November 21. Kakheti

In the morning we were picked up by Gocha. Our hotel staff last night had helped to arrange a day trip to the east of the country through some guy named George. Gocha was his driver and I think that either George found other clients or he figured he could not fit in the car with three of us, but it was Gocha doing the during and guiding. I comment a bit on that in my upcoming post. For this one I'll just add that all the bathroom trips were au naturelle today. Not a big deal, just added extra color to the experience.

On the way we saw many farm stands selling chirchilla - nuts on a string dipped in wine syrup. They look like knobbly candles. Mark had a different definition. Superfresh ones are slightly gel-like. They have a long shelf life and just solidify as the time goes by. Based on Tamara and Gocha, a typical family would have their own vineyard and produce  about 700kg of grapes annually. Most of it would go to wine, remaining parts would be condensed into the local moonshine called Cha cha, left over wine will be used for chirchilla, and fruit skins.

So first we drove to the monastery where St. Nino went on to live after getting Georgia Christinanized. It featured beautiful frescoes. Interesting to see some really young nuns praying there. How does one so young make this choice? They look very interesting - dark eyes and eyebrows in all dark clothing. Should have taken a picture but it did not seem appropriate to ask. Look it up online "Georgian nun."

We saw a fairly large number of sites that day. All those unfamiliar names were hard to memorize. We took pictures of the road signs. I'll have to fill in the missing parts when we are back and have gone through them.

The next stop was Nekresi monastery. It was high on the hill. Beautiful views from the hill despite the fog. It was a nice complex. There is still a functioning monastery there. Up on the hill there were some well preserved remains of stone and clay wine making implements.

King Levan's Toilet

After that we saw king Levan's castle. He was one of the first kings in Georgia. Next another castle and monastery which name I will have to look up. What was unique about that was that the very large church hosted monks on the second floor where they lived in the little cells right around the church.

One more castle: the white one on the right below. Incidentally castle and church are very closely related terms here. There is a large protective wall with a courtyard and a church in the middle. Noble stays in the extension of the wall, while religious authorities are housed in the church directly. Inside the courtyard, there are all the typical castle implements: herb-garden, worshops

The next stop Telavi, the capital of Kakheti looked like a typical provincial town though better looking than some abandoned places we saw earlier. There, at Gocha's advice we had lunch at local gastronom/supermarket Soviet style. Could be better.

Monks lived on the 2nd floor

Millions of uneaten persimmons

During our trip today we saw abandoned houses, empty vineyards, lots of Soviet vehicles, some going back to the first editions done in the 40s and 50s. We were stopped a few times by the crossing sheep, cows, horses, and even pigs. The area is pretty underdeveloped, or to put it better, completely dilapidated.

Toward the end of the day Mark and I tired of the sites and went to sleep in the car.

Gocha woke us up when we arrived to the final site of the day - the first castle in Georgia, Ujarma Fortress/ Mark was still sleeping and it started to rain so Dan and I went up the slippery hill to see the ruins.

It was worth the walk. We walked to a building that seemed better preserved and walked inside, and almost walked into a large cross. We took a few shots and in the light of the flash saw that there were two little rooms filled with religious images. There were even some coins lying there for donations. This little world of quiet and peace was somehow very comforting.

When we returned Mark stayed at the hotel "ease into it" while we took a stroll around. Visited the local supermarket. 90% of food is from Lithuania - milk products, cheeses, bread. Is local agriculture in such dire straits that these basic food staples have to be imported and out of where!! Is land only friendly to grapes? That being said I am glad for Lithuania for successful export execution.

On the way we passed a stumbling priest holding on to his cane and a large bald assistant. Based on the ambiance, the cane was the cover :) It reminded me of an old Georgian movie that used to be one of my favorites when I was growing up: "Ne Goryui." Orthodox priests certainly look like they have having a lot more fun than Catholic ones. And they are more scenic too. 

We picked up Mark and headed back to sulfur baths. This can become addictive.

On the way to hotel we looked for a restaurant to have dinner at at saw one that looked like a pre-WWII French home with the typical wallpaper, furniture and other decor. We went inside and met with two young waiters/owners. The ladies explained that there is no menu. Instead, the restaurant functions like "home" where they will feed partrons whatever they had cooked that day. Whatever it happens to be. They've listed soup, kutlets as possible examples, without committing. They hesitated to clarify the price per person but ultimately said it would be about 50 lari per person. It is over $25. Very expensive for this country and we were not sure about what the home meal could mean.

Magical cook at Racha

At our hotel receptionist's recommendation went to Racha for the local specialties. Another stomach bursting dinner complete with 5 beers set us all back 25 lari. While we were not very hungry anymore, we kept wondering about that weird eating place and entertaining different theories on what it could be. Portal to another country/planet, undercover adult entertainment venue, magical place where dishes are conjured up by a thought-reading chef who picks up deep culinary fantasies of the patrons. If that be the last one, $25 is a bargain :)

We finished the long day by going for a late night walk around the playground across the dry bridge. Good security at night - with several cops walking around and monitoring swing usage. Great playground. Mark became a kid again with chessboard and grand piano. He regaled us with his tales of adventures in Russia.

November 20. Exploring the city

OMG!! What a weird country!!! I guess I have to provide a some clarification. I guess it is better to do it in sequence.

We got up close to nine today and what's funny, everyone reported being up at night as we were going through our time shift adjustment. Only none of our times up overlapped. So there is no proof that anyone was up at night. Well, maybe just me.

After breakfast we walked through the old city, dropped off Mark at his morning meeting with a local colleague and continued our tour of fantastically dilapidated ruins. Many standing up in a silent resistance to the basic laws of physics. Old town is painfully beautiful. Painful because it is really beautiful and not like anything we've seen before and it is beyond redemption. And many of those homes still had people living in them.

 Passed Vilnius square on the way uptown. Looking familiar?

Afterwards we walked uptown and walked up the St. David's church high on the mountain. Awesome walk and the view. Visually there is nothing left after these intense days of eating but running really paid off getting up that hill.

As much as we are not into cemeteries, the beauty and expressiveness of some of the gravestones kind of make it OK to make an exception every now and and then. Their cemetary was exception-worthy. The church is beautiful. Georgian church architecture is very distinctive - central octagonal column where orchthodox churches usually have their domes, and squarish main building with slanted roof.

The one thing I look for in every one of them is the image of St. George killing the dragon. Sometimes it is a real dragon, other times it is a human figure that is supposed to represent the dragon or the evil spirit. Would be nice to get one. When we were in church old Georgian man came up with a headscarf. "Please put it on, daughter, " he said in Russian. It was not offensive at all. He was not pushing it down my throat. Such is the custom in this generally non-religious country. Thereafter I've tried to seek out those headscarves when we visited churches - there are usually a few scarves in the box inside a church.

We met up with Mark and his dour friend who shared some helpful insights and continued our walk.

Saw the spanking new synagogue. Some stuff including David's chair was still wrapped in plastic inside. The prayer hall on the second floor was magnificent. It is very different from typical synagogues. While most are bare with architecture and design making up for the modest decor, this one featured all the works - crystal chandeliers, gold leaf wall and ceiling paint, and gilded beema.

Mark read the signs written in Hebrew. Will have to read up on the history of the synagogue. Later we found another one - Hebrew sign on a side entrance on Leonidze said "House of Rachel." It was closed though.

Next we visited a few galleries located on the surrounding streets. Liked!

We had lunch at the local brewery. I think it is called Mirzaani. We did not go wild like last night but even with utmost self restraint running around afterward was out of question. Note the cute handle the local lavash bread has. It is because they make it round like usual and then hold one end and smash the rest into the oven. And so the handle is formed.

Took the cable car back up the mountain again and this time walked around the fortress. It is pretty high above the city. And the stairs are not designed for non-suing public. Scary stuff. Until we saw local schoolchildren aged 7-10 walk up the same paths. There are some pictures below. They do not do the views any justice.

In the evening, we saw a gathering in support of Israel. There was a fairly large group of people near restaurant Konka. The people were waiving Georgian and Israeli flags, there was a singer singing songs in Hebrew. The gathering was surrounded by the police. I am not sure who was gathered - whether it was Jewish or Georgian population or both but it was nice to see.

Then we got to the area where there are sulfur baths. Not to miss. There are a few companies that manage them. We eventually ended up at the closest one - liked the democratic management the most at bath number #5. It featured a large room with leather sofas for relaxing, another room with hot and cold surfer baths, and sauna. The whole thing cost 80 lari per hour. We all got a scrubber to scrub our skin with vinegar and rough loofa. Then boys also got soapy massage with even rougher loofa. That was 20 lari. It was very very nice.

