Tag: Georgia

Goodbye Georgia, hello Armenia

On By cockneykiwi15Leave a comment

Georgia & Armenia, April 2025
Georgia was amazing.  Tazo, our guide was amazing and finally, it was amazing having 3 nights in the same hotel and not packing every day!

Tazo picked us up at 9.20 for our 1 hour drive to the border with Armenia.  On this short drive we finally started to see some wild poppies blooming.   The image I had in my head of spring in the Caucasus mountains was snowcapped mountains and fields of wildflowers below 🥴 it seems funny now we have spent time trudging through snow ❤️. Tazo explained that they thought to be “growing from the blood of warriors”.

Before arriving at the border, we passed a large military base with visible missile launchers and jet fighters poking out of their camouflaged hangers (took a sneaky picture or two as we passed and try and spot the base) and far too quickly we had arrived at the board and it was time to say our goodbyes to Tazo and Georgia.

The border crossing was not too busy and it took us around 10 minutes to exit Georgia, before walking the 500m across no man’s land (with the river as a natural border).  It seemed we were the only people walking the distance and most groups of tourists had buses waiting for them to take them across the bridge! 

It did mean we could jump in front of some of the buses to get through the Armenia side (where the queues were a little longer) and before long we were in Armenia and out looking for our new guide, Levon.

So, welcome to Armenia.  Currency here is the Armenia dram and $NZ1 = 230 dram. We were quick to dive into some general information about our new country. 

Like Georgia, Armenia has a unique alphabet and language and in fact the language used today dates back to the year 450.  Unlike Georgia, Armenia is not part of the Caucasus’s but is in fact the Armenian Highlands. I was surprised to learn that much of the country sits on plateaus over 1000m above sea level, with half sitting over 2000m and only 3% lower than 650m!  This gives an average elevation of 1,800m above sea level!

There is often a lot of comparison with Georgia and there is definitely a friendly rivalry between the two, particularly when it comes to who became Christian first, and possibly more importantly, who has the best wine.  😂    Apparently, Georgian’s joke that Armenian’s adopted Christianity before Jesus was born, as they are always bragging about being the ‘first’ lol.

My first impression is that Armenia is more beautiful than I could have imagined and our first stop, at the Haghpat Monastery, helped to confirm that.  As this was our first introduction to Armenian architecture, we learnt a bit about the basics of what we will see in future sites as well.  Situated at 2,500m above sea level, it was also an introduction to the incredible views of mountains and valleys that we can expect from the country.

This monastery is part of a fortified church complex, the earliest parts of which were built during the Kiurikian dynasty between 966 and 991 AD.  Further construction took place in the 12th and 13th centuries when it was an important religious centre that housed 100s of monks.

The complex and its fortifications (the name actually means “huge wall”) have survived earthquakes and invasions and is a great example of medieval Armenian architecture.  It was in fact Armenia’s first UNESCO World Heritage site!

Highlights and learnings from this visit:

The church has a fresco of two kings holding a model of the church. We actually see this in a few places and in fact has helped with reconstructions.

We saw our first Khachkars or Cross stones, some at this site date back to the 13th century.  Khachkars are unique to the Armenian Apostolic Church and are intricately carved stones with crosses and other carvings – often rosettes and botanical motifs including leaves and pomegranates. 

Some actually looked quite Celtic in design.  There are only four that have imagines of Christ on them and one is here at the Haghpat Monastery and the Holy Redeemer khachkar we see here (carved in 1273) is considered one of the most highly regarded cross stones.

The art of carving Khachkars was first seen in the 9th century and today, the symbolism and craftsmanship of Khachkars is on the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. 

Original khachkars were almost liked headstones, to depict the story of a life and are normally found in graveyards or around churches. The ornamental side of the stone always faces west, as do the churches.

Many khachkars have been destroyed over the years, many by conflict with neighbours, in particularly Turkey and Azerbaijan.  In fact the current conflict with Azerbaijan is really only a stones through away from where we are. Between 1998 and 2005, the Azerbaijani government destroyed an entire medieval Armenian cemetery along with over 2,500 khachkars in Nakhichevan and this is considered a “cultural genocide”.

Another feature of Armenia church architecture is the Gavit, a large entrance hall with arches and columns.  Although it can be used for gatherings, it is also often used as a burial site for rich and/or important people and it seemed very odd walking over their graves.  The gavit at the Haghpat Monastery was built in the 11th century whilst the main part of the church was built in the 9th century.  The gavit also had amazing acoustics, which was demonstrated by another tour guide singing – Levon declined to join him despite our encouragement.

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant that was clearly set up to cater for very large groups and there were one or two there (we were very glad not to be on one of them)!  The restaurant did have a beautiful view though it was a little unnerving hearing the thunder off in the distance. 

Lunch consisted of a few Armenia delicacies including kebab (here the meat is served wrapped up in lavash – a simple flat bread), dolma (Ania loves these so they have been a part of most of our meals) and a few other things I did not make a note of lol.  Perhaps I was just too keen to get eating lol.

Over lunch we learnt about the “dark and cold years” between 1990-1994.  After a large earthquake in 1988, the government decided to shut down their nuclear power plants and then the collapse of the USSR, meant Azerbaijan blocked the gas pipeline line (from Turkmenistan) leaving Armenia with a massive energy crisis.  Levon recalls burning books to make fire to keep warm.

We also discussed some of Armenia’s struggles over the years.  Armenia used to be a vast land, stretching from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean but today it is only a fraction of that at 30,000km2 with a population of around 3 million.  Of the 3 million, more than 1 million live in the capital, Yerevan.  There are actually around 1 million ethnic Armenia’s living in California, 2 million in Russia and 0.5 million in Argentina. 

And finally the Armenian flag – which is horizontal lines of red, blue and apricot.  Yes, apricot – did you know that the apricot is the national fruit of Armenia and the latin name of the apricot is actually Prunus Armeniaca! 

Our second site for the day was the Sanahin Monastery, founded in the 10th century.  Apparently, the translation of Sanahin is “this one is older than that one”, referring to the Haghpat Monastery we had visited before lunch 😂 .

Initial construction actually started in the 4th century, but most of what we see today was built in the 12th and 13th centuries.  The site has five churches a school, an active library and fortress walls surrounding them all.

One of the churches is the temple of St Gregory the Illuminator, the founder and official head of the Armenian Apostolic Church (I will tell you more about him in a later blog) and some of the ancient graves are of important statesmen and royalty. 

I was thrilled to see some good old Lada’s on the roads.  Apparently, they are great for villages as “nothing can break them”. Also loving the buses here!

Back on the road, we continued through the mountains and valleys (more like a huge canyon that looks like a crack in the earth) an as we went around a corner we came across the most breathtaking view – I mean it literally almost took my breathe away.   I had no idea Armenia would be so beautiful.

