I'm afraid that I have not posted i quite a while! My apologies to anyone who's actually following this blog. My goal this week is to get the blog up to speed. My lack of posts was mainly due to the amount of traveling I've been doing to here, there and everywhere! But the good news is that means I have a lot of material to post, and plan on posting at least 3-4 times this week. Also, I'm posting a bunch of photos at the end of this entry, so I'll be interjecting photo numbers into the text so you can follow along visually. (For some reason the formatting on Blogger messes up when I try to embed the photos into the text).
The Georgia Epic Begins
My friend Noel is a little bit crazy. He studied Georgian (completely randomly) on a summer fellowship at Indiana University six years ago and has been wanting to go there ever since. I will mention early on in this story that Noel only remembers maybe 13 words of Georgian. Touring the country was going to be difficult for sure, but he'd made some prior arrangements. A friend of mine from the Near Eastern Studies department at the UofA, Sarah, now lives in Tblisi and was extremely helpful finding Noel a home-stay and offering her help to him. Also, Noel is still in touch with his Georgian teacher from IU who gave him the phone numbers of her two cousins, Giuli and Nunu, that live in Tbilisi and were happy to show him around.
Why am I telling this story about Noel's Georgia plans? Well, the original plan was that we would take the same bus from Ankara and I would get off in Trabzon for a week in the Black Sea region of Turkey and he would continue on into Georgia, all the way to Tbilisi. Obviously that plan changed because I ended up traveling to Georgia with Noel.
On the bus we met three amazing Georgian women, Layla, Maria and Nuna. Maria was sitting next to Layla who was at least three-times her size. She initiated contact with us using body language. Then Layla piped in with the few lines of English that she new. When Noel said he was from Puerto Rico, the woman who was sitting behind us, Nuna, started speaking to him in perfect Spanish. She had been living in Barcelona for four years and was returning to Georgia to renew her visa (photo 1).
The bus to Trabzon/Tbilisi was the worst thus far. Everyone on the bus was Georgian, so Noel and I were even more isolated than when we were surrounded by Turks. We were struggling to communicate with the extremely volatile bus attendant, which is why it was such a blessing that Nuna happened to speak Spanish. She graciously acted as an interpreter for us. It was great being able to communicate with her, embarrassed as I was with my poor performance in Spanish, and she helped us communicate with the other two ladies as well. They were very interested in us and also in helping Noel brush up on the little bit of Georgian he could dust-off from the far-reaches of his memory, They spoke of chacha, a strong Georgian liquor (photo 13), and we poked fun of the Jekyll-and-Hyde attendant, Guli. By the end of the ride, we were like old friends, common language be damned.
At some point during these thirty-odd hours together, I decided, screw it; I'm having way too much fun with Noel and if these ladies are any indication of how fun Georgians are, I want to go to Georgia! So I paid the difference to the driver, and that was it, I was off to travel Georgia with Noel!
We arrived to Tbilisi around dusk and took a cab to the McDonald's on Rustaveli Ave. where Noel had arranged to meet Sarah (photo 4). After a few hours she arrived and walked us to the home-stay she'd arranged with a woman named Marina. She rents out two rooms in her house regularly to foreign students. I took the room upstairs (I'll admit, it was the nicer and quieter room) and Noel took the other one downstairs. Marina and her husband Varja are good people, although a little on the wacky side. Marina liked to walk around the house in skimpy dresses much to Noel's dismay, and Varja perhaps has a bit of a drinking problem. One morning, thankfully while we were off sight-seeing, he sawed through his ankle with a chainsaw trying to chop wood under the influence and was rushed to the hospital for surgery.
The highlight of the home-stay for me was Pusspussa. She's Marina's cat, who around a month prior had delivered a litter of 4 kittens which she kept in a large FedEx box on the roof. They were so sweet; Noel and I passed many hours on the roof playing with the little ones which we named Marco, Zack, Majnoon, and Albert for various reasons (photos 5 & 6).
Touring Tbilisi:
For the first few days, we wandered around Tbilisi, taking lots of pictures of churches, alleyways, buildings, people and everything in between. Old Tbilisi was awash with churches new and old and even a mosque and a synagogue stood amongst them (photos 9 - 28).
