October 30, 2025
Hi all - well, it is official...i have now visited my 100th country on this planet during my October Break! It's a big deal to me....and I don't plan to stop visiting new places (or previously visited places) any time soon 😜 Over the summer, my last trip was to Toulouse, France, Andorra (country #98) and Barcelona, Spain. It was short, but filled with craziness, fun, food, history and surprise. I took this trip with my friend Lisa, a seasoned traveler like me, but for Andorra, we did not plan well. Now, when we have something that is just not going right...our word to describe it is Andorra...more on why a little later in the update.
This past week, I was in London for an american football game (ram vs jaguars), then flew to Georgia #99, and spent a day in Armenia #100, while there.....this trip included visits with Karen (from Ghana days), Jason & Katie (who I had not seen for 19 years - since their wedding) and traveling to the two countries with friends Maja and Heather)....it was a great week of catch-ups, sports, food, drink, adventure and exploration.....so happy i got to experience these places with these people!!!!
There have been other events in Paris between these adventures, and I will send out a true Paris update next about my adventures here. I will be in the states over the winter holiday, but it will be a quick trip...if you would like to try and meet up, get in touch and we'll see if it can happen....in 2026, i am hoping to travel to Italy and the Philippines (country #101)....so am excited for these adventures that are already scheduled.....now onto the pictures from the other adventures.....
Lisa and I arrived on a super HOT day in Toulouse at the train station.....it was ridiculously hot, but it got worse after we left.....not a fun way to explore a city....but we did it!!!
One of the amazing things we visited in Toulouse was the Halle De La Machine.....it is an incredible exhibit of street art and mechanics....the machines are large enough for people to ride on them....and they are controlled by humans...the Minotaure was mind-blowing!!!!
This one is actually a dragon that lives usually in Beijing...it was designed for the city...I never saw it when I was in china, but it is visiting Toulouse currently, so I was pretty excited to check it out!!!🐲
From Toulouse, we traveled by bus to Andorra...which actually does not have an airport or train station...bus is the only way to get there....this was country number 98 for me!!! and what a strange place it was.....
The three main things to do in Andorra are ski (it was the wrong time of the year), shop (due to lower taxes than the EU, but I am not much of a shopper), and hike (but it was 35C+/100F+ while we were there....too hot!!!)....we did go on a hike up to a human-made lake, but you were not allowed to swim in it....so we wandered around it and had a beer while there.....
we also went up to a local mineral pool, as Andorra is also known for its spas...we also wnet to their biggest spa for a morning....we really wanted to relax for the day...but 4 hours was the maximum time allowed....no more for you!!!!! it was weird!!! 🤷
we did end up finding some good food....this chinese place was actually quite authentic and we loved this sign....due to Andorra being soooooo weird....not really sure why we stayed for four nights....we made the wrong choice with this, but we made it work.....
We also found a great wine bar, run by argentinians....but overall, this is a place you should go to if you are going to ski or shop....and if you are not doing those things, you really only need to be here for a day...not four....but now when things are really weird for Lisa and I, we just say "Andorra", and understand it all from that one word 🤣
and then we were on our way to Barcelona for one night....i made a point to go visit the Sagrada Familia, as I had not seen it for over 20 years! Last time i was there, there was no stained glass..it was incredible!!! 3 parts on the outside, of four are now mostly finished.....
As you can see from the shot above, the stained glass really has a huge effect on the inside of the cathedral...this was the side that faced the sunset....simply breath-taking!
the other aspect of this cathedral that i love is that it was built to look like a forest when you look up! the nature focus is throughout the design and really gives the building an interesting and different perspective...it is just incredible! We were only there in Barcelona for one night, but we certainly enjoyed every moment of it!
the second trip i am going to write about was just last week.... I was off to London for the first weekend of my October break....and I met up with Karen and her two-year-old son for breakfast....we had not seen each other since we both left Ghana in June of 20216...it was a lovely catch-up!
