Woke up at 10:30am, overslept. I think this is the latest I got up in my lifetime. Maybe we are inching back to the Eastern Standard Time from another direction.We got dressed, packed, and went to a "fast food" place down the street that wasn't very fast. At last we grabbed our warm lavash without eating and headed back to hotel to get our ride. Dan got some chirchilla from a kindly Georgian lady on the string that we already visited a few days ago. She called us "my golden ones" in Russian ("zoloten'kie moi"), it really sounds warmer in Russian.
Gocha met us again but this time with a Toyota van. We drove past the Freedom square through the newer part of town with majestic large buildings, more reminiscent of the European capitals.
The main street was in good condition, but many side streets are still in shambles. Then we passed a row of stone-sided country style restaurants one prettier than another. There was also Titanic restaurant designed like a large cruise ship. After that there was a typical residential neighborhood. It was taller and newer than typical style areas in LT. That was the nicer area where a lot of expats and embassy workers live but it was far from all the interesting sights and somewhat boring. We also passed US embassy, a giant two-building compound behind the tall walls with multiple security sentry boxes. 
We drove to the place where the initial Christinization of Georgia by St. Nino had first started 1500 years ago. It was a medium sized church on top of the hill. Unadorned walls made from huge blocked of gray stone looked ancient. With so many people coming here for hundreds of years to share their hopes and fears there was a skin-tingling feel to the place. Thick fog that surrounded the mountain and obscured objects a few yards away surely added to the feeling.
Next we went to the nearby Mzheta, the first capital of Georgia. After seeing city and city in ruins yesterday this was Disneyland.
Of course, not to get carried away with all the exploring, we stopped and finally had our breakfast at 1pm in the parking lot. Lavash with cheese and buck thorn juice. The best! 
Beautiful red roofed houses surrounding the central square with the walls surrounding a Svetitskhoveli Cathedral. The Cathedral is the most majestic of all that we saw. There were many beautiful well preserved frescoes, plenty of special chapels and closed areas, and many heraldic images all around. The place must be used to having many tourists - as soon as we came in we were surrounded by many local tour guides offering their services somewhat insistently. This must be tough for them past season. 
One of the most memorable images for me was the modern image of St. Nino. I'll look for her story later but in short, her dad was very well-to-do general to the Roman emperor and her mom was related to some high ranking religious officials in Jerusalem. When she was 12, her dad gave up family possessions and became ascetic in some desert, her mom concentrated all her effort helping the sick and miserable. Nino's uncle got Sarah of the Holy Sepulcture to take care of her. By 14 she had the vision of Virgin Mary with the cross made of the grape vines and headed out to Georgia on her mission.
So the painting showed a young lady with a vine cross. She had somewhat unkempt hair and unrelenting stare that could be viewed as fanatical, or desperate, of both. Maybe the painter thought back to the story and drew a girl abandoned by everyone by Virgin Mary, who was the only one, in her mind who gave her comfort and love. Her generic predisposition to fanaticism may have played some role too.
Of course I enjoyed the local version of St. George and other images too. We walked a bit through the well developed medieval looking wooden town filled with handicraft stalls and coffee shops. Many were closed due to the low season. Must really be a happening place in the summer.
Mark got a large fluffy lamb hat of the type that mountain shepherds used to wear. His look when he has it on excites everyone around him. We stopped by at the nearby church where there used to be a healer priest. Now sick people come to his grave in he courtyard hoping to get better. It was depressing place. I got out as soon as I could.
Finally we returned back to Tbilisi and Gocha showed us a great khinkali place. Khinkali is a large local ravioli (really large). They are very juicy inside. Gocha showed how to eat them by biting a small hole and sucking out the juice before finishing them up. I could barely manage 4. There were two men near us who were sharing a plate of 20 or 30. Gocha is interesting. He does not take much interest in where he takes people but he was asking attending priests about them and was translating answers for us. He is 45 but looks closer to 65. Missing some teeth. He got married 6 years ago but his wife and he cannot have any children. He was sad. He entertained us with some stories of vacationing Russians who drank most of the time they were there. It was fun to hear it in his accent.
I may have already said it before but it is unfathomable that people living in a country after so many years of being ruled by the Imperial Russia and then Soviet Union have managed to retain such warm spirit and so much kindness. They are friendliest we had ever seen in our travels. As far as development goes they are at best 20 years behind where Lithuania is right now. The old historical town looks like they had an earthquake here 20-30 years ago and have not tried to recover. It is truly heartbreaking. I hope they have still enough spirit to pick up and rebuild their country.
Flight to Istanbul was nice and short. And a bus to Taxim too. Our hotel Stories Apart just off of Istiklal was awesome. Is freshly remodeled and features beautiful design and excellent attention to detail.
Mostly younger non-religious crowd are around even in at midnight where we found ourselves after dinner. There are plenty of cops around making it safe. We walked Mark to his hostel Rapunzel near Galata tower. The location may be more central but we like ours with its large flat screen, fireplace, and joined queen sized beds better.
Had dinner together at a little restaurant on our street. It is nice that we are together.
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