Our final activity for the day was a walk in a park but by the time we arrived it was pouring with rain so we decided to abandon that and continued on through the beautiful landscapes and small towns.  Many of the small towns appear to have a lot of deserted and unfinished houses.  Apparently, many people have just given up on rural life and moved to the city. 

A few other random facts we discussed (now in “Car chats with Levon”):

  • There is no social security or unemployment benefits in Armenia
  • There are mandatory chess lessons in school
  • In a prior life, our guide, Levon, was an economist in a bank before giving that up to be a Bartender (which earnt him a lot more money!  Of course he is now one of the best guides in Armenia!

Our hotel for the night was in the scenic mountain town of Dilijan.  It only has a population of around 15,000 people, but despite its small size, it is an international education centre for locals and foreigners, with the international school being here.  This means some expats live and work in Yerevan, whilst their families live here and their children attend the international school.

I enjoyed a dinner of cheese, bread and wine in the hotel restaurant and whilst we were eating, our host received a video call from her son on the Azerbaijan border, in full battle fatigues and helmet.  He is doing his mandatory 2-year military service and this makes the conflict all the more real.

And so ends day one in Armenia, and I was excited to see more.

 

Georgian capitals old and new

On By cockneykiwi15Leave a comment

Georgia, April 2025

Today was Easter Sunday and I finally made it out for a morning walk through the now silent streets.   Our hotel is in a fairly residential area, with narrow potholed streets, lined by small ramshackled houses – in fact, many of the streets I walked were like this.

What I didn’t notice until I looked back at my photos that I could fulfil all my gun needs just down the road from my hotel lol.

Being so pleased with the photos I had taken from my hotel room the night before, my destination was the Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi, the head church for the Georgian Orthodox religion.  Given it was Easter Sunday, I was conscious of having a look around and being on by way before the Easter rush began.  I did not even attempt to enter the church, as although it was open, I was definitely not dressed for it!

Despite the early hour, there were already vendors out selling candles and icons and of course, the standard stray dog guarding the doorstep lol. 

The cathedral, finished in 2004, is the tallest church in the country (at 101m high) and its golden dome dominates the Tbilisi skyline on this side of the Kura River.  Although it was finished in 2004, construction actually started in 1995 and the first service was in 2004 and it was somewhat controversial as this was during the “12 years of suffering”, when most of the population was struggling to survive.  

It is definitely an imposing structure and I managed to perfectly align the sun, rising behind the cathedral to take what is perhaps one of my favourite photos.  This was actually only the second time I had taken my actual camera out with me and I was regretting not having got it out earlier!  Although I am normally happy with the quality of my phone photos, the quality of those taken on the camera is another level. Why did I wait? 

As I wandered back down through the streets I was shocked by the contrast from one street to the next.  One street is full of run down and ramshackled buildings (with the cathedral towering over the neglected houses) and then the next is full new builds.  The old buildings have real character so I do hope they chose to refurbish some, rather than just demolish them to make way for modern tower blocks. 

It seems that not much opens before 9am here, even hotel coffee shops did not appear to be open, but I did finally manage to stumble across a cute little café which was open.  Even better, the aesthetics were almost as good as the coffee ❤️.

Tazo picked us up at 11am and we joined the traffic again heading out of town – apparently today many would be visiting cemeteries in the villages. 

Our first stop of the morning was the Jvari Monastery, a 6th century monastery sitting on the edge of a cliff, overlooking the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Iberia, Mtskheta.   The name translates to “the cross” and legend says that the cross of Saint Nino, who we met a few days earlier, was placed here (over a Zoroastrianism sanctuary) as she converted the people in the capital city below to Christianity. 

Subsequently a church was built on that site.  Although some of what we see today dates back to that original church, it has also been through a lot restoration work over the years – this has been a challenge given the state of the original building and the loss of the building records in a fire!

That said, it is still considered a site of great importance and one of the most sacred sites in the region. 

We then went down into Mtskheta, once a grand capital city, today more of a tourist capital and quite possibly one of the most touristy places we have been with many stalls selling souvenirs lining the narrow, cobble stone streets of the old town. 

Mtskheta is not only one of the oldest cities in Georgia, but also one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world (along with Kutaisi) and it is believed that the original settlement was founded by the ancient Meschian tribes in the 5th century BC.  As I mentioned above, from the 3rd century BC to the 5th century AD, it was the capital of the Kingdom of Iberia.  It is also considered the birthplace of Christianity in Georgia.

The Svetitskhoveli Cathedral is the second largest church in Georgia, after the Holy Trinity Cathedral I had visited earlier in the morning, and what we see today was built around 1010 on the site of one built in the 4th century.  Unfortunately a lot of its frescoes were lost due to whitewashing by the Soviet imperial armies over the years.  

The town has been referred to as the second Jerusalem due to its status as a Holy city and is the burial place of Georgian Kings. Legend has it, it is the resting place of Jesus’s tunic, brought to the city by a Georgian Jew who had witnessed the crucifixion.  

Given its holy significance, it was no surprise that this church had a higher dress code than others we had visited and we were provided with scarves to cover our heads.

There is apparently a tunnel that connects Svetitskhoveli Cathedral to Jvari Monastery on the hill above, along with a spring and space for 1,000 people to hid in case of attack (which came frequently over the years). 

We walked back through the gauntlet of tourist shops and stopped to purchase some churchkhela – a sausage shaped sweet we had seen all over the place.  It is traditionally made of walnuts, surrounded by concentrated grape juice, but other varieties have different nuts and different fruit juices.   Apparently, Georgian soldiers used to carry them with them as they contained enough calories for one man of day!  That was not great as I had to eat what I bought before I left as I could not take them home with me.  

Apparently many that are sold these days are mass produced, but one seller here still makes them in the traditional way so we made sure to purchase from him.  I really liked them but they were very sweet.

As we drove back in to Tbilisi, we passed some small protests happening around parliament.  Apparently, there is some discontent with the last election held in October 2024 which re-elected the Georgian Dream party who have been in power since 2012.  A number of international organisations have noted problems with the election and so opposition parties and many of the Georgian people have refused to recognise the results and have taken to the streets daily in protest.

These intensified when the current Prime Minister announced he was suspending talks on Georgia’s bid to join the EU.  Currently Georgian’s have visa free access to EU countries and this could be impacted by this move.

We continued on past a golden St George (on a very high plinth) before finding a parking space near the Metekhi church on the left side of the river.  It is one of the oldest churches in the city and a great viewpoint across the river to the old city. 

