Monday, September 25, 2017

Last day in Georgia

On September 10, I took a marshrutka from Tbilisi all the way to Kutaisi. The drive was actually OK, besides the fact that on the TV screen some very cheap low-level Russian music clips were playing for four hours - in a loop. But that's part of the deal I guess :)
I flew out from Kutaisi Airport on September 11 at 6am with a direct flight to Berlin.
I'm already thinking about going back to Georgia and explore more. Seriously. There is so much to see.

Tbilisi

As I mentioned before I spent four days in Tbilisi with Rita. We rented an apartment in the town, where we stayed. We were touring the city partly together and partly I went on my own.
For one day I took a local guide, Svetlana, who is an expert on Tbilisi. She showed me interesting neighborhoods and places, which I could otherwise not discover on my own.

We were in a restaurant named "Old Walls". They server traditional Georgian cuisine. There was also a table with a choir of Georgian men, singing local folk songs.

 There is a good choice of wine:

And fantastic food:

With Svetlana, I went to an old Georgian house, which was renovated and reflects the 17th-century style of living.  To enter the Porakishvili House is free of charge, but you have to find the guy with the key.



Tbilisi houses:




The sulfur baths:



One of the synagogues of Tbilisi:


The Tbilisi History Museum, hosted in a building of a caravanserai:

The monument of the Armenian film director Sergei Parajanov:




Old and new Tbilisi:



Mama Georgia - wine in one hand and sword in the other. Depends on who's coming - will get her left or right.

Old houses are supported so they don't collapse. I personally wouldn't park there:

The secret Tbilisi. Entrances and staircases.


In Tbilisi used to live an ethnic German community. They were all deported to other Soviet states after the World War Two.


 A Cafe, where writers and philosophers gather:

Oh yeah:

Oh bird, oh bird...

Saint George is killing the dragon on Freedom Square:









Figures from the movie Mimino:

Mtskheta and the Jvari Monastery

The last four days of my trip I spent in Tbilisi with Rita.
We had a driver for one day, who took us not only within Tbilisi to places, but also outside of the city to the Jvari Monastery and the town on Mtskheta.

The view from the Jvari Monastery on Mtskheta:


Jvari Monastery:


Mtskheta, Svetitskhoveli Cathedral:


Hello:


I wonder if you've noticed, but one of the heroes of Georgia and of this part of my blog is the King Erekle the Second aka Heraclius II, the king of Kakheti, the great monarch of the unified Georgia... without him, I probably couldn't write these lines today. He's a strong brand, sells really well. He's everywhere. Statues, paintings, legends, and stories about how he unified the country, how he defended it against the Persians, etc... He is the one resting here under this stone: