Josie’s birthday. Not sure her age but she works in security, has the most amazing stories, is a truly intrepid traveller, takes the best photos on her iPhone and I am so thrilled she chose to come on this tour.
Our travel day started at the Tavali Market where we introduced to hazel nut and walnut wine paste covered sweets-churchkhula. We were given a talk by one stall holder about the spices and how to use them and another told us about pickling all sorts of vegetables.
The highlight was lunch at Nazy’s Guesthouse. She told us her story explaining the movement of the Chechen peoples into Georgia where they became known as Krist. How the people in this area were misrepresented as terrorists and how her determination to change perceptions by attracting tourists and rewriting the history has enlivened and given the people hope and direction. This remarkable woman was truly inspiring. The cherry on the cake was the peach cake Nazy prepared to celebrate Josie’s birthday.
Day 7 and we head for Tbilisi where we checked into the rather lovely Art Deco Museum Hotel which was formerly a noble family home.
Pavel took us for an orientation walk and recommended the very popular and very crowded Café Daphne, where due to Sue’s persistence we gained a table and sampled the famous dumplings called Khinkali. From there we headed across the road to the flea market where we saw all manner of items including a host of Soviet artefacts, wonderful rugs, ancient toys and a host of bric-a-brac and trinkets. Later we headed out for dinner and drinks accompanied by a selection of khachapuri- boat shaped Georgian bread with cheese-stuffed crust and a variety of fillings backed in the middle. They were larger than we supposed and so we shared. Afterwards, Simon and Madi partied on but Sue and I, Laurie and Josie decided to call it a night.
Yet another power-packed day began with a walking tour of the Old City with a highly energetic, enthusiastic and extremely well informed guide who is currently completing his PHD in archaeology. A service was taking place as we peeked into the oldest surviving Georgian Orthodox church, the Anchiskhati Basillica of St Mary, which dates back to the sixty century. A stroll along Rustaveli Avenue discovering the quirky clock tower designed by Rezo Gabriadze, the monuments, a cable car to the Narikala Fortress overlooking the city and 16 centuries of history condensed into a few short hours culminated in our arrival at the sulphur baths after which the city is thought to have been named.
Another lunch of dumplings, a short rest and Sue and I headed out to immerse ourselves in some after dark ambience. This is when the city comes to life.