From here we walked down to the cable car station in Rike Park to travel 5 minutes over the river and old town and up to Narikala Fortress, perched on top of the hill, with great views of the city on the way.  The cable car is a very popular way to get around for locals and tourists alike.

There is a beautiful panoramic view from the top, including a close-up view of Kartlis Deda or Mother of Georgia.  Unfortunately the way she is situated you actually only get a close-up view of her behind!  The “Mother of” is actually a soviet concept and many ex-USSR countries have one.  The 20m Georgian monument was erected in 1958 and made of aluminium.  It depicts a Georgian woman in national dress, holding a bowl of wine in her left hand to greet people who come as friends, and a sword in her right had for those who come as enemies.  I am glad we got the wine lol

Instead of visiting the fortress (we have seen a fair few) we walked down through the National Botanical Gardens which lie in a gorge on the other side of the hill to the city.  They cover around 160 hectares and it was a beautiful day for a stroll passed the waterfalls and trees with their spring blossom and even more great views – this time back across to the Narikala Fortress.

We ended up in the Tbilisi’s old town and spent a little time exploring the narrow, cobbled streets.   Passed the famous painted houses with carved balconies, the very Islamic looking sulphur baths and views back across to the cathedral on the other side of the river.


We passed through the very tourist targeted area filled with bars, night clubs and cafes, before stopping to admire the Tamada statue.  We had seen a smaller version of him on the fountain in Kutaisi, but this time he is much larger and a cultural landmark of Tbilisi.  If you missed the Kutaisi blog, the Tamada is a toastmaster and is a symbol of Georgian hospitality.  He is responsible for leading feasts, offering toasts and is considered a person of wisdom, wit and respect.  A should also note, that the sculpture is based on an 7th century artifact found in Vani.

By this time it was almost 4 o’clock and we had not stopped so definitely time for some food.  We found a cute café, and tried a couple of Georgian dishes we had not yet had.  Pkhali, a dish of chopped up spinach leaves combined with ground walnuts and herbs (it tastes much better than it sounds) and another type of Khachapuri, this time Adjarian Khachapuri. 

Perhaps the most iconic of the Khachapuris, the Adjarian Khachapuri looks like a boat of dough filled with melted cheese, butter and an egg!   I was not really sure how to eat it but ended up using some of the dough to mix the egg and cheese together and then scope the filling.  You do have to be careful of where you take the bread pieces from at the beginning so you do not get a flow of cheesy goodness all over the place.  Again, I think it tasted way better than it sounds. Lol.

We washed this down with some wine for me, and a fresh tarragon lemonade for Ania (who is still on antibiotics).  The wine was good but the tarragon lemonade was amazing, sooooo much better than the sugary fizzy stuff in a bottle.

This part of the city felt with European and we continued on passed the Peace Bridge and ended up at the Gabriadze Clock Tower, more commonly know as the Leaning Clock Tower or Wonky Clock.  We happened to stumble across it just before 5pm so were just on time to see the angel comes out and strike the bell on the hour.  It is actually part of the puppet theatre building which was also created by Georgian director, screenwriter and artist Rezo Gabriadze.

We slowly made our way back to our hotel and over 20,000 steps later I was ready for a relaxing evening of packing and preparing for our next destination tomorrow.

 

Back to the mountains … more snow and traffic jams

On By cockneykiwi15Leave a comment


Georgia, April 2025

Today Tazo picked us up in his 3rd car – a second landrover, this time with LPG!  Apparently, it is cheap to have cars so many people have more than one, or in Tazo’s case, more than two.

Unfortunately Ania was in more pain this morning so our first stop for the day was another emergency dentist.   Our search for a dentist took us to a beautiful part of the city with wide tree lined streets flanked by beautiful buildings, including universities, shops and apartments.  There was also some lovely street art.   At least we got to see a part of the city we would not normally! 

It took a while but we found a dentist that was open and they were so kind and did not charge her for their time.  They did give her a prescription for stronger antibiotics and stronger painkillers, but did recommend that she needed a tooth extraction which she was not keen on doing in Georgia (though I am sure it would be much cheap) so she just needed to get the pain and infection under control.

We finally left the city at 11am and not far out of the city we got caught in traffic!  Not sure where it was all going, but it was pretty slow for a period of time.  It is a crazy place when you just pass a random 6th century fortress on a hill as you drive down the road! 

Tazo got us more delicious roadside hot Georgian bread, today in the form of puri.  Puri is a savoury bread, baked in the same tone as the sweet bread we had the day before.  The bread was long and shaped like the curve of the tone and is actually called shotis puri.  It was steaming hot and really tasty.  Honestly, in my opinion, you cannot go wrong with a country that thrives on bread, cheese and wine!

The road we were on today is called the Georgian Military Road and it runs 212 km from Tbilisi to Russia.  In fact, today it is the one and only remaining open land border with Russia.  This meant the road had an eclectic range of vehicles from all over the region, including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Armenian, Russia ….  And there were trucks, oh so many trucks!  Despite still being 150km from the border we started passing trucks parked up on the side of the road, queuing for the border.  Apparently, the lines are controlled by police, who move them on to the next stop point all along the road.  Tazo mentioned that they let the trucks cross in one direction in the morning and the other direction in the afternoon and that we did not want to get stuck behind them!! 

Back in 1914 this road was described as one of the most beautiful mountain roads in the world but I am pretty sure that was before it was full of trucks!  Some of the trucks started moving and try as we may, for every truck we passed, there were another 10 in front of us making the journey much slower than it should be.

In our attempt to beat the trucks, we could only stop for a brief photo at the Zhinvali Reservoir.  An artificial lake created by a nearby hydroelectric dam which was built in 1985.  The lake itself provides much of the water used in Tbilisi.  With the surrounding mountains and forest covered slopes, it was quite beautiful. 

We wound our way up the mountain, with the road narrowing as we climbed, till we reached the popular ski resort of Gudauri, at an altitude of around 2220m above sea level.  Apparently, it is the most popular ski resort in Georgia and has over 70 km of ski runs and it is the highest settlement along this road.  Because of the warm March, much of the town was closed up as two weeks ago there was no snow, but today it was covered in snow again.   We thought we had some serious snow the other day, but they must have had a lot more here given what was left on the ground. 

As we were still on a mission, we passed straight through town and only to be stuck in a traffic jam, mostly of trucks!  So picture this – we are now stuck on a narrow windy stretch of mountain road – with a 2-metre-high snow back on one side, and a drop of the mountain side on the other.  The traffic is at a standstill.    Apparently, some of the tunnels ahead can not fit two trucks side by side so traffic can only go through one way at a time causing these huge backups. 

Unfortunately as we had left Tbilisi a couple of hours later than planned, Tazo had to make the call that we just could not make it to our final destination of Kazbegi – he actually said that the traffic is so bad these days that he would never recommend trying to get there as a day trip, even without the snow! 

