Friends, tomorrow I set out on another adventure: a tour in the Caucasus. Namely, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia.
I was away for three weeks in July, road-tripping and retreating, and it felt big, and this seems almost too soon in its wake, but I’d booked this trip quite some time ago, and now it’s here. Tomorrow, Vancouver to Frankfurt to Baku (the capital of Azerbaijan). Two weeks with a small group of ten with Adventures Abroad, and then, since one of my sons and his family is spending the school term in Nice, France, I’ll stop to visit them for a week on my way home. 
When I tell people I’m going to the Caucasus, the first question is often “Where’s that?” Between the Black and Caspian Seas, I say. The second question is often “Why?” It’s because of the postcards, I say.
My grandfather, Heinrich Harder, did his World War I service for the Russian Empire in the Caucasus. (The area was part of Russia then.) He was a medic tending the wounded on the trains that brought them from the front, where Russia was fighting the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey), to hospitals in Baku and Tbilisi and so on. When he and my grandmother later immigrated to Canada, they brought along an album of some 80 postcards, most of them collected during his time in the Caucasus. This album ended up in my possession and one Christmas I spent my holiday time exploring the places on these cards via the internet. (The coloured ones are not colour photography but tinted from black and white photos.)
As I read his letters to my grandmother during the war, as I researched and contemplated the cards, the desire built to see — more than a hundred years later — some of the places where he spent several formative years of his life. It’s not really a follow-in-his-footsteps, because of course I’m on the schedule of an organized tour. But I will be there, in the cities of Baku, Tbilisi, Gyumri, Yerevan, all places he was too. And apart from that, I’ll be in a fascinating and complex part of the world.
So, tomorrow. Nothing further to do but go, and receive what there is, what will be. Nothing to do but be curious and open.
Borrowing Bones 
Sounds like just the thing to do. My youngest daughter Kelli, did Teach to Serve in Georgia a number of years ago, and though I didn’t get to visit her there, after she did her service, we traveled together to Turkey and Greece. I will love hearing about this trip. And, enjoy.
Thanks so much!
You go, girl! Have a fabulous memory-filling time!
Ronalynn
Thanks Ronalynn!
Hi Dora, this area does not sound like the safest place in the world right now. John & I are in Budapest, to start a leisurely cruise down the Danube. We wish you an exciting & safe trip!😊Kathy Rempel
Thank you Kathy! One certainly wishes for safety. I trust our tour leaders to respond appropriately to the current crisis. We will not be near that area; in fact, when I applied for my visa for Azerbaijan I had to promise not to go to the region. I’ll keep my promise. 🙂 My heart goes out to the Armenians who are fleeing their homes.
I love that you are doing this. I had a week in Wales last week with my daughter tracing one family line, now am finishing up my holiday with friends in England. Have a wonder-filled journey, Dora.
Thanks so much. Wales is a place that appeals to me — how lovely that your family line connects you there!
Good for you! What a wonderful way to honor his memory. I hope you have a fantastic trip – and take lots of pictures!
Thanks! I’ll try to take a few. 🙂
“Be curious and open.” I like that! Enjoy yourself and be safe!
Elfrieda
Thank you Elfrieda. Wishing you a good October.
Another lovely post, Dora. Blessings on this journey. Visiting places where our ancestors have lived, or in this cased, traveled, weaves a gossamer tie to the past. Writing about it allows that thin thread to be there for some future explorer. Safe journey. But not too safe. 🙂
That’s exactly the thread you’ve been teasing out recently, Shirley. I like the way you express it.
I was just reading about war in the Caucuses yesterday 😢
Yes; so sad to see the people fleeing their homes. This will not be on our route, but nevertheless…
My introduction to the Caucuses region was a Lit class at WWU. Tolstoy’s Hadji Murat.
I haven’t read that, but on my “afterwards” list. Have you perchance read the novel “Ali and Nino”?
This is so terribly exciting and I wish you bon voyage and look forward to Borrowing Bones related to your adventure.
Thank you Sarah!
You are amazing! I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful time!
Thank you!
I’m thinking of the journey ahead of you and wishing I could be going to these places! Places that intrigue! Not often reported on in my circle of friends! So I do look forward to reflections!
Thank you! Not a common travel destination in my circle either, no, but apparently there is a fair bit of tourism there.
I love this! Have a wonderful time.
Thank you!
Sounds like such an adventure! Very exciting! Look forward to reading about how you will process it all. Have an other-worldly time.
Thank you!
If your travels to Nice Leads you through Switzerland, you would be welcome in Basel. Our guest room is always ready.
Reading your blog, I feel like we’re related or something…
It would be lovely to stop in Basel but won’t be going through there. When we were first married, my husband and I spent a term in Bienenberg. I would love to go visit there again sometime. But how would I find you, Anonymous? 😄 email in About of the blog.