Day 14- The End

Today was our last day in Georgia and in our lovely hotel in Tbilisi.

I went out to buy hatchapuri (bread pastries stuffed with cheese) for breakfast, and was pleased to discover that I knew most of the streets and alleyways near our hotel, and could even recognize some of the shopkeepers there.  I wish I had more time to get to know everyone better.

Tip: Don't buy hatchapuri with meat in a cheap shop, regardless of how good they look or smell.  Only buy them with meat in well-off restaurants.  Otherwise- stick to hatchapuri with cheese.
We decided to polish off our breakfast with coffee and dessert, so we went exploring Tbilisi streets again, until we found 'Narikala Citadel' - a restaurant at the top of a hill, overseeing Tbilisi.

They served us a delicious ice cream with roasted hazelnuts and chocolate, as well as iced coffee with ice cream.

There was so much ice cream that my mother and I were completely full, fed two stray cats with the leftovers, and even the cats couldn't quite finish it, even though we all enjoyed it immensely.

The cats, having decided that we were friendly people, joined us at our table and purred contentedly.  Even the stray cats are friendly in Georgia.

We walked the ice cream off for a bit, and then had lunch at an old house that had been remodeled into a restaurant.  It was so unusual eating at a restaurant out of antique dishes and using real silver silverware.

After lunch, we went shopping and exploring, and I saw another Georgian wedding.  You see, weddings in Georgia are very easy t spot; if you see something unusual- it's probably a wedding.  Cars driving by and all honking incessantly? Definitely a wedding.  Gunshots at night? Those are fireworks and also a wedding.  Cars blocking the road and everyone gathered in a huge crowd around them? Probably a slightly cheaper wedding.

Today's wedding consisted of around thirty cars and a yellow tour bus, all driving by and honking, with the groom sticking out of the car and waving.  I'm still not sure if the tour bus was part of the wedding, or if it had gotten caught up in the current of cars and was honking because it couldn't escape.  People party hard in Georgia...

The rest of the day was spent shopping hurriedly until it was time to see Ramona- a marionette show by Rezo Gabriadze.  The theater was packed again.

I enjoyed Ramona, but not as much as the Battle of Stalingrad.  Ramona had bursts of brilliance and genius, while the Battle of Stalingrad was completely soaked in it.  However, Ramona was good enough, that even though I was absolutely spoiled by the Battle of Stalingrad- I still really liked Ramona.  However, for anyone wanting to see Gabriadze's plays- if you can only see one- go to the Battle of Stalingrad.  If you can see several- start with Ramona and save Stalingrad for last.  I still desperately want to meet Gabriadze and have already managed to attack the main marionette man and the cashier/assistant manager.  I really hope that some day I'll be able to meet Gabriadze.

It was such a perfect end to our stay in Georgia.

Day 13- I get to see another Gabriadze show!

Today was a fantastic day and I'm still practically twitching from excitement.

We started it again with the bread and jam and then rushed to the Museum of Fine Arts to see Michael Mchedlishvili's exhibition of embroidered icons.  The exhibition was pretty interesting- he had a very unusual way of depicting people.  I really wish I was allowed to take pictures there.

After it I had fantastic ice cream!

Georgia may have sketchy pastries and few desserts, but their ice cream is to die for.  

We met with Bruno and Giovanni to go to the Dry Bridge.  Right next to the Dry Bridge is a flea market, where people sell their old things.  It's generally where people go during bad times and make some money.  I really wanted to buy a dagger, but were all either bad quality or too expensive.  Although I couldn't find the dagger, I still really enjoyed listening to the Georgian men argue amiably with each other. 

" Why didn't you say hello to me?"

"I didn't see you!"

"You never see me!  I've been standing here all day and you pass by and you pass by.  You wound me right in the heart."

I think I will never get tired of Georgia's openness.  Everyone seems warm and friendly, even when arguing. Even the dogs feel safe just sleeping on the sidewalk.  

We walked around Georgia and saw more purely Georgian sights,

before settling down for a quick cup of coffee at Cafe Gabriadze.  They make fantastic iced coffee with ice cream and also serve absolutely exquisite desserts.  

While enjoying the lemon cream puffs they brought us, my mother and I noticed a woman who worked at the Gabriadze theater we were at last night. I came up to her and gushed about how much I loved the Battle of Stalingrad.  I explained about the light mistakes in the English subtitles and offered to fix the mistakes there.  She took my email and we chatted and she told me about how their theater got set up and what Gabriadze was like, and then said that she could get me some tickets to see another Gabriadze's work- Ramona, because she saw how much I loved Gabriadze's shows.  So, without quite understanding how, I wound up with two tickets to see Ramona.  I really cannot wait!!!

We walked around afterwards and I saw the sad little kitten again.  I saw a gypsy woman not far off, whom I recognized from petting the kitten and trying to throw a rock at a car yesterday, and from a short conversation from her, learned that she was taking care of the animals there.  Apparently the kitten didn't get paint on his face, instead it was her who covered his face with a green medical paste often used in Russian medicine.  It's nice that she cared for the animals there.

Our next event of the day was going to the Georgian baths.  So, to prepare, we pretended to be harem beauties.