Of course this traffic has only been an issue since the Russia – Ukraine war started and all other countries closed their land borders.  Prior to that this was not the problem it is today.  They are currently in the process of building a new tunnel through the mountains to the border which should definitely solve part of the problem (although the route definitely won’t be so scenic)!

As disappointing as it was not to get to Kazbegi, the views from our traffic jam were absolutely breathtaking and I could get out of the car to take some photos before Tazo managed to make a crazy U turn in a tight space to head back down to Gudauri and the Russian-Georgia Friendship monument.

We parked in a small, snow filled car park and my slight deviation from the well walked tracked found me in knee deep snow – and of course, again I was not dressed for snow!!  At least this time I was using my sunglasses for the sun (and the glare from the snow)!

The Russian-Georgia Friendship monument was built in 1983 to mark the 200th anniversary of the Treaty of Georgievsk, which we learnt about when we met King Erekle II in Kakheti a few days early.  This was the treaty he signed with Catherine the Great to try and strengthen his kingdoms independence from Persia. 

The large round, structure overlooks the so-called Devil’s Valley and its mural depicts scenes from Georgian and Russian history and was designed by Georgian architect George Chakhava.   

The views were just stunning, but there may have been the most tourists we have seen in one place on the entire trip!  Throw in their buses and minibuses in the small car parks and narrow roads and now add snow, and it was all a bit chaotic! 

One more quick stop in town for more breathtaking views of the mountains and down the valleys, including a classic “Georgian church on a hill” before we continued back down the mountain and out of the snow. We continued to pass trucks, so many more trucks than we passed on the way up. With all the trucks on the side of the road, and another 500 sitting in a roadside truck park, they must have numbered in the thousands! 

By this time it was almost 4pm and most definitely time for lunch, Tazo knew just the place.  In fact, this food stop was one he had told us about on our first day with him as this area, called Pasanauri, is sometimes referred to as the ‘cradle of khinkali’ – that is, where they originated and where you get the best ones!   

Not being an expert, all I can say is that were definitely the best we have had, and this time we paired it with a Mkhlovana (I think), basically a Khachapuri with cheese and herbs inside which is a speciality of the east Georgian mountain regions.  It was probably also my favourite of the Khachapuris! 

Back on the road and in less of a hurry we could do a couple of stops.  The first was at the convergence of two rivers – helpfully known as the Black Aragvi and the White Aragvi lol.  The white is due to sediment rich in limestone and the black from organic material and silt.

Now I have seen amazing images of the two rivers meeting and the different colours flowing side by side but as you can see from my photo that was not our experience!  You can almost make out a slightly different colour but it definitely was not amazing, possibly due to the river being fairly full and fast flowing. 

We also had time to have a quick stop at the medieval Ananuri fortress, on the shores of Zhinvali reservoir.   Original built in the 16-17th centuries, the fortress includes an Orthodox monastery, bell tower and three churches. It was apparently still in use until the beginning of the 19th century and as with other fortresses we have seen, there are secret passages down to the water to allow people under siege inside to get water and food.

Despite damage from battles and fires during the year, the fortress still retains beautifully carved facades.

I am not sure I have mentioned previously, Tazo’s driving music is an eclectic mix of old school music ranging from jazz and swing to soul.  On today’s playlist we were listen to “Georgia on my mind” by Ray Charles.  Obviously, it was written about a different Georgia (the state in USA) but  Georgia (the country) was definitely in my mind ❤️.

Given we had had lunch so late, I did not go out for dinner, but I did have a lovely view out to the cathedral from my room and was very happy with the photos I took just out of my window as the sun set!





 

 

 

Monasteries and myths

On By cockneykiwi15Leave a comment

Georgia, April 2025

Today was Red Friday (as I explained in my previous blog) and Tazo’s family were near by, so he spent the morning with them, and we had some free time to explore the town of Kutaisi, one of oldest cities in the world having been continuously inhabited since 1,400BC.

With a population of around 135,000, Kutaisi is Georgia’s 4th largest city, and it was an important political centre in the Middle Ages and the capital of Georgia from the 8th century BCE to the 11th century. Not only that, it was actually the seat of the Parliament of Georgia from October 2012 to December 2018 in an effort to decentralise the Georgian government. The move was not particularly popular and in January 2019, it was moved back to Tbilisi.

One of the main sites of the city is the Colchis fountain, so that was our first stop.  It is basically on a roundabout, in amongst the business city traffic so it was good to go early when we could easily cross the road to get to it! 

The fountain itself celebrates the ancient Kingdom of Colchis and has 30 large copies of famous gold jewellery, discovered at nearby Vani archaeological site. The figures include animals and ancient Georgian figures, including the lion that features on the Bank of Georgia logo and Tamada.  Tamada is thought to be representative of the Georgian toastmaster tradition and the original little bronze statue dates back to the 7th century BC. 

According to Greek mythology, Jason and his Argonauts visited the city, sailing down the Rioni river from the Black Sea to claim the Golden Fleece – today the river certainly does not look like a large ship could sail down it!  As well as leaving with the gold, he also left with the King’s daughter Medea who became his wife!

From the fountain we wandered passed the Opera House and Theatre, down some of the beautiful tree lined boulevards and across one of the bridges to admire the view out to the snow-capped mountains.  The old part of town was lovely and it was nice to have some free time just to wander. 

Unfortunately our time was cut short as Ania, my travel companion, had a toothache and we needed to find a dentist for her.  Despite being a public holiday, we found a 24 hour dentist just around the corner form our hotel and she could just walk in and see someone (although she did have to call Tazo for some translation services lol).  Armed with some antibiotics and pain killers we went back to the hotel to check out and meet Tazo to continue our journey.

Before leaving Kutaisi, we visited a couple of local sites, just outside the city, the first being the Bagrati Cathedral.  Originally built in 1003 by King Bagrat III, it is a symbol of a united Georgia and of the city itself.  It was on the UNESCO World Heritage site list, but then removed as reconstruction work over the years did not meet with UNESCO standards to maintain the integrity of the original structure, most of which had been destroyed through battles and subsequent decay. 

It is still an active church today, and so we could not take any photos inside but the main thing of note was some priests doing some DIY and some relics, including a human skull!  Outside there was a beautiful view across the city and out to the mountains beyond.

I am also back on Lada watch, with some great examples of their longevity and sturdiness being seen around the city!!

As we drove along narrow, cobbled streets to our next destination, I noticed the above ground gas pipes, as previously seen in Kazakhstan.  In some places they run about 30 centimetres of the ground but then go up to around 2-3 metres to allow for vehicles to pass under them.  Most were installed during Soviet times, so not surprise you see them in other ex-Soviet countries.