One of the main reasons i was in london for 48 hours, was to catch up with Katie & Jason....we realized that we had not seen each other since their wedding, 19 years ago....it was a blast catching up, eating, drinking and exploring london with them!!!
Another reason i was in london was to catch an american football game at Wembley Stadium LIVE!!!! this stadium did such an amazing job....i guess the Jacksonville Jaguars call wembley their second home...the merch and PR for that team was quite evident....and even though they did not play well, it was definitely a jaguars fan base....
these were my seats for the game...not too shabby....and a lot cheaper than Eagles tickets back in philly 😉 the other cool thing was to see jerseys from across the league...if you had a jersey, you were wearing it, whether the team was playing or not....such a fun atmosphere and experience...i would do it again!! 🏈
after the game, i raced to heathrow to catch a flight to country #99 - Georgia...where i met up with my friend's Maja and Heather to explore this country....we stayed in tblisi, the capital, the whole time, but did get out to go to Armenia for a day (ore on that later - 100) and into the wine region for a wine tasting....loved this shot of us with famous artworks....
i really enjoyed the street art in Tbilisi...this is sergei parajanov...a famous avant-garde filmmaker & georgian artist....he was considered a political dissident during USSR rule and did spend time in jail.....
this is the famous leaning clock tower of tbilisi....it was created by Rezo Gabriadze, who was a puppeteer and created the marionette theater in tbilisi....which we went to....it was charming and so fun to watch...we saw a play called Alfred and Violetta....it was a wonderful story and the puppeteers were incredible....this clock tower has an angel that comes out and strikes a bell every hour....and then twice a day, a small puppet show happens here as well....as part of the clock....simply stunning!
One of our days in tbilisi we took a cable car up to the top of one of their hills....from the top we could see the largest orthodox cathedral in tbilisi - the holy trinity cathedral....we did not make it there during our visit...although we went to many orthodox churches while visiting....more than 86% of all georgians are eastern orthodox....something i learned while visiting this country....
and this was the statue of the mother of georgia - kartlis deda...she stands 20m/66 ft tall, she holds a sword and a cup of wine in each hand - this is because georgians treat good faith guests well and offer them the wine, but their enemies will be dealt with ruthlessly
georgian wine is becoming more and more known...because it uses a different process of fermentation and production...more on that later...i did like some of the georgian wines, but only the dry ones....their semi-sweet and sweet wines are just too sweet for my taste...but this must be why they kept asking us how many liters of wine we could drink at once?!?!?!
for one of the days in this part of the world, we took a trip into Armenia - my 100th country to visit on the planet!!!! some interesting things i learned about armenia - it was the first country to adopt christianity as a state religion (92% of its population is christian), it was the first country to build. states church, and it was the first country to make chess a mandatory subject in school.....we had lunch at a food court along our drive...and were blown away by all the different types of baklava....yummy!!!!
our first stop was at the largest lake in armenia - lake sevan....this is a HUGE freshwater lake...it is one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world....there was a monastery on a peninsula that we stopped to check out....it is called sevanavank...it was founded in 305 AD....crazy!!! the stones you see above are armenian stone crosses, known as khachkar...they act as a focal point for worship...
this was the altar inside of the monastery...quite beautiful....the monastery still holds services today and it is considered one of armenia's most spiritually charged places....
this is a view of the beautiful lake as the sun was coming out from behind the clouds...the view was stunning....lake Sevan makes up 1/6 of the size of all of armenia and is considered the jewel of armenia....
this is the monastery from the outside...it was a beauty of a day....actually it was quite drizzly, but every time we got to somewhere we were visiting, the rain would stop and the clouds would part and we would get pictures like this one....incredible!!!
this is me with the armenian flag, outside of the monastery, trying to make the number 100 with my fingers...easier said than done...i did make a sign, but forgot to bring it on the trip with me, but there is a shot with it on my phone a bit further down....
pomegranates were everywhere on this trip - both georgia and armenia...i really liked the way this picture looked with the colors, which is why i took it...they are seen in both georgia and armenia as symbols of prosperity and good fortune....
