This year’s host country is Georgia. A small country with a great cultural tradition and a warm atmosphere as far as hospitality is concerned. Georgia has been independent since 9.4.1991. After initial historical dependence on the Byzantine Empire, annexations followed again and again, first by the Tsarist Empire, later by Russia and the USSR. The former affiliation is probably still a major issue today as far as freedom of the press is concerned – according to Amnesty International, there has been repeated arbitrariness by the authorities in the recent past, especially with regard to opposition leaders or journalists. Nevertheless, Georgia is classified as a safe country for tourists. Due to its geographical location, Georgia is considered the “balcony of Europe”. Although there are still a number of unsolved environmental problems, one of the largest contiguous nature reserves in Asia was established in Georgia with the help of the World Wide Fund for Nature (opened in 2001). The old town of the capital Tbilisi still has many old buildings, such as the Sioni Cathedral from the 5th century or the old bathing quarter, where in the 17th century sulfur baths were taken at temperatures between 37 and 39 degrees. Not only therefore the old centre of Tbilisi is a “hot” candidate for the list of the World Cultural Heritage of Unesco. …and not to forget the food. A traditional feast in Georgia is called supra. It has a long tradition and an even longer sequence of mouth watering dishes: for example, pkhali (spinach and walnut salad balls), pakhlava – a sweet pastry already known from oriental countries, khachapuri – juicy dough patties filled with a lot of cheese, somewhat reminiscent of Mexican quesadillas or badrijani nigvzit, fried eggplant with walnut sauce.