The 8th century Motsameta monastery is not only beautiful, perched on a cliff overlooking the Tskaltsitela river, but it is also where Tazo was baptised so he was excited to show it to us.    The name means the “Place of Martyrs” which relates to two brothers of a noble family who organised a rebellion against the occupying Arabs.  When their rebellion failed, and they refused to convert to Islam, they were tortured, killed and their bodies thrown in the river.    Subsequently they were recognised as saints and their remnants are kept in the nearby Gelati monastery.

Apparently, there is a secret (or perhaps not so secret) tunnel between Gelati and Motsameta monasteries used during wars and the crypts of both are said to hold relics such as bones of saints, including the brothers.

The monastery was beautiful inside and out, with purple flowers growing out of the rocks outside and lovely murals on the inside.

We were then back on the road to travel the 220km back to Tbilisi, and for a while we did not see the Easter holiday traffic that Tazo had predicted – but then we did!  Thankfully it was all on the other side of the road, travelling away from Tbilisi and for some time it was at a complete stand still.  Thankfully there was hardly anyone travelling towards the city so we were grateful to be going that way!

As it had been a busy day (since Tazo had picked us up) we had not had time for lunch, so we stopped on the road side to buy some Nazuki, a delicious, warm spicy sweet bread – there were lots of road side stalls selling it, advertising it with signs of brown oval blobs!  The bread was not brown, but I guess it was oval shaped and it was definitely tasty! 

Nazuki dates back centuries and its name translates from Persian as “exquisite”.  Traditionally they are cooked in a tone oven (a clay tandoor oven where the bread is stuck to the side) and in this particular area (called Surami), is called Nazukebi, a 1 Km stretch of Nazuki sellers.  Apparently a lot of these were set up during period of great economic struggles, allowing people to support their families by baking and selling nazuki. 

Also along this stretch of motorway, we passed very close to the Russian occupied state of South Ossetia, and I mean really close.  Tazo pointed to a village not far aware and noted that it was occupied by Russians!  It is crazy to think that life goes on so close to the contentious “border”.

We arrived back in Tbilisi and Tazo dropped us back at our hotel just after 5pm and thankfully I had much nicer rooms than we did for our one night stay – I even had a little enclosed balcony.  This time we are here for 3 nights so it was time to do some washing and realign the packing.  As we have been constantly on the move, I tend to alternate the same two outfits (rather than unpack my bag) so it was good to remind myself what else I had packed and get those out to wear.

Ania was not feeling great so I went on the hunt for somewhere to have dinner and came across a lovely Italian restaurant.  I felt a little guilty having Italian food in Georgia but made up for it by having a glass of Georgian wine.🍷

Fortresses and dinosaurs

On By cockneykiwi15Leave a comment

Georgia, April 2025

Our hotel in Akhaltsikhe was ok, definitely not as nice as some of the others we had had.  Unfortunately I could not get the water hot enough to wash my hair and breakfast spread was not as vast as other places – serious first world problems and nothing I could not cope with (especially for only 1 night). 

Akhaltsikhe is a small town with a population of only 18,000 and sitting at 1000m above sea level and before leaving we visited Rabat Castle, which dominates the town.  It is medieval fortress, initially built in the 9th century which has been called Lomsia (Lion), Akhal-tsikhe (New Fortress) and Rabat or Rabati (meaning fortress in Arabic)! 

We had to wait a few minutes for our English guide and acquainted ourselves with a couple of the local stray dogs.  There are stray dogs everywhere in Georgia but despite being stray, they seem well feed and looked after and they are not aggressive with us or each other.  In fact they are all very friendly.  That said, it seems our ‘guide’ dog was not a fan of our actual guide and did her best to keep in between us and him and barked at him if he got too close lol.

The oldest part of the complex was built in the 9th century, with subsequent additions, including the high walls, entrance gates and watch towers being added in the 12th century.  The varying architectures of the different eras and religions is clear here and it was interesting to learn that the “church” has functioned as a church and a mosque over the years – depending on who won the most recent battle.  From the covered balcony’s (for Muslim women to enjoy fresh air without being seen) to the mosque/church which was actually designed by an Italian Catholic), a Muslim madras (or school) and a ‘secret’ opium room.  What we see today has been through extensive reconstruction and renovation in more recent years. 

Apparently, Tamerlane and his Turco-Mongol army attacked in the late 1300’s on his rampage across the continent– if you had been reading my blogs for a while your may remember I met Tamerlane (or Timur) in Uzbekistan in 2019.  In this instance, Rabati Fortress withstood his attack.  

The fortress continued to be a site of battles as the area saw constant struggles between Iran and Turkey, and the region was in fact part of Turkey, and predominately Muslim until the invasion of the Russian Empire in the early 1800s.  The region briefly returned to Turkish control after WWI in 1918, falling back to Russia and the USSR in 1921.

Over the years, this multi-faceted complex has also been a military prison and a hospital!  And of course, the citadel which was used as a signal point to send messages by lighting fires which could be send 10kms away.  All the fortresses would be used in this way, passing messages for 100’s of miles through multiple fortresses and castle citadels.

Leaving town and heading towards our next destination, we passed through beautiful landscapes spotting fortresses on hilltops (part of the message sending chain I mentioned above).  We stopped for a brief walk in the beautiful town of Borjomi, who’s name is famous as a brand of naturally carbonated water that originates in the springs here.

Borjomi is a resort town, with a population of just over 11,000 which sits in the Borjomi Gorge.   As well as its mineral water fame, today it is known as a hub for adventure activities including 4WD trips, hiking, rafting, horse riding etc. and is continuing to grow in popularity. In the past, it was the home to the nearby Romanov summer palace and the gardens here started life as a park solely for the Russian royal family and other aristocrats and the town was used frequently by the Russian military for convalescence and to partake in the healing powers of the local mineral water.  It was once known as “the pearl of Caucasus”.

During the period of the USSR, all the aristocratic mansions were seized by the state and turned into sanatoriums for Communist party elite (so the same thing, just for different ‘aristocrats’).

On the day of our visit, the town was pretty quiet and lots of people were trying to sell their activities and wares.  Apparently, some of the guys were telling Tazo that they were give him a cut if he convinced us to do something with them!  We did stop and have a stilted but interesting conversation with an older lady selling ‘medicinal’ products made out of pine trees (needles, sap, bark etc) found in the local forests.  Not really sure of the medicinal part of it but it was interesting to learn about their beliefs in the natural products.

The park was beautiful and it was lovely to have a brief stroll in the sunshine and sample the so-called therapeutic waters from the Ekaterina Spring.  There is a fountain that you can fill your bottles from or drink straight from the tap …. It was not good lol.  If you did not breathe you could escape the sulphur smell, but you could not escape the metallic taste.  After a small sip, I did not go back for seconds!

