Tbilisi



Who knew Tbilisi is the capital city of a place called Sakartvelo and the T is silent? Well now you know. Sakartvelo is what the Georgians call their own country. See Wikipedia for details. 


We went on a walking tour on our day off yesterday and visited the old city today. 


OK, I tried to slip that in; you may be wondering why two days off? When we were planning this trip, we thought we may have to find some trucks to transport us over the border, which was proving difficult to arrange in the UK. Why? For reasons not properly established anywhere other than in official circles, it is not possible to drive a private car into Azerbaijan, although you can fly in, go by train and trucks can drive over the border. Go figure. 




We have a plan, which I will reveal if it is successful tomorrow but I don’t want to tempt fate. 


It being a slow news day I thought we would have an update on the cars. Next in line is Chris’s 1925 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost 42EU

 

The car was delivered to Ira Nelson Morris at the Ritz Hotel Paris in 1925. Ira was the US ambassador to Sweden, the car had an open Barker body but no photos of the body survive. Ira had the car re-bodied in 1927 by Hibbard and Darin in Paris at great expense, the radiator was increased in height perhaps to look more like the new Phantom model.


Little is known of the car between the 1920’s and the 1960’s when it was converted into a Hearse and run by a funeral directors in Wolverhampton England.


The car was purchased as a chassis only in 2012 from a museum in Stockholm with the bonnet being the only bodywork panel remaining. The engine, gearbox, steering and drivetrain are all original to the car.


Wish us luck at the border into Azerbaijan tomorrow. I think we’ll need it; it is likely to be a long day whatever.















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