I got up at 0530, and it’s now 1000; but of course it’s 1000 in Prague, and 1300 in Tbilisi where I actually spent last night, so I’ve been awake for hours (though managed to nod off a bit on the first plane).
Well, the trip seems to have been a success; I will have to buy myself another copy of Ali and Nino since I gave the one I had to my boss. I may write up more details on what we were actually doing other than sightseeing, but it will be in a locked post if I ever get around to it; suffice to say that we met all three presidents, all three foreign ministers, two out of three prime ministers, and numerous other officials, activists, and diplomats, and came away understanding a lot more than I had before. Also I am now the owner of a fine carpet from the village of Shahnazarli, some Caspian Sea caviar, and a bottle of Georgian red wine and another of the lethal chacha. And, all being well, I’ll be home in four hours.
And my next planned trip, to the Balkans, has been postponed from mid-June to early July, which is a relief.
I wouldn’t be surprised either way. When I volunteered in local politics it was certainly noticeable that LD mud tended to be simple untruth and innuendo, whereas Tory and Labour mud tended to be more class-war dog-whistle. So I’ll certainly shed no tears for Woolas, but having read up a bit on Watkins I rather hope the Oldham electorate do better than either of them at the by-election.