We were soon back on the motorway and this section of the road has over 40 tunnels cutting through the hills, and big roadside rest stops featuring small supermarkets and American chain fast food restaurants Wendy’s, Subway and Dunkin Donuts.  More importantly they had clean toilets – most toilets come at a cost here, 1 Lari a visit, so we often found Tazo sponsoring out toilet visits lol.

Car chats with Tazo today covered the following:

  • It was the long Easter weekend and most in the country are Georgian Orthodox, so Easter is taken pretty seriously.  What we call Good Friday; they call Red Friday and families dye eggs red to represent the blood of Christ shed on the day of the crucifixion. Now we did not discuss ‘Easter Grass’ but I did see it being sold – they either grow or purchase this (basically 10cm high wheatgrass) which is used as decoration along with the red eggs to symbolise new life after the resurrection.

On Easter Monday, in a few days’ time, families gather for picnics at cemeteries to commemorate their loved ones, sometimes pouring wine on top of the graves.

  • The Georgian philosophy “Everything to my country, I get what my country can give back” reflects the strong sense of national dedication and loyalty.
  • After the collapse of the USSR, the years 1991 to 2003 are referred to as “12 years of suffering”.  There was turmoil internally and with neighbours and political and economic instability.  In 2003, the so-called Rose Revolution saw a non-violent uprising bringing on a change of government and subsequently stability.  They introduced a Zero tolerance policy and within 5 years they become one of the safety countries in the world.

We arrived in the city of Kutaisi, but before stopping in the city, we drove through and out to the Sataplia Nature Reserve, 10km out of town.  The park was created in 1935, after the discovery of the cave complex and the dinosaur footprints.    The name Sataplia translates to “honey place” as bees used to live in small holes in the cliffs.  Most are gone today but you can still see the evidence of their previous existence.

We had to wait around 45 minutes for an English guide (which was mandatory) but to be honest they really were not worth the wait as they did not really tell us anything.  They just directed us places, first into a small building that covers the dinosaur footprints.  There are 150 footprints, thought to be from 30 different individuals from 5-6 different dinosaur species, including one new genus called the Satapliasaurus. Generally they appear to be both raptors and grass eating dinosaurs from the Jurassic period.

From the dinosaur footprints we moved on to the incredible cave system – a karst cave system carved out by the Oghaskura River over 30 million of years its 300m length is filled with stalactites and stalagmites.  There is a boardwalk type walkway through the cave and the cave was filled with music and lights. It is also always a constant 14 degrees inside – to be honest it felt a little more like a disco than a cave complex lol.   The cave’s main attraction was a heart shaped formation where people make wishes. 

Once out of the cave we had free time to explore some of the 350 ha of forest, part of which has dinosaur figures that come to life as you walk near them and then the piece de resistance – the glass panoramic viewpoint overlooking the area.  It was rather a unique experience but it was lovely to have a walk through the forest and enjoy the nature.

Back in town, we decided to find somewhere to have a quick drink before Tazo dropped us at our hotel and we found a small café in the old town and we enjoyed a home-made semi sweet rose in the sun.  I think I have mentioned that everyone in Georgia make their own wine and although it was rather yeasty, it was still tasty.

Our hotel here was lovely (most have been pretty good) and we went to a restaurant called Agerari, recommended my Tazo, for a delicious dinner and a local beer. We had so much food, we almost had to roll back to the hotel lol.

 

 

Mountains high, valleys low

On By cockneykiwi15Leave a comment

Georgia, April 2025


We woke to another day of cold rain, and due to the Easter holidays (where many things would be closed and traffic would be crazy), Tazo had managed to rearrange our itinerary, so instead of staying in Tbilisi for a few days, we were heading straight out again.

Today’s journey took us over the mountains of the Samtskhe-Javakheti region and we passed through beautiful mountain landscapes and small villages – neither were conducive to any good photos from a moving car …. in the rain!   But as we drove higher we started to started to see snow on cars coming from the direction we were going in!

In “Car Chats” today we talked about Georgia’s fight to retain its territory and independence.  Here, all men need to do 2 years military service and the last major skirmish, the Russo-Georgian war, was in 2008 when Russia took occupation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.  Still today, Russia and 4 UN states recognise these areas as independent states, whilst Georgia and most other UN states recognise it was part of Georgia, and therefore the EU, and the UN now recognise the areas as “occupied territories”.  Despite that, Russian continues to build military bases in the regions, create borders along the boundaries of the disputed lands and refuse entry to any international monitoring missions.

Russia continues to claim that Abkhazia and South Ossetia are independent states and not occupied territories and citizens can have local passports (of Abkhazia and South Ossetia) but get Russian passports for international travel.   Still today, tensions still run high along these borders and a permanent and peaceful resolution does not appear close.

Up into the snow we drove and at almost 2000m above sea level it was actively snowing.  And it snowed and snowed, like serious snow!  Apparently, March had been a very warm month and most people had changed to their summer tires so this was not ideal and it was not long before we came upon a traffic jam.   Not sure if there had been an accident or if people had just decided they could not go any further, either way, the road was blocked!

Thankfully, Tazo had picked us up this morning in his Landrover, so we went off road to get past the jam (I enjoyed this very much lol).  If we had not been able to do this, we would never have reached our destination for the day!

As we continued on, we got into almost a complete white out and the glare was insane!  Who knew the first time I would need my sunglasses would be for the snow!    We had now gone beyond the areas where the roads had been cleared and/or driven on by other cars and it was not always obvious where the road actually was!!   Tazo was also very excited by the snow as in the winter they plough immediately so he doesn’t often see snow like this on the roads!

We were supposed to have a stop at Paravani Lake, Georgia’s largest lake which is apparently quite beautiful.  Not only could we barely see the lake, but we could also not see the road that takes you down to the lake so a visit to the small chapel and wooden cross on the lake shore was not an option lol.  

Today we learnt about Saint Nino, considered the “enlightener of Georgia”.    Born in Cappadocia in around 296 to an Orthodox Christian family, and after studying the Holy Scriptures in Jerusalem, the Virgin Mary visited her during a dream.  She gave her a cross made from vine branches and told her to spread Christianity across the region. 

Saint Nino was joined by a number of other women her pilgrimage but they were captured by Tsar Trdat III who killed all the others.  Nino managed to escape death and continued on to the shores of Paravani Lake to rest.

The lake and its surrounding landscapes left a profound impression on Nino, who found solace in its peace and beauty. She spent several days by the water, where the local inhabitants offered her food and shelter, allowing her to regain her strength before she set off for the capital city of Mtskheta where she was complete her mission of the conversion of the people from Zoroastrianism to Christianity.    She is still one of the most revered Saints in the Georgian Orthodox Church and a grape vine cross is a symbol of Georgian Christianity. 