The baths themselves could be found probably just by smell, as they were sulfur baths.

The first part of the baths, was sitting in a pool of really hot water.  My mother and I intended to stay there for 45 minutes, but could only last 10, because of the immense strain on the heart.  After the pool, we got scrubbed down by the bathwoman and I'm pretty sure she scrubbed off 90 percent of my skin layers.  A foam massage followed, which was much more relaxing.  We left the baths feeling soft and relaxed, and smelling lightly of rotten eggs.  

Day 12- electrons are small, sour, and green.

Today was our first day back in Tbilisi.  It was a fantastic day.  It started off with bread and butter and jam at the VIP Hotel that we were staying at.  Every day that starts with jam is a good day.

We then went to visit some friends that we made from our previous days in Tbilisi.  When we started exploring Tbilisi, several days ago, we met Bruno as our tour guide. He invited us to his house to look at his paintings and there we met his wonderful parents. Apparently he was the fourth in a generation of painters.  It was so wonderful seeing their house full of beautiful paintings from across the generations.  His father, Giovanni, turned out to be the famous author Giovanni Vepkhvadze.  As we had tea with them, Giovanni started telling us all about his life and we found out that he very casually knew some incredibly famous artists such as Sergey Paradzhanov, Mastroiani, and Rezo Gabriadze.  It must be so wonderful to live in a country where everyone knows each other.

After that we went to have lunch at a very authentic Georgian restaurant.  I ordered Lula kebab, which was fantastic.  The meat was perfectly crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.  The waiters spoke decent English and we didn't have to wait terribly long.

We then walked to the Pantheon at the top of mountain Tazminda, where Griboedov and his wife, Nina, were buried.  It was a long walk, but surprisingly interesting.  We passed by graffiti urging Georgians to become vegan, which I suppose is like urging lions to become ballerinas.

We passed buildings that were beautiful once, but had fallen into disrepair.

  I feel like a lot of Georgian buildings are like that.  People don't seem to want to fix buildings.  We even passed one that had giant cracks running up and down its length. The Georgian people don't seem to be bothered by the disrepair though.  They seem free from the troubles of their economy.  I'm still amazed by how friendly everyone is.  We asked one man for directions and a whole flock appeared, explaining and gesturing in all the English they could summon.

The view from the top of Tazminda is extraordinary.  It's especially lovely looking from above at some place you already know.  We could recognize the bridge and the buildings near our hotel, the churches and monasteries we visited, and so much more that we wanted to go to in the future.

The ending to our beautiful day was a marionette show by Rezo Gabriadze about the Battle of Stalingrad.  I cried so hard that I couldn't stop even after the piece was over.  Everything was perfect in his play, no useless lines added for beauty, no unneeded decorations.  Everything was there for a purpose.  Even the way the marionettes were dressed spoke volumes about their characters.  I think what also struck me was the simplicity of the play. Gabriadze managed to convey so much from the simplest actions and settings.  He rarely used complex phrases used to show off one's erudition, instead he had these simple,short phrases that stuck in your mind, such as 'No one has ever seen an electron. I'll tell you.  An electron is small, sour, and green.‘  Moreover, his stories were absolutely believable and that's what made it hurt so much.  Because I knew that what he wrote probably happened.  I really want to see the play again and recommend everyone to see Gabriadze's shows.

Day 11

Today was another uneventful day due to spending five hours driving.  We left Batumi to go to Tbilisi, which was great because I missed Tbilisi.  Also because Tbilisi had ice cream, unlike Batumi which had evil pastries that betrayed you with false appearances of deliciousness and then sucker-punched you in the stomach.

Before we left Batumi, we decided to go to the Batumi Botanical Garden.

We got our own tour guide that followed us and showed us the entire way, even up to the car. We paid him in bread scraps.

It was pretty and had some nice views and was great for a walk, but, it was rather unkempt.  I felt like they could have made so much more out of it.

After the botanical garden we drove for five hours straight. It was a beautiful road.  However, having driven all of the five hours through admittedly beautiful wilderness and sparse villages, I never thought my heart would be filled with such joy to see the gleaming buildings of Tbilisi, nestled nicely in a little valley.

That is what most of the road looked like. Beautiful, but lacking in food and wifi.

I also never thought I'd be filled with such misery and loss when we passed the buildings and I realized I mistook Mtsheta for Tbilisi.

Once settling happily in our hotel in Tbilisi, I decided to go out and get some food.  I waited for it for about 20 minutes and in that short period of time: got approached by a limping beggar boy about my age, watched a gypsy woman hurl a rock and insults at a car, saw a sad little kitten with a green face beg for food, and saw the same kitten get sprayed by a very grumpy woman.  And that is why you should avoid waiting for food in an alleyway in Tbilisi.

However, you should go to the alleyways because the food was fantastic.  I got hachapuri which are a bread and cheese pastry.  We devoured them too fast for a picture.

For dinner, we went to a restaurant called Melnitsa, which is 'windmill' in Russian.  The reason for this name is quite simple- the restaurant is located inside a windmill.  The restaurant is super famous for their Georgian songs and dances.  The food itself was decent- most people came for the show.  The show was absolutely fantastic- they had high-quality dancers.  I really enjoyed the place.

