Being first and foremost adventurous types, we decided to make a weekend foray into the provinces. Since Georgia is such a small country, we didn't have to go far to get to a distinct region of eastern Georgia. This country is known for its wine (its number one export), and Kakheti is Georgia's wine-growing region. We decided to head for Kakheti's biggest town, Telavi, located maybe 100 kilometers northeast of Tbilisi.
Our trusty Lonely Planet guide gave us the lowdown on transportation. We took a taxi across town to the Isani metro station where the "shared-taxis" for Telavi congregate. Jen and I got mobbed immediately by desperate taxistas, hungry for our business. Our city cabdriver, a classy old gent, negotiated a deal for us and soon we were on our way to Telavi in a Mercedes taxi with two other passengers - a quiet college student who spoke some English and some guy in the front seat with a serious cigarette addiction (he smoked one every ten minutes for two hours straight).
Our driver drove like a bat out of hell (more on Georgian drivers in a future post). Believe me, its best not to pay attention to what the driver is doing. Luckily, the scenery got progressively nicer as we got further from Tbilisi. Eventually, the snow-capped Caucasus mountains came into view and soon we were pulling in to Telavi. Our driver took us straight to our hotel, the Rcheuli Marani, the best hotel (and restaurant, supposedly) in town. It was actually pretty nice, and our room was decent for $48 (breakfast for two included). We were about a ten minute walk from the center, so after we dumped our bags, we strolled into town.
On our way into town we saw our first Georgian Stalin monument (see photo). I guess Stalin is out of fashion in Tbilisi. Telavi seems like a pretty poor regional town. There isn't much in the way of new construction, and flashy "modern" stuff is simply not to be found. The center, as it were, is kind of run down except for a huge, completely incongruous fountain in the square in front of the castle. Oh yeah, they do have a really cool castle, right in the center of town, and the castle is kept in fine condition - very impressive. King Erekle II was born and died (in the same room) here in the 18th century. The castle (and Telavi for that matter) is on a hill overlooking a beautiful valley with the mighty Caucasus range beyond. The views from the castle were stunning.
Also impressive (to me anyways) was the market. Packed with traders and shoppers, the fruit and vegetables were some of the most beautiful I have seen anywhere. I found myself wishing I had a kitchen handy - the tomatoes, garlic, onions, mushrooms, greens and farm fresh cheeses looked mouthwatering. We wandered around for a while, then had a simple lunch of tomato, cucumber, bread, cheese, and mineral water.
After lunch, we decided to hop on a marshrutka (mini-bus) and travel 20 kilometers to Alaverdi, the regions most famous church complex. We met a young girl on the bus who spoke English. She informed us she was from Tusheti, the high, mountainous region directly to the north of Kakheti, and had been in Telavi visiting the dentist. We drove through a beautiful vineyard- strewn valley and suddenly, there was a huge edifice right on the side of the road: Alaverdi. There were several tour buses on the scene and large groups of Georgian tourists. We went inside the complex where Jen had to wrap a "skirt" around herself before we entered the church (she also had to wear her jacket on her head as a scarf). Alaverdi is a massive 11th century church, but very bare inside. There were lots of stern looking monks on the premises - one yelled at me to put away my camera while Jen snapped a few shots. The countryside and views around the church were incredibly beautiful - I don't think the photos do the place justice.
Anyway, we hopped the same marshrutka on its return journey to Telavi and were soon back in our hotel. We had decided to have a somewhat (for us) elaborate dinner to celebrate me finishing school this month. We had several Georgian specialties: eggplant w/ spicy walnut paste, mushrooms cooked w/greens, khinkali (meat dumplings), and roast pork w/ potatoes, in addition to delicious cheeses, bread, and some kind of homemade wine. It was quite good. After we retired for the evening, we were treated to a wild hours-long thunderstorm that had the rivers running high and the roads covered in mud and rocks the next morning when we returned to Tbilisi.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
The Sheep From the Goats
Gudauri is Georgia’s preeminent skiing destination. It was also the site of the South Caucasus English Teacher’s Conference this past weekend where Jen was one of the main speakers/presenters. The conference was sponsored by the U.S. Embassy and organized by the regional English language officer (RELO), Thomas, who is stationed in our old stomping grounds, Kyiv, Ukraine. Thomas, along with our Ukrainian friend, Alyonna, came to Georgia for the conference.
The embassy van picked us up on Friday morning for the 2 hour trip up the Georgian Military Highway to Gudauri. There were thirteen of us crammed into the van (everyone with suitcases, of course) for the journey to the 3-day conference. The scenery en route was beautiful, following the Aragvi Rriver into the Caucasus Mountains. Once in the mountains, the van had to stop several times for herds of sheep and goats (along with the occasional donkey or dog) meandering across the road. Finally, we arrived in Gudauri, set amongst the stunning peaks, still covered in deep snow. The hotel was pretty flash (in a reformed Soviet way) and we happily settled into our room, which had spectacular views from the balcony.
The conference was enjoyable, especially since I had no official duties (they had wanted me to present, but I had no time to prepare anything) besides attending presentations and eating at the buffet three times a day. Jen was a star, of course, giving the plenary on Saturday (“Breaking Bad Habits without Breaking Spirits”), followed by a well-received workshop on presentation skills. The attendees were teachers from Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, many of whom had never been out of their own countries, even though these three small nations are geographically intertwined. Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a brutal war in the 90s, and part of the goal of the conference was to get teachers from those countries to work together. I found most of the participants to be delightful.
There were also some Americans present, including several English Language Fellows (ELFs) from the region (Georgia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, and Moldova were represented). Mary Martin, a nice woman from Iowa, is currently holding down Jen’s former Senior ELF position in Ukraine, so we exchanged a few tales with her. We went to a lot of presentations, met a lot of nice people, ate a lot of good food, slept well, and took some good photos. Sunday afternoon, it was back in the van for the trip back to Tbilisi. On the way we stopped at the ancient fortress/church at Ananuri, which was very, very impressive.
The embassy van picked us up on Friday morning for the 2 hour trip up the Georgian Military Highway to Gudauri. There were thirteen of us crammed into the van (everyone with suitcases, of course) for the journey to the 3-day conference. The scenery en route was beautiful, following the Aragvi Rriver into the Caucasus Mountains. Once in the mountains, the van had to stop several times for herds of sheep and goats (along with the occasional donkey or dog) meandering across the road. Finally, we arrived in Gudauri, set amongst the stunning peaks, still covered in deep snow. The hotel was pretty flash (in a reformed Soviet way) and we happily settled into our room, which had spectacular views from the balcony.
The conference was enjoyable, especially since I had no official duties (they had wanted me to present, but I had no time to prepare anything) besides attending presentations and eating at the buffet three times a day. Jen was a star, of course, giving the plenary on Saturday (“Breaking Bad Habits without Breaking Spirits”), followed by a well-received workshop on presentation skills. The attendees were teachers from Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, many of whom had never been out of their own countries, even though these three small nations are geographically intertwined. Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a brutal war in the 90s, and part of the goal of the conference was to get teachers from those countries to work together. I found most of the participants to be delightful.
There were also some Americans present, including several English Language Fellows (ELFs) from the region (Georgia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, and Moldova were represented). Mary Martin, a nice woman from Iowa, is currently holding down Jen’s former Senior ELF position in Ukraine, so we exchanged a few tales with her. We went to a lot of presentations, met a lot of nice people, ate a lot of good food, slept well, and took some good photos. Sunday afternoon, it was back in the van for the trip back to Tbilisi. On the way we stopped at the ancient fortress/church at Ananuri, which was very, very impressive.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Tbilisi or Not Tbilsi
We arrived in Tbilisi, capital of the Republic of Georgia, best known for producing famed 20th century tyrant Joseph Stalin and last summer’s unlikely war, in which Russia, their former master, showed them who the region's real power is. The fallout from that conflict continues now with anti-government protestors, who accuse Bush/Cheney darling President Sakashvili of mismanagement and authoritarianism, setting up shop in the center of the city, camping out with no end in sight. We strolled through the protest area soon after our arrival and saw nothing but a few dozen senior citizens chewing on sunflower seeds. The rebels must have been at lunch.