We continued on passed small, abandoned looking towns (apparently many only live here in the summer), until we reached the small village of Foka (I have also seen this written as Poka) and the St Nino Monastery.  Tazo went ahead to drag the nuns out in the snow to open their shop and the church for us to look around, as we trudged through the snow (now about 15cm deep)!   Again another moment I was grateful for my waterproof shoes but all in all I did not pack, and most definitely did not dress, for snow! 

The shop was selling a huge range of hand made products, including chocolates, biscuits, jams, oils, cheese, hats, ceramics and jewellery and given that they had been forced to come out in the snow we felt obliged to buy a few bits (mainly chocolate lol).

The Church here was built in the 11th century out of perfect cut square stone blocks and contains old carvings and fresco remnants as well as some beautiful icon imagery.

Back on the road through more deserted towns, we spotted whites storks nesting on the top of power poles.  I bet they wish they had held off their migration and nest builing for a few more weeks as they did not appear to be particularly happy! 

As we travelled down, we arrived back into the rain, but by the time we got down into the valley, we finally saw the sun!  It was hard to imagine that less than 2 hours before we were in the snow.


After a quick photo stop at the 4th century Khertvisi Fortress (we will return for a visit a little later), we followed the Kura River (that runs through Tiblisi and also through Azerbaijan out to the Caspian sea) down the valley.  During the stone age, most people lived near the rivers, hence the numbers of fortresses and watch towers in the valleys along the rivers.  Even Alexander the Great apparently travelled down this valley on his march towards India. 

One of the sites we were most excited to visit in Georgia was the Vardzia Caves, one of a number of cave complexes in Georgia.  It is thought that the cave complex was built in a number of phases, starting in the second half of the 12th century, during the reign of King George III.

According to the legend, the King’s daughter, Tamara (who went on to become Queen Tamara) was playing in the caves as a child.  She lost sight of her Uncle and called out “Ak var dzia”  – “I am here uncle”.  The words var dzia echoed around the complex (which was under construction) and were heard by the King who decided it should be named this way. 

Before I move on, let’s take a moment to meet Queen Tamara, one of Georgia’s greatest medieval monarchs who ruled from 1184 to 1213 CE.  She was the first female ruler of Georgia and was referred to as the “King of Kings and Queen of Queens”.

Her father, King George III had no sons and was concerned about losing his power so named his daughter Tamara co-ruler at 18 years old in 1178.  By all accounts she was a badass who despite having to continually deal with resistance to her rule by clergy and noble men of the time, she went on to be responsible for Georgia’s greatest territorial expansion.

Back to Vardzia, the cave complex runs around 500m along the cliffs, is up to 19 tiers high and includes more than 250 rooms, 28 wine cellars and 3 churches.  There is also defences and irrigation systems including aqueducts and reserviors. After sustaining heavy damage in an earthquake in 1283, it was partially rebuilt before being mostly abandoned after the Ottoman invasion in the 16th century.

We took the free shuttle bus up to the first level of the caves and then had time to explore some of the caves, up and down stairs, some more like ladders.  I think we spent even more time admiring the beautiful views down the valleys and the blue skies which we had not seen for some time.

Back down at the car park we had some freshly squeezed pomegranate juice – it was very expensive (15 Gel or NZ$10 for a cup) and a little sour. I did enjoy it but would not rush to pay that price again.  That said it was probably tourist prices being a tourist site!  We also picked up some Georgian meat pies (I don’t seem to have made a note on the actual name) which were tasty and way better value than the juice!

We then head back up the value and stopped at Khertvisi Fortress. One of the oldest and well preserved fortresses in Georgia, it has sat on this hill since the 10-11th centuries overlooking what was the Silk Road.  As with most fortresses in Georgia, there are many tunnels underneath – in this case they run down to the river to allow for water collection and also communications, not forgetting an escape route in times of siege.

Over the years as the town of Khertvisi was destroyed by Mongols, captured by Turks and then by the Russians, the fortress continued to dominate and its position as a military garrison was restored.

It was another full day and one full of surprises (mostly weather related lol) and we were exhausted by the time we arrived in Akhaltsikhe (our stop for the night). We could only muster the energy to pop to the local supermarket for some instant noddles for dinner before heading to bed! 

 

Museums & Wine of Kakheti

On By cockneykiwi15Leave a comment

Georgia, April 2025

We woke to a cold and rainy day but, at one point, the rain cleared a little and I could see out to the beautiful snow-capped mountains in the distance and I was definitely excited for the next few days. Bur our first full day in Georgia was to be spent exploring in and around Telavi and avoiding the rain where possible.

I will warn you, today was a crash course in a small part of Georgia’s long history … and now I am sharing that with you so enjoy if you like that kind of thing 👍🏻or just look at the pictures and move on lol.

We started the day at the Telavi History Museum, a complex the includes the only preserved royal palace in Georgia, a church and a bath house, along with a museum and art gallery.  The museum had a great collection of historical artefacts and information about the history of ceramics, architecture, coins, clothing and the importance of grapes and wine.  It was interesting to see how the country has incorporated parts of its history, including Mongol, Russian and European, into its culture.

We then moved on to the art collection, a private collection of Ketevan Iashvili, a female cosmetologist born in the area in 1883.  She had an interest in fine art and collected it throughout her life (sometimes she was apparently given art in lieu of payment for her services by wealthy customers).  In the 1970’s she donated her collection to the museum and some of it can be seen here today.

We then had to brave the weather and head outside to visit one of the most important parts of the museum complex, the Palace of King Erekle II (also known as King Heraclius II or the Little Kakhetian).  The much-loved King Erekle ruled Kakheti from 1744 to 1762, before uniting the regions of Kakheti and Kartli (upon the death of his father who was King of Kartli) and ruling both until his death in 1798.  He is considered one of the most important and powerful Georgian kings, modernising the Government, economy and military, but unfortunately, he was also part of the reason for its downfall.

He was known as a great diplomat, and in an attempt to keep his kingdom safe, he made a pact with Russia for protection, unfortunately it was not enough to save it from a Persian invasion in 1785. 

Construction on the palace started under King Archil II in the 17th century and what we see today was completed under King Erekle II, who turned a more simple palace (where he was born in 1720 and died, in the same room, in 1798) into a fortress with the construction of the 5m high walls. 