Day 10

Today was a rather uneventful day as most of it was spent driving from Mestia to Batumi.  We were so sad to leave Nino Ratiani's Guesthouse. She was so incredibly hospitable! For every meal she would come over to each guest and talk to them for a bit.  She made sure that everyone's needs were met, had delicious food, a clean house, and even maps and advice for her customers who intended to travel.  Our only problem was that it was noisy in the mornings and the evenings as people went up and down the stairs.  However, because she closed everything at 10PM, the noise died down at around 11PM, which was pretty good.

She also had remarkably quick and attentive staff, which is rare in Georgia. Georgia is a country that hates to hurry, and coming from fast-paced America, I had difficulty waiting half an hour for a cup of tea. Nino's staff was able to give us a full course dinner in five.

After staying at a variety of places, I've noticed that guesthouses are the best to stay at.  They're always clean and have hospitable and helpful owners, much unlike hotels which tend to be dingy with unpleasant staff.  The only hotels that I liked were the Gora hotel in Kutaisi and the VIP hotel in Tbilisi.

We left Nino's lovely guesthouse to go to the nearby museum which was owned by a lady named Larissa.  She was one of the most extraordinary people I had met. I can only describe her as a fountain or an explosion of life and excitement.  I could practically feel the energy radiating from her.  She came to Georgia from Siberia because of her husband and not only managed to learn the language and culture, but started a guesthouse, made a small museum, built a tower, raised several children, and became incredibly well-known and respected.

Her museum was a replica of a Svan house and she explained all the furniture and all of the history behind it with great care.  Apparently most villages in Svanetia had a Svan tower which demonstrated the strength of the family and served as defense against nature and wars.  The house itself was 2-3 stories and had a special level for winter time and one for summer time.

 In wintertime, the Svans would keep the animals inside for warmth in special pens right underneath their beds.  In summertime, they would kick all the animals out and live on the upper level, which was used to store hay in the winter.  I was really amazed by how well the Svans planned out everything in their house. Everything seemed there for a reason.

We then went to a museum on Svanetia and I was really impressed by the emotion depicted in the icons. Most of the Russian Orthodox icons that I had seen had very stern faces.  However, the ones in Georgia looked incredibly kind.  I really wish I was allowed to take pictures there.

After that we drove to Batumi, which had really unusual architecture.  I'm still not quite sure how I feel about it.

I have one last thing to say about Batumi.  Dont eat the pastries there.  Georgians dont eat dessert for a reason.

Day 9- Svanetia

Today we explored Ushguli and I had a fantastic day.  Ushguli is the highest altitude village in Europe.

The road to getting there though was terrifying.  We drove there in a jeep, but I still was thrown from side to side.  Every now and then cows would appear and refuse to get out of the way.  Sometimes the road would disappear.  

And, once we drove right next to a waterfall. The scary road didn't ruin the beauty of the place though.

To try and make conversation, I asked the driver about the Svans, the ethnicity living in Svanetia, where Ushguli was located.  The following dialogue did not help make the trip any less terrifying.

"So, what are Svans like?"

"Oh, they're the scariest people."

"How so?"

"Well..." at this the driver looked around warily, as if checking for possible Svans, and added "they take blood."  

I began to wonder if we were going to be dealing with vampires, but luckily the driver clarified that Svans often killed in revenge. So, with that in mind, I explored Ushguli very gingerly, but then noticed that everyone had really kind eyes and was super nice.  I like Georgia- a country where even the scariest people are kind.

The first place that we went to in Ushguli was the monastery of the Holy Mother - apparently the favorite monastery of President Saakashvili's wife. 

 It was built in the eleventh century and contained one of the three frescoes in Georgia that had the image of Queen Tamar made during her lifetime.  

The monastery was tiny and only had one monk, but it was still imbued with an enormous amount of spirituality.  

After the monastery we went to see what Svan furniture would have looked like.  The lights didn't work there, so we had a person who followed us around and shone a flashlight on the artifacts.  It was pretty awkward, but I still saw some interesting stuff, like a loom and a very fancy chair.

Then, we saw a bunch of signs advertising a museum, so we followed them and opened the door.  We walked into an unexpectedly Soviet looking house.  

The woman who owned it had made a small museum in her home from all of the antiques she owned and things her husband found from hunting.  That is how I got to see the first lamp in Ushguli, as well as an ancient hammer, lots of taxidermied animals and an almost Neolithic knife sharpener.  She seemed to really enjoy showing us everything and refused to let us go until we saw every single artifact she owned.  She even played a song on a Svan intrument.  It was so great seeing someone care so much.

After her we had delicious food and I befriended a dog and I attempted to pet a few piglets, but they didn't want my love. :(

We also rode on a ski lift to see Mestia from above, which was beautiful.  There was a lovely cafe at the top which seemed very popular.  We relaxed there for a bit and enjoyed the view.  

Then we started going down and realized how beautiful and scary that was.

  

Luckily, we made it safe and were back in the warm guesthouse.