Then we has dinner with Marks friend Nick and his wife Tamara at Old City restaurant. I did not mention it previously but Tbilisi has this interesting peculiarity - practically no streetlights, and local dzhigits do not honor the stop sights and cross walks. Literally and for real. Every major crossing, say 3 lines in each direction become an interesting test of your good luck for the day. That may also be the local method for controlling the senior citizen population. Anyway, the crossing to the restaurant was about 4 lanes each way. And the lanes were not marked. My life flashed before my eyes. But I lived to tell the story :)

So the dinner. It was a traditional restaurant. There were singers with beautiful voices (going at full volume) just like in the movies. The selection of songs ranged from Georgian traditional, to Hava Hagila, to Arabic, to Gypsy Kings. A group next to us had the whole traditional party going on - there was a tamada making the toasts, men got up to hear and repeat them. Towards the end they started to pass around what looked like a half a liter horn which each man drank with another toast. Tamara ordered traditional selection for us to let us try what did have not still. That was pretty much the double of what we had on day one. Towards the end we finished off with chacha - a local version of moonshine made from left over wine by-products. Very very nice!!

The conversation, whenever the music allowed it :), was very interesting. Nick is American who had taken interest in local culture (and women - as of Tamara :)) and moved to Georgia and works as international journalist. Tamara works in film industry. I forgot the name for her profession but it has to do with taking notes during each and every take of the film and creating the record that is used in the editing process. It was fascinating to hear the insights into the life in Georgia.

I've started my post with the comment how weird this place is. It really is. I have never seen this level of niceness, good will, and helpfulness in any country we visited. Literally every single person we approached went out of their way to be nice to us. Nick and Tamara of course top that. It is incredible that something like that can be happening in a country so ravaged economically.

Tomorrow we are going to the wine country - Kakheti.

November 19. Reuniting with Mark and going to Tbilisi

It was long (but good) day today. It is now 11pm in Tbilisi. We got up at 7:30am in Istanbul. Packed and went upstairs for breakfast. The view of the Blue Mosque and the river in the morning mist was awesome. Breakfast was pretty basic, no meat but very fresh. Dan did see some six legged friends in the kitchen where he was searching for coffee. I did not go there so I am operating under assumption it was something else and eating is as usual :).

We walked towards the river to see the old city wall. On the way we encountered a very pretty neighborhood of the typical Turkish homes with extended second floor balconies. There were some wood homes there as well. They now house boutique stores and hotels. All are unique and very interesting. We took many pictures but I left the cable to transfer these to computer so these would have to wait until we are back. Near the river there is a promenade with lots of runners.

By 9 am came up to Hagia Sophia. Unfortunately it was closed on Mondays!!!

So for the remaining hour we walked around the site encountering a group on beautifully dressed Turkish men apparently participating as extras in a historical movie near the row of old wooded buildings above the Hagia Sophia site. These buildings used to house important official, now they are as historical hotel (the queen of Spain stayed there recently according to a plaque).

Finally we came inside the studio of a painter of Uzbeki and Georgian heritage. His range is similar to that of the cellar guy in Tallinn. Except he stopped trying to paint years ago, and now is just trying to sell. One had to live too. But you can tell there is no love in most of these paintings anymore.

We took the reverse route of tram followed by metro to come back. After some long lines for the passport check we finally joined Mark in the boarding lounge.

He shared his adventures. Apparently we just missed each other at the cistern yesterday. He got a lot done in his extra day in Istanbul. Saw Topkapi palace, took Bosphorus cruise, and explored Taxim nightlife.

The flight was short and comfortable. We enjoyed a selection of meals (Turkish airlines have something like 10 food choices for the hour and 50 minute flight.)

At the airport, passport check was almost instantaneous and we each got a present - a bottle of red wine. Seriously For the first time in our lives we get a present for visiting a country. Amazing!!! The person who was meeting us was late. I was told to look for the bald/close cut guy - almost all of them looked like that. I asked a few if they were him, but they were not. We thought he forgot, waited around, and eventually took the (old, clickety Soviet) bus to the city.

Mark demonstrated his great communication abilities by getting locals to advise us where to get off. We thought that locals would not be friendly if we spoke Russian and so tried to communicate in English, which hardly anyone speaks. We looked like a bunch of alien freaks - big eyes, sitting on a bus, trying to communicate in some weird language, it was dark outside. Ultimately we heard someone speak Russian and talked to them. Turns out most of the people around us spoke Russian and we were told that Russian is very welcome too. Everyone around was very friendly.

At Mariott Courtyard in the center the very helpful staff directed us to our hotel. Since most of the street signs are in Georgian we took a very scenic road there that showed there is much to do to get the city to where it needs to be. Our hotel is very nice but at the edge of niceness so we contemplated going elsewhere but ultimately came back there and stuck to our guns.