We had a local guide through the museum and the Palace and it was interesting to learn some more of the interesting facts about King Erekle and his palace. I have summarised what was a lot of information as best I can below:

  • The palace is a shadow of its former glory.  It used to be beautifully adorned with colourful walls and mosaic floors in a Persian style, all of which were destroyed by the Russians (Empire rather than USSR).  Unfortunately there are no images and very little written about how it looked so it cannot be restored. The Russians also used the great Audience Hall as horses stables as a further sign of disrespect.
  • King Erekle is considered the People’s King and form all accounts, he was liked by his people. He led from the front, literally, being 15 when he fought his first battle, and 75 when he fought his last.
  • A 17 year old Erekle was taken to Persia for 2 years.  He was a good diplomat and when he returned, ruling Persia allowed him to be King without giving up Christianity.  I should note that this part of Georgia was under Persian rule longer than the rest of the country, but they always remained Christian at heart.
  • Erekle was already King of Kakheti when his father, who was King of Kartli (the region where Tbilisi is) died, leaving Erkele to unite the two eastern Georgian kingdoms into a single state under his power.
  • After initially using the death of his Persian ally, Nader Shah, to his advantage by declaring independence, King Erekle then signed a protection agreement in 1783 with Russia (chosen because they were Christian).  Unfortunately, they did nothing to help when Persia did invade and in fact Russian troops went as far as to evacuate the area leading to a full invasion in 1795.  He went to his death in 1798 hoping that Russia would come to the rescue so Georgia could continue its existence, but unfortunately, just 3 years later, it was consumed into the Russian Empire.  
  • King Erekle had 3 wives (not at the same time) and a total of 28 children, most who died young or at birth. His last wife was a strong, intelligent woman whom he married when she was just 12 and she bore him 23 of his 28 children.  In the later years of his life, she had significant influence over his political decisions. She was not in favour of the agreement with Russia and was deported to St Petersburg in 1803 where she lived until her death.

 

In summary, he seems like he was a decent bloke, tried to do his best for his country and his people but was screwed over by his supposed mate!  In fact his dress sense denoted his diplomacy and he was often depicted wearing a Persian style hat, a European style cape and a blue sash to represent Russian. 

We did not explore much more because of the rain but could see the King’s personal Persian style bath house in the distance and churches in the grounds. One of the two churches actually dates back to the 9-10th centuries.  Much older than the palace itself.

We took a quick detour to see the impressive 900 year old Plane Tree that is all that remains of the forest that used to cover the area.  It is 46m tall and 12m in diameter and today, its health is closely monitored to ensure its ongoing survival.  It is apparently considered a symbol of Georgia’s strength and resilience and it might also be able to make dreams come true lol.

We headed slightly out of the city to our next stop at the Aleksandre Chavchavadze House Museum in Tsinandali.  Not surprisingly it was the home of Prince Aleksandre Chavchavadze.  Born in 1786 (to a noble father who was at one time ambassador to our friend King Erekle) he was Georgian poet, public benefactor and once colonel of the Russian Army and is considered the ‘father of Georgian romanticism”.  He inherited the house from his father and turned it into the cultural and intellectual centre of the country. 

We had to wait for a tour in English so we braved the rain to run to the large building behind the house, which today is a Radisson hotel and the home of the estate’s wine collection and museum.  Another of Chavchavadze’s claims to fame is that he was the first to bottle Georgian wine in a European style. 

We were taken through a locked door and down some stairs into the estate’s vast historic wine cellar where more than 16,000 bottles of his personal collection are stored.  We learnt about the 8,000 years of Georgian wine making history and saw some of the early artefacts they had collected, including pressing equipment and fragments of clay pots (used in the Georgian style of wine making) dating back to the 6th millennium BC!

There are detailed written records for the wine, and the earliest bottle of Aleksandre’s wine is from the 1841 vintage.  Unfortunately, the early wine is no longer drinkable. (I wonder who dared to open a bottle to try it to come to that conclusion?)

Back in the house with our English speaking guide, we were taken around the rooms (no photos allowed inside) and given commentary about the family and the historical pieces on display.  Not all the pieces belonged directly to the family but all were beautiful luxury items from collected from all over Europe and Russia.  It included the oldest grand piano in Georgia and carpets from Azerbaijan.

As the story goes, in July 1854, the troops of a Chechnyan Muslim leader attacked the estate (avenging the family’s support for Russia), pillaging the house and kidnapping his relatives (including his son’s wife, her sister and their children).  It was not until March 1855, after complex negotiations, they were returned in exchange for a ransom and an exchange of other prisoners.

Disillusioned with Russia’s control over Georgia, he ended up joining the failed Georgian rebellion against Russia in 1832 which resulted in him burning much of his poetry written between 1820 and 1832 in fears that it would be used against him, but he was still exiled, before returning to the Russian army at the request of the Tsar.

Following his death in 1846 (officially an accident, unofficially by the hands of Russian assassins) and that of his son David, the ransom loan had still not been repaid and the estate was given to the Russian Imperial family as a summer house.  Summer seemed very far away on our visit as I am not sure the rain let up for a minute!

Finally the moment we had been waiting for was upon us – wine tasting. For this we travelled the short distance to the Kvareli Wine Cave which apparently have the largest storage of Georgian wine, which is stored in more than 7kms of tunnels. The tunnels were originally built in the 1950’s by the USSR army, allegedly as a missile base or a bomb shelter, before being converted into a wine cellar.  Apparently at the time they were also building bomb shelters in Tbilisi, saying they were building a metro system!

After a traditional welcome song, we joined our wine guide to learn more about Georgian wine and the winery.  In 1995 they started cultivating grapes and building wine making facilities and the existing tunnels made a perfect storage facilities – maintaining a standard 12-14C and 70% humidity. 

This winery has a lot of award-winning wines (apparently over 200 gold medal winners) and have vineyards around the country, as they only use their own grapes to allow them to control the quality. 

 

We learnt about the Georgian wine making process which mainly varies from the European style in that it is fermented in large clay pots, known as a Qvevri, Kvevri or Ch’uri.  The pots are a special shape to allow for circulation and they push the skins and twigs to the bottom daily.  When the bubbles stop, they seal the pot and then it sits for the required length of time.  When ready, they traditionally use a scoop (made from a dry pumpkin skin) for the first sip, which is drunk from a clay bowl (it needs to be drunk in full and not sipped)!

We sampled a number of different wines and decided that we liked the semi-sweet ones, and I am a little embarrassed to say I preferred the European styles over the Georgian styles.

Back on the road, we had more great car chats with Tazo covering a multitude of topics – this is exactly what we wanted in a guide! 

A quick stop at a random road side restaurant for a late lunch of a tasty Georgian beef soup and more Khinkali (I think most meals with include these lol)  before arriving in to the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. By the time we got to our hotel, the rain had eased a little and I even saw the sun for a moment so popped out to get my first glimpse of this beautiful city (we will have more time to explore in on another day).