we also stopped at a town that is called the switzerland of armenia...it is called dilijan...it has this one beautiful stone street with a few artisans and souvenir shops...it was a quaint street where we could get things to remember this very quick, but lovely trip into armenia....
here are heather, maja and i on the top of the hill the sevanavank monastery....you can see the lovely lake behind us....we are celebrating our stop in this beautiful spot!!!
and of course, to celebrate number 100, i had to have a local beer with lunch....on my phone is the sign i made for this moment of my travels...who knew this would happen...and i am pretty excited that i did it!!! i will continue to go to new countries, as much as possible, but i am quite happy that i have reached one of my lifetime goals...and you have been along for the ride!!! yahooooooo!!! Thanks, Armenia!!!
one of the things i loved about tbilisi was all of the street art...whether it be murals or graffiti or sculptures, it was everywhere...it reminded me a lot of the street art in Bratislava...you never knew where you would see it, you would just need to keep looking....loved the sax player walking through the wall♬
Georgia is becoming more and more known for its wine...this is due to the interesting process it uses for production and fermentation....in the small wineries - like the one we visited outside of tbilisi, they use these earthen containers called qvevri....they put all of the parts of the grape, mushed up, into this and let it ferment based on the type of wine they are making (dry, semi-sweet, sweet, etc)....we saw how they did this in this small winery we did a tasting at....the wine is too sweet for me most times, but i can sometimes handle the dry wines....especially the super dark red one - saperavi....yummy🍷
the town we went tasting in was adorable and located in the kakheti region...it was called sighnaghi...and had these old, 18th century, city walls we could actually walk along....the views of the caucasus mountains from these walls were incredible 😲
then we went to the bodbe monsatery complex, which was originally built in the 9th century, it has been modernized and updated, but is still an orthodox monastery being used today...the main church was currently under construction and the mosaic they were making was stunning....we had a beautiful day to visit this place and had some of the best georgian pastries outside of its walls made by two grandmothers...delicious!!!
our second wine stop was at a more industrial distributor, KTW - this stands for Kakhetian Winemaking Tradition....they still use the same methods, but on a much bigger scale and we got to taste directly from the huge vats of wine.... Drinking red wine cold is not necessarily my style, but the Georgians certainly like it this way! this company's wines are the ones most commonly found outside of Georgia and if you have not tasted them, i recommend you do! This region is up and coming, definitely starting to export quite a bit of wine....
our last full day was back in tbilisi, where we went to their daily flea market....it was so interesting to see stalin everywhere - he was born in georgia, and the georgians claim him as one of theirs, but more as a historical reminder that all people are born somewhere and that place does not necessarily cause them to turn into the adult they become...this is the deda ena, the mother tongue statue in tbilisi....this was built to commemorate when georgians rose up against the USSR to NOT have their mother tongue (georgian) replaced by russian as their country's main language...they actually succeeded with this protest, and this is why georgian still exists today....it was a super cool statue....
one of my most favorite things about georgia was the food....they have a lot of vegetarian options...including the dumpling-like sacs above, called khinkali....you actually eat them upside down and you can have them boiled or fried....they are filled with veggies or meat, and are kind of like dumplings or pierogies.....and they also had this amazing walnut paste on salads and with roasted veggies...sooooo tasty!!!
so here is a final toast from me to you....on a balcony in tbilisi....here's to Andorra - country number 98, Georgia - country number 99 and Armenia - country number 100!!!!! they were two terrific trips, with terrific people, and just once again showed me how large and varied this planet we live on is!!! My hope is to get to country number 101 in 2026....the Philippines!!!! Bon Voyage to all of you...i urge you to get out of your comfort zone and travel...whether somewhere in your own country...or world-wide...there are amazing adventures to be had!!!!
if you have any questions, comments or concerns...please reach out....happy fall/spring to you all and i'll catch you on the next update!!!!
Peace out....
Dani
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