writers, poets and philosophers (amongst others) to write their own stories, their own versions of Saint Petersburg, a place so incredibly beautiful that I have no words. It is beyond me how anyone could not like this place. We found the people very friendly and genuinely wanting to help us. When we visited the supermarket near our Airbnb the girl at the check-out asked whether we had a card for the supermarket, naturally we did not. An old man saw this and lent us his 10% discount for no reason, the point being, we did not need this discount the groceries did not end up too much but we could not help feeling that this was not, the Russia that was portrayed on television. The people did not mind us speaking English and we ran into Russians who were genuine and kind, for no apparent reason.. Apart from the beauty of Russia itself, the people really made it an unique experience. This is Russia a place where supermodels do actually roam the streets (and no, they are not struggling mail-order brides like you hear about in those out-dated movies, they are Instagram models earning more than most), where borscht is delicious, and where extravagance is a must, just look for yourself..

If you are interested, here is the vlog to really get a sense of this amazing place:

Saint Petersburg, Russia - Church of the Savior on the Spilled Blood & St Isaac’s

Check out our Instagram: yu_go_gone


Our Airbnb, $60Aud per night. A good deal for Saint Petersburg.








Troitsky Cathedral, also called the Trinity Cathedral


Cannot get enough of the stars on this magnificent cathedral!!!!














Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor (In Russian: Исаа́киевский Собо́р). This cathedral is deciated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great.


How beautiful are the roses and flowers in Russia!


warning: I may have gone a little overboard with the amount of photos I included of this incredible cathedral!
























Chandeliers decadent enough to make angels blush..






You can make your way to the top, and see this amazing view for yourself.




So grand, if you are a fan of architecture you will appreciate this as a large scale photo so you can observe the brilliance up close.. it is real enough to touch..




Yugo_boy in his element.. leading the way, while I lead behind and astray with the camera, for your amusement, your entertainment and the delights of my perception.


The Hermitage, a story for another post! I have a vlog dedicated just to this!


















crossing the bridge to the fortress..


How yellow and stunning is this building!


The yellow house!


This is known as the Peter and Paul Fortress which was founded by Peter the Great in 1703, with amazing grounds!!!


I personally just wanted to look at this close up on the blog again!

There were so many people walking around!






This country must have the most flowers in the world!

The Russians always honour those who they have lost..








Church of the Savior on the Spilled Blood, this is one of the most, if not the most beautiful man-made architectural magnificence you will ever see..
In Russian: Церковь Спаса на Крови, Tserkovʹ Spasa na Krovi


I warn in advance, I did fall in love with this, so a lot of photos of this will be included! It was raining when we visited but as beautiful as ever!

This incredible structure was built on the site where Emperor Alexander II died in March 1881, subsequent to this, this masterpiece was built between 1883 and 1907.







Inside it is also very beautiful..




















We had dinner at Gogli Restaurant






Some Borscht please? This is a sour soup popular in Eastern European cuisines, such as Russiam, Ukrainian, Polish, Belarusian.


Beef Stroganoff (Beef Stroganov) is a Russian dish that includes pieces of beef served in a sauce with smetana.


And to finish, chicken kiev.. which is a dish of chicken fillet pounded and rolled around cold butter, then coated with eggs and bread crumbs. It can be fried or baked.


The bill came to $55 for all this, including drinks. Which is great given that Saint Petersburg is a major city in the world, and we pay about the same and usually more in Sydney when we go for a nice dinner like this.


We could not resist visiting the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood once more!

I have purposely made the photos larger than life, as Russia itself is the largest country in the world (by surface area) so it is only fitting (but mainly, the details are able to be seen in the photos this way). Hopefully everyone loves this as much as I have loved showing you this in huge detail (literally, excuse the pun!).

We loved Saint Petersburg so much!!!! More of Russia to come!!! Yugogirl out! :-::-::-: