We're coming to the end of our four weeks in Georgia, so I guess it's time for a few random observations on this country and its inhabitants:
Men and women wear a lot of black (it's June, remember), and seem surprised when you point it out to them, as if they've never thought about it.
People eat a lot of bread and cheese, often ordering bread and cheese along with khachapuri, which is made from bread and cheese. It's all delicious, BTW.
People smoke a lot and when they're not smoking, they're chewing sunflower seeds. Adult males also seem to eat a lot of ice cream products in public.
Unlike everywhere else I've been in Eastern Europe, women here do not dye their hair red/purple or blonde very often. Natural coloring seems to be in, and when they do go for a dye-job, they opt for black. Women also wear stockings with jeans an awful lot.
Men don't wear neckties.
"Supermodelitis", that prevalent affliction in Ukraine, doesn't seem to exist here.
It seems as if all Georgian children learn traditional Georgian dancing. Having observed young Georgian dancers, boys and girls, I can only say "Bravo!"
A very common sight is grandpas out in the streets shepherding babies and toddlers. I've never seen this phenomenon anywhere else. It's damn cute.
Georgian men and boys kiss each other on the cheek in greeting. You also see boys walking arm in arm quite frequently.
There seems to be a distinct lack of trendiness, or "hipness" factor among Georgians. Very few trendy clothes, wacky haircuts, tattoos, face piercings, hip-hop regalia, heavy metal teenagers, punks...all the fashions so common in just about every country I've ever been to, seem to be absent here.
I read on the internet that Georgian drivers are the world's worst. Although I don't have enough data to back up that claim, Georgian drivers are the worst I've ever seen - just uniformly awful, reckless driving. As a foreign visitor walking around Tbilisi, heed my warning: You will meet your maker in a crosswalk - with a green light!
Georgian pedestrians are thrillseekers too. From ages eight to eighty, they walk straight into speeding traffic, casually winding their way across 4 or 5 lanes of hurtling cars, counting on God, I assume, to protect them. Yikes! It's really scary.
Georgians are really great hosts. They are very human, very hospitable, and a pleasure to be with. They laugh a lot (especially the women) and treat foreigners really well. We have had uniformly great experiences with the Georgian people, who seem to enjoy life, regardless of tough times, and have a deep cultural commitment to treating guests really well.
The food here is really fresh and good. The aforementioned bread and cheeses, khachapuri, tomato and cucumber salad, eggplant and mushrooms in various styles, lobio (bean stew) w/ fresh greens, skewered grilled meat - these are the staples that we have eaten everywhere, and everywhere they have been delicious. Georgian wine is good and plentiful (I'm recovering from my first hangover in several years - courtesy of several pitchers of young Georgian wine consumed at a bacchanalian feast) and Georgian beer is cheap and tasty...
I wish we would have had more time to see some more of the regions of Georgia. There is a lot of beauty and diversity packed into this one small country. We have really enjoyed ourselves in Georgia!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
The Gori Details
The most famous son of Georgia is undoubtedly Iosif Jugashvili, known to the world by his pseudonym: Stalin. He was born and raised in a town an hour outside of Tbilisi with the prophetic name of Gori. We decided to head back to the provinces for our final (unfortunately) look at Georgia outside the capital city.
We found a shared taxi to Gori for the discount price of three bucks apiece. Jen and I sat in the back, while the guy in the front was a very drunken and friendly man named Valera. He stank to high heaven and was quite the Chatty Cathy, rambling on incessantly, challenging Jen's slurred-Russian decoding skills. I made the mistake of trying out my only Georgian phrase, which translates as: "would it be possible to get two beers?" Valera took me literally and, at a highway rest stop, bought me a bottle of beer (with a mineral water and candy bar for Jen...sweet guy).
Gori, at first glance, looked very dead and crumbling away on a Saturday afternoon. Our hotel (again, the "best in town") was deserted except for an old man at the desk that reminded me of Bela Lugosi. At first he pretended not to speak English, but later he surprised us with several well-turned phrases that we suspected he practiced for hours prior to seeing us again. We strolled around town for a couple of hours, saw the giant Stalin statue, found a beautiful church, ran into some cute kids, peeked at the market, then had a nice Georgian meal at the place next to our hotel. We had a busy day planned for Sunday.
There is a huge old medieval fortress on top of a steep hill in the center of Gori that dominates the town. We got up early on Sunday and walked to the top of the hill. The views from the top were nothing short of amazing. The snow-capped Caucasus range seemed close enough to touch. We were alone up there save for two armed guards, a little boy and his grandpa, and a blind dog. At one point, the guard gave his rifle to the five-year old for some picture-taking. Jen, photojournalist, was right on it. Yikes! Sorry, I forgot to mention that Gori was at the center of Russian military action against Georgia in last summer's brief war. Russian troops occupied the town for days, and several people were killed. I couldn't help but think that the little kid was going to grow up ready to fight the Russians, who live just over the mountains.
We got to the Stalin Museum just as it opened. Stalin's birthplace is a brick and wood cabin on the grounds, preserved just as it was in 1879. Apparently the Soviets tore down the entire slummy neighborhood around the cabin in the 1930's and built the elaborate shrine that now houses the museum. Olga, our English-speaking guide, gave us the rapid, canned presentation, leading us from room to room showing us pictures and artifacts from the great man's life. She didn't appreciate questions very much. We saw his desk from the Kremlin, his favorite pipes, his death-mask (not that thrilling), and outside in the yard, his private train-car that he tooled around the Soviet Union in (see photo of me in Stalin's reading chair).
Olga recommended that her policemen buddies drive us to our next destination, the ancient cave-city of Uplistsikhe just outside of town. We could have taken a taxi for the same price, but why not ride with the cops? Uplistsikhe was fabulous, but we only had an hour to explore - not nearly enough. A series of cave temples dedicated to the sun goddess, the complex dates to the 6th century, B.C., although it has been occupied by many different groups through the years, and its most obvious feature today is a beautiful 10th century church high atop the rock. We scrambled around for a while taking photographs, but too soon it was time to leave Uplistsikhe and make our way back to Gori, and from there back to Tbilisi.
We found a shared taxi to Gori for the discount price of three bucks apiece. Jen and I sat in the back, while the guy in the front was a very drunken and friendly man named Valera. He stank to high heaven and was quite the Chatty Cathy, rambling on incessantly, challenging Jen's slurred-Russian decoding skills. I made the mistake of trying out my only Georgian phrase, which translates as: "would it be possible to get two beers?" Valera took me literally and, at a highway rest stop, bought me a bottle of beer (with a mineral water and candy bar for Jen...sweet guy).
Gori, at first glance, looked very dead and crumbling away on a Saturday afternoon. Our hotel (again, the "best in town") was deserted except for an old man at the desk that reminded me of Bela Lugosi. At first he pretended not to speak English, but later he surprised us with several well-turned phrases that we suspected he practiced for hours prior to seeing us again. We strolled around town for a couple of hours, saw the giant Stalin statue, found a beautiful church, ran into some cute kids, peeked at the market, then had a nice Georgian meal at the place next to our hotel. We had a busy day planned for Sunday.
There is a huge old medieval fortress on top of a steep hill in the center of Gori that dominates the town. We got up early on Sunday and walked to the top of the hill. The views from the top were nothing short of amazing. The snow-capped Caucasus range seemed close enough to touch. We were alone up there save for two armed guards, a little boy and his grandpa, and a blind dog. At one point, the guard gave his rifle to the five-year old for some picture-taking. Jen, photojournalist, was right on it. Yikes! Sorry, I forgot to mention that Gori was at the center of Russian military action against Georgia in last summer's brief war. Russian troops occupied the town for days, and several people were killed. I couldn't help but think that the little kid was going to grow up ready to fight the Russians, who live just over the mountains.
We got to the Stalin Museum just as it opened. Stalin's birthplace is a brick and wood cabin on the grounds, preserved just as it was in 1879. Apparently the Soviets tore down the entire slummy neighborhood around the cabin in the 1930's and built the elaborate shrine that now houses the museum. Olga, our English-speaking guide, gave us the rapid, canned presentation, leading us from room to room showing us pictures and artifacts from the great man's life. She didn't appreciate questions very much. We saw his desk from the Kremlin, his favorite pipes, his death-mask (not that thrilling), and outside in the yard, his private train-car that he tooled around the Soviet Union in (see photo of me in Stalin's reading chair).
Olga recommended that her policemen buddies drive us to our next destination, the ancient cave-city of Uplistsikhe just outside of town. We could have taken a taxi for the same price, but why not ride with the cops? Uplistsikhe was fabulous, but we only had an hour to explore - not nearly enough. A series of cave temples dedicated to the sun goddess, the complex dates to the 6th century, B.C., although it has been occupied by many different groups through the years, and its most obvious feature today is a beautiful 10th century church high atop the rock. We scrambled around for a while taking photographs, but too soon it was time to leave Uplistsikhe and make our way back to Gori, and from there back to Tbilisi.
Monday, June 1, 2009
That's How the Tbilisi Crumbles
Tbilisi is an unusual city. I like it. Like every city of the former Soviet Union and its satellites that I have visited, there are dreary concrete public buildings, ugly housing blocks, and absurd, defunct fountains/cement trashcans/rusting fences, etc. However, Tbilisi is not defined by these mid-20th century relics of questionable taste. Tbilisi is an old city, a city with as many ties to the East as to the West, and it shows.
Our neighborhood, Saburtalo, is a 20th century creation, and not particularly scenic, despite its reputation as a “good” neighborhood. We take hour-long walks in the ‘hood every morning, so we have seen just about every street in these parts. Although there are some leafy streets and a park or two, it’s mostly a commercial area with generally uninspiring architecture. There are, however, some fabulous areas in the older parts of the city where the true style of Tbilisi is on display.
Tbilisi runs mainly north and south along the both sides of the Mtkvari River. The main part of the city centers on Rustaveli Ave, which has a lot of 19th century architecture – grand buildings like the opera house – as well as the Parliament building currently “under siege” by opposition protesters. Further downriver, the Old Town is the most atmospheric part of the city, and wandering around here is quite enjoyable. Tbilisi has very little new construction and what it does have seems to have been abandoned in the middle of the job. There are dozens of building projects scattered around town with no visible work being done. I have speculated that maybe financing dried up due to last year’s war. Who knows.
Tbilisi is an old city, and most of it can best be described as “crumbly”. A good part of the city has seen better days and seems on the verge of collapse. It actually adds to the charm in certain neighborhoods. We visited some friends in an old neighborhood where many of the streets had been closed to vehicular traffic for fear that the buildings would just topple into the street. Despite looking like it’s falling apart in many sections, the city is attractive, with wonderful views of the river, the surrounding hills, the fortress high above Old Town, and many beautiful churches.
Our neighborhood, Saburtalo, is a 20th century creation, and not particularly scenic, despite its reputation as a “good” neighborhood. We take hour-long walks in the ‘hood every morning, so we have seen just about every street in these parts. Although there are some leafy streets and a park or two, it’s mostly a commercial area with generally uninspiring architecture. There are, however, some fabulous areas in the older parts of the city where the true style of Tbilisi is on display.
Tbilisi runs mainly north and south along the both sides of the Mtkvari River. The main part of the city centers on Rustaveli Ave, which has a lot of 19th century architecture – grand buildings like the opera house – as well as the Parliament building currently “under siege” by opposition protesters. Further downriver, the Old Town is the most atmospheric part of the city, and wandering around here is quite enjoyable. Tbilisi has very little new construction and what it does have seems to have been abandoned in the middle of the job. There are dozens of building projects scattered around town with no visible work being done. I have speculated that maybe financing dried up due to last year’s war. Who knows.
Tbilisi is an old city, and most of it can best be described as “crumbly”. A good part of the city has seen better days and seems on the verge of collapse. It actually adds to the charm in certain neighborhoods. We visited some friends in an old neighborhood where many of the streets had been closed to vehicular traffic for fear that the buildings would just topple into the street. Despite looking like it’s falling apart in many sections, the city is attractive, with wonderful views of the river, the surrounding hills, the fortress high above Old Town, and many beautiful churches.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Ready for Kakheti
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.
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.
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.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
P.S.
Please note: The following was written in 2008 after our tour of the Balkans
We are home now in the green-chile drenched bosom of New Mexico. Our trip back was, ahem, longish: Sofia- Munich- Charlotte- Phoenix- Albuquerque...25 hours worth of screaming toddlers and Hollywood rom-coms...yikes! Even the food was dreadfuller than usual. But enough of that...
Our European trip was great. Four weeks for Joe and seven weeks for Jen. I ate like a pig (pizza, ice cream, sausage, bread, dumplings) and lost a pound! My kind of weight loss program! It feels good to be back eating crispy green salads and pulling crispy clothes out of the dryer. New Mexico looks lovely and we will be starting back on our "normal" lives as soon as next Monday when the semester begins at UNM.
We visited ten countries on this trip, most for the first time. We walked a lot of cobblestoned miles, took a lot of digital photos, ate a lot of tomatoes and cucumbers, spoke a crazy mixture of Russian, Bulgarian & German along w/ our excellent English, and met a lot of great people along the way. I don't know about Jen, but I'll probably be ready to go again real soon...
We are home now in the green-chile drenched bosom of New Mexico. Our trip back was, ahem, longish: Sofia- Munich- Charlotte- Phoenix- Albuquerque...25 hours worth of screaming toddlers and Hollywood rom-coms...yikes! Even the food was dreadfuller than usual. But enough of that...
Our European trip was great. Four weeks for Joe and seven weeks for Jen. I ate like a pig (pizza, ice cream, sausage, bread, dumplings) and lost a pound! My kind of weight loss program! It feels good to be back eating crispy green salads and pulling crispy clothes out of the dryer. New Mexico looks lovely and we will be starting back on our "normal" lives as soon as next Monday when the semester begins at UNM.
We visited ten countries on this trip, most for the first time. We walked a lot of cobblestoned miles, took a lot of digital photos, ate a lot of tomatoes and cucumbers, spoke a crazy mixture of Russian, Bulgarian & German along w/ our excellent English, and met a lot of great people along the way. I don't know about Jen, but I'll probably be ready to go again real soon...
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