"Tuesday in the Park with George"

August 09, 2022

Tuesday, August 9, 2022

Okay, so we weren't in the park; but we WERE with George! We were supposed to meet our guide at 9:30 at Daviti's Wine Spot. The cab dropped us off but we couldn't see the shop, even though we found the address. And Tbilisi Loves You, the free local wifi, wasn't working, so I bit the bullet and turned off airplane mode to contact Daviti. Long story short, George, our friend from the last trip is our guide and driver and the three other people are meeting us here; but the program has been flip-flopped so day one is day two and vice versa. It doesn't matter, now that we're all here and ready to go!

It's right across the street from our hotel.

Thee sulfur baths in the Old City

I've been fascinated this whole trip by these brooms and today I finally
get to one being made, right on the street!

The final step, wrapping it tightly so it stays together.

Two of the other three people are a married couple from Slovenia (our second couple from there!), Ani and Michael, and a guy from the Netherlands, Christien, who's parents are Italian and who was raised in Canada!!

Our first stop is the Vineria Kakheti with the most gorgeous gardens! We wander around the grounds until it is our turn and then we begin with a glass of chacha accompanied by yummy bread and pickled flowers called John Joli. That's probably not how you spell it! I think we lucked out and the owner is our instructor. He introduces us to about eight different wines (what a way to start a day!) and is quite funny and honest about the wine business. He tells us that sommeliers are trained to sell you the expensive wines and he play-acts the typical encounter with a diner who is unsure of himself. Odds are we'll never turn down a wine, even though we'd send back a poorly prepared steak in a heart beat!

Things that make you go humh?

His name is George. Like half the men in Georgia!

The next stop if the ever-popular roadside bread bakery! You remember the huge clay tube with the bread stuck to the inside walls, right? Always a favorite, although this time we don't get any cheese to go with it. George does cut up a really ripe and delicious tomato for us, though.

On to the Bodhe Monastery of St. Nino, the saint's final resting place and a major pilgrimage site. We've only been here once before and it was raining and misty. And the gorgeous roses weren't in bloom! After taking a million photos, we reassemble and I learn the it takes a 20 lari coin to use the ladies' room. There is even a ticket window!

Maybe if they get enough lari they can fix the hand drier!

(I'm reviewing the plan we had been sent as I write this, and realize that we didn't see the things we were supposed to. Oh well, we were out in the fresh air and together.)

Now we're at Sighnaghi, the walled City of Love. We have lunch at Amo, overlooking the city and then drive down to see the memorial wall dedicated to those who died in both World Wars, and the second-longest wall in the world with it's twenty-four watch towers. And, like Las Vegas, you can get married here twenty-four hours a day!

It's an abhorrent habit; but isn't this a cute ash tray?

Next, the Duruji Valley winery for another tasting; this time only four wines, thank goodness! But first there is the tour through the facility, including the basement storage area. Ani is pregnant, so she doesn't sample everything but her husband buys the ones she really likes!

I think these are home-made chacha in the old water bottles!

The other three in our party are going back to Tbilisi, but we're staying at a hotel in a winery! It is lovely and has its own restaurant, which is great because it is out in the middle of nowhere and we didn't bring food! There's a little panic at first when the wifi doesn't work; but Ammar talks to the manager who says it will be fixed in half an hour and, sure enough, it is! And the manager comes to tell us so! It's good enough to use to confirm tomorrow's plans; but not good enough to load a bunch of photos. That will have to wait, I'm afraid, until tomorrow night, at best. For now, the idea of shutting my eyes is so appealing!!