There are three separate beds in the room. Really cute!!

 

We went for dinner to the nice restaurant with green letters. Cannot tell the name. That's where hotel staff sent us. In a middle of us having a great time and working hard on life-taxidermying ourselves the guy who was supposed to pick us up walked in!!! It was amazing how he was able to track us down.

Mark loves cable cars in the dark

After dinner we took the cable car - at 10pm up the mountain on left bank of the river. It is a pretty cool experience after dark. Then we walked down and walked around a bit before deciding to call it a day. Very very cool!!!

The wishing bush

November 18. Excursion to Istanbul and Tbilisi

 We decided to go to Istanbul and Tbilisi during Thanksgiving week this year. Turkey was a halfway point on the way to Georgia where we planned to do our scouting for the summer of 2013. The whole trip was actually driven by Mark who wanted to go somewhere with us this week. What's weird is that with all our planning we are now staying in different neighborhoods in Istanbul and will meet at the airport tomorrow.

We landed at a little after 1pm. First, there was one line for a multiple entry Turkish visa. The actual process of getting the stamp in our passports took a few seconds. Then there was a long wait for the passport control. There was the same number of agents processing practically no Turkish citizens as a large number of foreigners and so the process was pretty slow. The funny thing we get the reverse in US - there is about the same number of US citizens traveling yet they get much fewer agents to process them. So you wait both ways.

The trip to town was very easy. There is a clearly marked subway with maps and after getting to the city we switched over to a very modern tram - equally nice. Mark took bus to get to Taxim square where he is staying and that was simple too. There are multiple ATMs outside the luggage claims area.

We took some time to find Hali hotel, predominantly because we did not notice the street sign and kept going and going. All the sights and sounds made it hard to concentrate. Ultimately we found it. It is clean and well-positioned, there is free Internet. Excellent value for 55 Euro. We get the view of Blue Mosque from our window.

Since it was already 4pm by the time we checked in we rushed to get into the basilica cistern. It was just as we remembered - awesome!! Next we tried Hagia Sophia but it was already closed. They were still letting people into the Blue Mosque. So we went there.

Outside there were photos from Syria. Many wounded children. Horrible!!! There was a sign outside instructing women to dress modestly and cover their heads. I was worried but then we saw plenty of women without the headgear and ventured inside. Again, it was even better than what we remembered. There were signs inviting visitors to visit the information office to learn about Islam. Great positive warm signs. A great example of tolerance.

At that moment I thought of our most recent experiences near the wailing wall in Jerusalem. There, religious fundamentalists who are running the place had turned in it from the location for contemplation, medication, and for some, prayer, into one of intolerance and frustration. I would be lynched by the ladies if I tried to approach without the headgear. And Dan got scammed out of his money by the bearded crook who butted in when Dan was thinking, claimed he was praying for our family, and demanded the money. You are really not in a kind of mood to start the argument when you are in a place like that. To be fair we would not be welcome in the Dome of the Rock at all. So, fundamentalist intolerance goes both ways. Back to Istanbul... :)

We walked to the bridge consuming the street fare along the way - fried buns with nuts, fried fresh fish.. It was a feast for all the senses. The city is amazingly beautiful. The mixture of old buildings, tile and rug stores, and many restaurants. There were smells of fried chestnuts, raw fish, fried fish, spices, doner kebabs. It is also very clean.

Scores and scores of Russians. You practically hear as much of that as Turkish. Most Turkish women in Sultanahmet wear bright headscarves. Some had beautiful designer "modest ware" - outer trench coat like clothing made from attractive fabrics, tight belts and such. Some wore black burqas with a triangular opening for the eyes and nose.

There is a walkway level of the bridge filled with restaurants. On top, there were fishers fishing. So as you sit in the restaurant on the bridge, with Bosphorus flowing below, you can see fishing lines slide past your line of vision into the water and emerge with dangling herrings (?) on the hook. Not to forget the other views - ancient Byzantium churches turned into mosques with their minarets lit up. The exciting thing is that this view must have been the same for at least several hundreds of years. And the fishermen had came and gone satisfying their hunting instinct. One of the major highlights of our travels.

We were too full for the formal dinner and so just went to Mado for dessert. Supposedly they have a unique process of making ice-cream from goats milk. It was very good and one could not smell any goat in it. The menu with pictures is enormous. I wanted everything. Fortunately the waiter only understood the vanilla ice-cream and coffee part.

We sat in the square near the Blue Mosque at night. Dan did not sleep much on the plane and we headed home early. Looking forward to seeing Mark tomorrow.