Once night fell, Noel and I wanted to go out to the bars to get a taste of Tbilisi nightlife. We brought Marina's niece, Galina with us whom we'd met that evening. She was a riot. She's 18, obsessed with Japanese culture, and speaks English very well. First we went to a bar Marina recommended but it was dead. Explaining to her the concept of "bar hopping", we let our ears gide us to a bar a few doors down where we could hear a live band playing. It was a mock "Wild West" style saloon, complete with swinging wooden doors, pictures of cowboys & indians on the walls, and American flags steaming from the ceiling. The band was playing Jimi Hendrix when we arrived and continue to play American classic rock all night. The place was packed with young Georgians drinking, smoking, dancing on the crowded wooden floor (and even on the benches!). Noel and I were speechless; who'd think we'd be in the middle of a former Soviet republic, in a bar surrounded by American flags and hearing live Led Zeppelin? Strange, yet wonderful all the same. We joined in on the drinking, smoking, dancing and sweating with pleasure. Noel even requested "Let It Be" which the band played at midnight. I thought of my father as a group of young guys repeatedly yelled "Smoke On the Water!" in thick accents until the band succumbed to their demand.
The next day, Sarah took us to the nearby town of Mskheta, "the heart of Georgian spirituality", as it houses the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral (photos 30 - 37). First constructed in the 4th century, the current cathedral was reconstructed in the 11th century C.E. and is venerated as a holy place by Georgian Christians. Christ's robe was supposidly buried on the site in the 1st century C.E. We happened to visit the church on a holiday, St. Mary's day (photos 17 & 18), so it was crowded with worshippers, especially newly-weds wishing to receive St. Mary's blessing for their marriage (photo 29). Brides and their entourages were in full costume and hastily lighting candles, saying their obligatory prayers and crowding in to receive the priest's blessings. Then took a taxi to the Jvari Monestary atop a hill overlooking the Mskheta valley (photos 39 - 41). This is supposed to be the site of the first church in Georgia, where in the 4th century C.E. St. Nino tied a cross together using a lock of her hair and thus bringing Christianity to Georgia. (St. Nino happeed to be from Cappadocia, Turkey, by the way). I found the site particularly interesting because you can see where the Mtkvari ("Kura") and Aragvi rivers converge (photo 38). As a water-nerd, this was very exciting for me.
A precursor on Georgian cousine: katchipouri is sold on every street corner and served daily in every Georgia home. It's basically a pastry filled with salty, white cheese, although sometimes they have beans or meat in them too. Georgians have an affinity for pickles, dumplings, and various forms of meat. My favorite dish, and one that I learned how to make, is eggplant stuffed with walnuts and spices. It's very delicious and unlike anything I've ever tasted before.
Georgia is also famous for its wine. Usually sweet, it has been produced in the Khakheti valley since the 3rd-4th century B.C. They produce their wine by storing it in huge terra-cotta vats (kvevri) in the ground to age. Also, Georgia has an abundance of natural mineral waters which are cheap and readily available. Noel's favorite by far was Borjomi. I enjoyed the pear and tarragon flavored sodas myself.
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That day was our host Marina's birthday. Her family gathered at her home in the evening for a supra or "feast" which Noel and I were invited to attend. Among the guests were Marina's cousin, Maya, a cute woman who reminded me of my Aunt Kit and who spoke English very well. Also, her friend Irma and her husband Tango were there. Irma also speaks wonderful English and works at the American Council office in Tbilisi. Her husband Tango is an engineer, physical trainer, but more interestingly, a yoga Guru. He teaches classes every day and also leads yoga certification courses for people interested in becoming teachers (photo 8). He's even published a book in Georgian on yoga practice!
Her family and friends gathered around the tabled which was filled with an assortment of dishes, from the typical kachipuri, to salmon, pork, "pizza", a pickle platter, various salads, chicken, stuffed eggplants and peppers and of course plenty of Georgian wine. Marina's husband Varja acted as the tamada , or "toast master" who traditionally leads multiple toasts throughout the evening and makes sure each guest's glass stays filled. We toasted to Marina, to those who weren't with us, to God, to women & children, to our countries, and probably more toasts I can't remember. Even Noel, who doesn't usually drink, succumbed to Varja's pressure to respect the imbibing tradition. It was a great night, full of laughter and of course, gluttony.