We are ensconced in a Soviet-era apartment building in a “nice” neighborhood, Saburtalo. The fourth floor (no elevator) pad is spacious and fairly comfortable, although not renovated and far from fancy (the kitchen has induced me to swear off cooking for the duration of our stay). There is a nice grocery store directly across the street, however, and Jen’s work is a short 3 block walk away. We’ve sussed out a couple of good restaurants in the area, established our early morning walking paths, and hooked up internet in the apartment, so it’s all good.
Our trip from Albuquerque to Tbilisi was uneventful. The embassy driver, Shota, picked us up at the airport and delivered us to our apartment, where Lali and her son, George, were waiting for us. Jen’s Russian came in handy right away as between us we know maybe 3 words of Georgian. Our first impressions of the locals were positive. People here are pretty friendly, but not effusive. Everyone tends to wear black and despite warm weather - I have yet to see a pair of shorts on man, woman, or child. Considering the political situation, we had some concern about speaking Russian to the locals. It turns out that just about everyone speaks Russian and doesn’t hesitate to do so. Jen’s Russian studies are paying off big time.
On our first full day in Tbilisi, we met the university rector, Mamuka, for a promised “walking tour”. Well, it turned out to be an extensive driving tour of some of Georgia’s most famous churches. Mamuka’s teenaged son, George, who looked vaguely Beatle-y, did the driving. We first drove to Jvari, high on a hill overlooking the confluence of the rivers Mtkvari and Aragvi. The 5th century church was beautiful. The medieval Georgian architecture is very distinctive. We then drove down the hill to Mtskheta, the spiritual center of Georgian culture, and visited the Svetitskhoveli cathedral complex there. Afterward, we visited the Samtavro Church, now the site of a nunnery. Now starving, Mamuka treated us to a big Georgian lunch featuring such staples as lobio (thick bean soup w/ aromatic greens), khachapuri (kind of a cheese pie), mtsvadi (shish kebab), cheese and bread. Delicious. Exhausted, we returned to Tbilisi and crashed out. After waking up hungry, we discovered our favorite neighborhood restaurant, Teremok, which has an outdoor terrace, allowing us to eat relatively smoke free. Teremok has since become our regular haunt for lunch and dinner.
We are ensconced in a Soviet-era apartment building in a “nice” neighborhood, Saburtalo. The fourth floor (no elevator) pad is spacious and fairly comfortable, although not renovated and far from fancy (the kitchen has induced me to swear off cooking for the duration of our stay). There is a nice grocery store directly across the street, however, and Jen’s work is a short 3 block walk away. We’ve sussed out a couple of good restaurants in the area, established our early morning walking paths, and hooked up internet in the apartment, so it’s all good.
Our trip from Albuquerque to Tbilisi was uneventful. The embassy driver, Shota, picked us up at the airport and delivered us to our apartment, where Lali and her son, George, were waiting for us. Jen’s Russian came in handy right away as between us we know maybe 3 words of Georgian. Our first impressions of the locals were positive. People here are pretty friendly, but not effusive. Everyone tends to wear black and despite warm weather - I have yet to see a pair of shorts on man, woman, or child. Considering the political situation, we had some concern about speaking Russian to the locals. It turns out that just about everyone speaks Russian and doesn’t hesitate to do so. Jen’s Russian studies are paying off big time.
On our first full day in Tbilisi, we met the university rector, Mamuka, for a promised “walking tour”. Well, it turned out to be an extensive driving tour of some of Georgia’s most famous churches. Mamuka’s teenaged son, George, who looked vaguely Beatle-y, did the driving. We first drove to Jvari, high on a hill overlooking the confluence of the rivers Mtkvari and Aragvi. The 5th century church was beautiful. The medieval Georgian architecture is very distinctive. We then drove down the hill to Mtskheta, the spiritual center of Georgian culture, and visited the Svetitskhoveli cathedral complex there. Afterward, we visited the Samtavro Church, now the site of a nunnery. Now starving, Mamuka treated us to a big Georgian lunch featuring such staples as lobio (thick bean soup w/ aromatic greens), khachapuri (kind of a cheese pie), mtsvadi (shish kebab), cheese and bread. Delicious. Exhausted, we returned to Tbilisi and crashed out. After waking up hungry, we discovered our favorite neighborhood restaurant, Teremok, which has an outdoor terrace, allowing us to eat relatively smoke free. Teremok has since become our regular haunt for lunch and dinner.
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