Church upon Church:
Our next day in Tbilisi, we met up with Nunu and Giuli for a tour of some of Tbilisi's historical sites. We began at the Sameba Cathedral, the largest church in Georgia, completed in 2004. It is a massive structure visible for miles around; a monolith in the heart of the city. We made our rounds lighting candles and respectfully kissing the icons. Then we headed to Old Tbilisi to visit the Sioni Cathedral, contrastingly one of the oldest churches in Tbilisi originally built in the 6th-7th centuries. . There Giuli bought small Georgian icons for Noel and me and got them blessed by the priest. Inside it was small and dark, covered in smoke-stained frescos on the ceilings and walls. The church is said to house the original cross that St. Nino erected in Mskheta, tied with her own hair. Again, we lit candles, kissed the icons and crossed ourselves repeatedly until we'd had enough and headed back out into Old Tbilisi.
We didn't have much time before lunch, but we were able to see the Great Synagogue, although we weren't able tp enter into it. Then we were on our way to have lunch at Giuli's house. It was a feast of chicken cooked in a tomato, onion, parsley sauce as well as kachipouri, potato salad, followed by fruit, tea and homemade coffee-cake. Combine all this with the sweltering humidity of the early September afternoon and Noel and I entered food-coma land. Alas, we had to get off our tired butts to go back to Marina's and pack since we were leaving that night for the Caucasus Mountains for a little "retreat" with Sarah. Our Caucasus adventure will be the feature of my next post, as it deserves an entry all its own.
Back in Tbilisi:
After returning from our Caucuses adventure, Noel & I parted ways with Sarah who was heading out of town and wouldn't return again before we left. We both felt relieved to be back at Marina's after the long journey. I especially enjoyed returning to the kittens. Both feeling a bit tired of Georgian cuisine, we headed to an Indian restaurant we'd seen previously when we went bar-hopping. The food wasn't great and a little expensive, but it was simply nice to eat something different for a change. We're spoiled in America with our varied diets, so eating basically the same thing every day was getting monotonous. Then we wandered around Rustaveli Ave. looking for a bar, and ended up going to a little hole-in-the-wall across from the Marriott. Turned out that the Russian rugby team decided to hit-up the same bar that night. They arrived shortly after us and soon began putting away an absurd amount of vodka. We were amused by their gruff demeanors and debauchery behavior and found it particularly funny when they would interact with the slight, gay waiter that was working both of our tables.
Nunu & Giuli Days:
The next day we met up with Nunu, first heading to the Georgia National Museum (photo 62). The national treasury was impressive, full of gold from centuries of Georgian kingdoms; however, the tour guide was extremely rude and also rushed us so I didn't have adequate time to really appreciate what I was seeing (photo 63). To see a few of the golden treasures housed in the treasury, visit here. There was also a Near East exhibit, with artifacts from mainly Iran and Egypt. Sadly. the artifacts were in poor condition; the room was musty and hot, with crumbling floors and walls. In the back room, an Egyptian sarcophagus was haphazardly leaning in a corner next to its mummy encased in glass, albeit without any sort of temperature control or security system in the room. The front room was full of mainly Qajar-era Persian rugs, furniture, pottery and paintings. One of the paintings or two dancing women reminded me of my Iranian friend Goli and her aunt. Too bad photographs weren't allowed!
The redeeming feature of the museum was the special exhibition upstairs on Georgian Jewry. The artifacts were well-displayed with decent English translations. There were paintings from a few prominent Georgian Jews depicting Jewish life during the turn of the 20th to mid-20th century as well as textiles, glass, metalwork, and even examples of Georgian Jewish gravestones. All in all, it was the most interesting and worthwhile part of the museum.
Nunu then took us to Mtsmada Park, a large amusement park/arcade overlooking Tbilisi (photos 64 - 66). Noel was delighted, like a kid in a candy store, and played multiple shooting games. As for me, it was interesting to see the Georgian equivalent of Disneyland, but wasn't how I'd usually spend my afternoon.
The next day, we met Nunu in the morning and went to Turtle Lake. Not far from Mstamada park, the lake was really more of a small pond. Many people were there sunning themselves on the small beach, swimming in the murky water, and taking walks on the paved track circling the lake (photos 68 - 71). We rented a paddleboat but Noel refused to rent one of the cute dolphin boats so we got a clunky, generic boat instead. After sweating through half an hour peddling, Noel and I took a dip in the water which was refreshing but a little slimy.
After swimming, we visited the Georgian Open Air Museum of Ethnography (photos 72 - 77). A very fascinating place! The Georgian government took houses from every part of Georgia, deconstructed them, then reconstructed them onsite to demonstrate the various traditional architectural styles and handiwork from around the country. Over 11 zones are represented with over 70 buildings! Nunu showed us around at first, giving us a break-down of Georgian wine production (photos 73 & 74). Then we met up with another group of tourists for a mini-tour led by a Georgian man (named George, no less) who spoke incredible English (photo 77). He was a real interesting guy, an artist who is sketches of the houses and artifacts of the museum for preservation's sake. He also cares for dozens of cats on the property. Never have I seen such domestic, adoring cats as these. They follow him like dogs, jumping up on their hind legs in order to be pet and rubbing up against his chin on command. He's definitely a "cat whisperer" if I've ever met one.
My last day in Tbilisi was spent first going to the market to buy Georgian spices with Marina so I could make stuffed eggplant with walnut sauce for my Mom when I return home . One of the spices they use is ground marigold flowers, as well as coriander, paprika, dill, garlic, and tarragon. We stopped for a beer on the way back home at a beer garden underneath the giant Rustaveli statue (photo 78). She then gave me a lesson on how to prepare the eggplant dish (photo 79) and packed our practice batch in a tupperware for Noel and me to take on our travels. Noel and I ate lunch at a Georgia restaurant which was recommended to us, but actually later that day gave me food poisoning. We met two Scottish men there that are working in Tbilisi. One is working for a European newspaper and the other is supposedly doing some sort of research although he admitted he's there more as a tourist than anything else. It was a pleasant encounter since we hadn't run into any other tourists our entire time in Georgia!
I then made a last-minute souvenir dash before meeting up with Noel and Nunu for dinner and our farewell at Giuli's house.
She had prepared a delicious borsht soup as well as a heap of fried potatoes with boiled hotdogs on top (photo 83). Since my stomach had started lurching, I just ate the borsht and got out of the hot dog situation, which I think Noel was forced to eat four of.
After eating, Giuli pulled out her maps and Noel and I received an impromptu history lesson (in Georgian, mind you) on the history of Georgia, the USSR, and geography surrounding region. By that point, I had a fever and was lying on the couch trying to meditate my way out of vomiting, so I'm afraid I didn't get much out of the lesson. But Noel was in his element, asking Giuli via broken Georgian and body language about the Chechens, Ossetia and who knows what else. Nunu was such a sweetheart and went to the pharmacy to get me some flu medication which ended up being a bitter white powder which I drank mixed into hot water. Once I was feeling a little better, Noel and I said our sorrowful goodbyes to our two Georgian "grandmas" and hurried back to Marina's to finish packing and take the night-train to Batumi on the Black Sea Coast.
Batumi:
All I can say about Batumi is that it was an severe disappointment. Noel and I had heard that Batumi was the "hot spot" in Georgia in the summertime, a ex-Soviet beach resort with clubs, restaurants, and the like. We arrive early in the morning and it was difficult for us to find a hotel that would take us in at that hour. Eventually found one which in the end was luxurious because it had air conditioning, which on a day with almost 100% humidity was a godsend. We both napped as neither of us had gotten much sleep on the night-train.
After waking from our nap, we tried to find a place to eat lunch. Much like Mestia, Batumi is under city-wide construction and the streets were ripped apart and nearly in-navigable. On the other hand, it's good that they're investing so much into the city since apparently there was a lot of damage incurred during the 2008 Russian invasion. It was raining which made the street situation a muddy mess. After searching half-an-hour or so, we were able to find a halfway decent restaurant. But after the disappointing meal, and realizing the weather was going to put a wrench into our beach-lounging plans, we decided to kiss Batumi goodbye and get the first bus back to Turkey that evening.
We barely had time to buy our tickets and pack before we were on our long way back to Ankara, once again to see Pelin, and just in time for the end of Ramazan and beginning of the Bayram holiday in Turkey.
Overall, I throughly enjoyed my time in Georgia. It was unlike any place I'd seen or even imagined. They have an amazingly rich culture and history which I had not been exposed to prior to this journey. Although the language barrier was a challenge, Georgians were always willing to help us and the hospitality we received was incredible. As I will describe in the next post, the Caucusus were indescribably breathtaking. I hope to return some day with full trekking gear in order to fully appreciate all they have to offer in terms of outdoor adventures. I offer my sincere thanks to my friend Noel for his spirit of adventure and youthful curiosity, without which I would never had experienced anything described above.
Enjoy the photos!!!
1. Our Georgian friends from the bus Maria & Nuna in back and Layla in the front; 2. Looking back on Turkey from the Georgian border on the Black Sea coast; 3. My first images of the Georgian countryside as seen from the bus; 4. Arriving to Tbilisi at dusk to the McDonald's on Rustaveli Ave.; 5. Noel playing with the kittens on Marina's roof; 6. Pusspussa nursing her four kittens, from left: Zack, Majnoon, Marco and Albert; 7. Grapes hanging from the rooftop; 8. Advertisement for yoga classes; 9. Georgian National Opera House on Rustaveli Ave. built in Islamic architectural style; 10. Pro-heavy metal graffiti on Rustaveli Ave.; 11. Golden statue of St. George erected in Freedom Square where a statue of Lenin once stood; 12. Freedom Square; 13. Selection of chacha and other spirits at a Georgian super-market; 14. Kashveti Church of St. George; 15. Fresco of St. George slaying a dragon inside the church; 16. Rustaveli Avenue; 17. & 18. Religious procession honoring St. Mary; 19. - 21. Sampling of Georgian architectural details; 22. Posing with a daunting Soviet-era statue; 23. Capital building; 24. Image of St. Mary on a brick wall in Old Tbilisi; 25. A small, beautiful church garden; 26. Traditional Georgian tailor advertisement; 27. Steeple peaking through the trees in Old Tbilisi; 28. Icon built into a wall in Mskheta; 29. Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage Site; 30. - 32. Frescos inside the cathedral; 34. - 36. Inside the Cathedral; 37. Bride and groom leaving after being blessed by a priest; 38. Doves on Cathedral's defensive wall; 39. Jvari Monastary as seen from the valley below; 40. The convergence of the Mtkvari (Kura) and Aragvi rivers as seen from Jvari; 41. Worshippers flocking to Jvari Cathedral; 42. On the steps of Jvari; 43. St. Mary icon with candles inside Jvari; 44. Marina's birthday supra; 45. Downtown Tbilisi; 46. Sameba Cathedral, the largest church in Georgia; 47. Alter inside Sameba; 48. St. Nino icon; 49. Sameba - a side view; 50. Sioni Church in Old Tbilisi; 51. Old Georgian stylized cross outside Sioni; 52. Embellishments above Sioni doorway with Georgian calligraphy; 53. Guide for proper church attire for visitors; 54. Old, smoke-stained frescos inside Sioni; 55. In contrast, a newly painted fresco inside Sioni; 56. Detail of fresco; 57. Sioni steeple; 58. Bell tower of the Russian Neoclassical architectural style errected in 1812 to commemorate the Russian victory over the Ottomans; 59. Old Tbilisi street scene; 60. Great Synagogue of Tbilisi built at the turn of the 20th century; 61. Our gracious hosts, tour guides and Georgian grandmas, Nunu and Giuli; 62. Georgia National Museum, featuring an exhibition on Georgian Jewry; 63. Inside the museum, a glimpse at what the national treasury had to offer; 64. - 66. Mtsmada Park aka Georgian Disneyland; 67. View of Tbilisi from Mtsmada Park; 68. Noel & me at Turtle Lake; 69. Sunbathers and murky, green water; 70. Adorable porpoise paddle boats!; 71. Wild rosehips growing at the lake; 72. One of the house exhibits in the Georgian Open Air Ethnography Museum; 73. Example of a wooden Georgian wine press; 74. Nunu teaches shows Noel the traditional earthen vessel, kvevri, used to store and age Georgian wine; 75. Georgian textile and wooden document box hanging on the wall of one of the museum's houses; 76. Another traditional Georgian home on display at the museum; 77. Our tour-guide, George, teaching Noel about the traditional Georgian supra; 78. The beer garden by Marina's house with a statue of the famous Georgian poet Rustaveli towering above; 79. Learning how to make stuffed eggplant with walnut paste; 80. A public school on Rustaveli Ave.; 81. A street near Freedom Square; 82. One of the ubiquitous casinos or "slot clubs" that clutter every street of Tbilisi; 83. Dinner with Nunu and Giuli on our last night in Tbilisi; 84. Batumi clock-tower.
