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We initially went too far on the Metro when trying to find our hotel, thinking it was in the Samgori area rather than the Avlabari district (which Wolfie labelled the Avlabarki district). We had changed our plans as we had initially been due into Tbilisi on Saturday, but a combination of having done all of the main sights in south-west Georgia thanks to Tamari's husband and the lack of a decent drinking scene in Akhaltsikhe pushed us towards the capital a day early. Consequently I had to cancel the hotel in Akhaltsikhe and book one for one evening in Tbilisi, ahead of picking up the keys to the apartment we were renting the next day. The hotel we had booked, the Tbilisi Inn, was quite plush and certainly a steal at £52 a night. It was also fantastically located as it was just off the roundabout next to Avlabari station, just ten minutes' walk from the city centre.
Even though we were quite tired, after checking in, we decided to utilize the one hour of daylight we had left by walking up to the top of the hill overlooking Avlabari upon which sits the Tsminda Sameba Cathedral. Consecrated in 2004 after a decade of construction, the cathedral is visible day and night due to its prominent position. It is lit up in the hours of darkness, punctuating the blackness with gold, and it is a symbol of the post-soviet Christian Renaissance which is currently sweeping through the country. The building proved controversial though as it sits atop an Armenian cemetery but there's no denying that its golden roof and dome, along with the intricate patterned stonemasonry is quite impressive. The Cathedral is sat in its own marble clad grounds with some gates and a bell tower, along with two lumps of stone highlighting the two principal materials of its construction. Lining the main route up to the building there stands some stone cross obelisks with pictures of the life of St George on them, the patron Saint of Georgia. We popped inside briefly, with the atmosphere quite reverential, with candles burning in gold plated troughs and the devoted kissing images of the Virgin Mary and the saints. The design of the cathedral makes it more airy than other churches in the region while the jewel incrusted triptych was a true wonder.
Upon heading back to our hotel from the Cathedral, we noticed the large number of houses that seemed to be in a state of disrepair. Indeed many were almost falling down, impossibly held up by bits of wood at rakish angles and this contrast against the new developments which have sprouted up in the city over the last fifteen years was telling. We called off at a Spar on the way back to pick up some of their own brand sour cream and onion stackers, which we ate at the hotel along with sharing a small bottle of wine from the minibar as it was a Georgian variety that we had not yet had. We also grabbed a shower, having been unimpressed with Tamari's, which was quite weak and in a cold room. We also relaxed a bit before heading out into the city at around 8pm looking for some food and a few places to have a drink. On first inspection, it was far better than anywhere else we had been, but there was a plethora of wine bars offering tastings with pushy introducers outside many of the restaurants urging you to try their Georgian cuisine. In the end, we went to Samikitno on Freedom Square as this was a place recommended in the guidebook. The food was okay and they had their own beer, both dark and light varieties, but the thick pervasive smell of smoke did make eating difficult. We opted for the Hot Tasting Menu, as we got to try seven Georgian specialities (although some we had had before). In the end, these were quite similar to the curry buffets you get in the U.K., with the steamed beef in walnuts perhaps being my favourite (and indeed it was the most curry-like). The chicken in garlic sauce, which looked a little like luminescent yellow cum was nowhere near as good as its equivalent we had in Gori, suggesting that this restaurant was merely average. The Sulguni cheese backed this up as it was quite stringy and tasteless. The Gomi, a breaded dry thing, was useful to mop up the sauces though and Georgian bread is so divine that you can rarely go wrong with it.
After this we went looking for a bar, stopping to admire the impressing golden statue of St George slaying the dragon in Freedom Square. A gift to Tbilisi from its sculptor Zurab Tsereteli, it stands where the statue of Lenin used to be, right in front of the pink and white striped old fire brigade building which was built right next to the Old Town city gate and higher than any building so as to watch out for fires. Looking for a bar, we headed up the main avenue of Rustaveli towards the other main nightlife district outside of the Old Town. Along the way, we saw a number of grand buildings including the Museum of Georgia and the high-arched former Parliament building, outside which the Rose Revolution took place on 22 November 2003. Parliament moved to Kutaisi in 2012 but this has proven unpopular with MPs so there's a chance it could return if the constitutional issues get resolved. The building itself was constructed for the Soviet government between 1938 and 1953. Outside there stands some fountains and stone panels at irregular angles, which are lit up beautifully at night to commemorate the 19 Georgian hunger strikers who died at the hands of Soviet troops on 9 April 1989.
At the top end of Rustaveli, next to the brutalist Stalinist architecture of the Academy of Sciences and behind the monument to Shota Rustaveli, there was the only McDonald's we have seen in the country. Apparently there are about five to six in Tbilisi and when it opened, there was a 3km queue. We peered in but noticed that the menu was much the same as it is back home. This isn't the case for Dunkin Donuts, who serve burgers and bagels in Georgia, while Wendy's is another popular chain. We had already eaten however and soon found the bar district which was an odd mix of loud karaoke type bars (including an "authentic" London pub and the stereotypical Irish bar, Dublin), desolate places and venues which were closed. As it was 10pm on a Friday evening, the loud ones were too busy and the quiet ones unappealing, so we walked out of the area and under one of the main bridges where we found Canudos Ethnic Bar. Situated around a pretty fountain with Chinese style lanterns adorning the trees, we thought this would be a good place to go, but it too was rammed so we needed to look elsewhere. Dive Bar is where we ended up, deep in a suburb and underneath a tower block. Particularly popular with travellers, there were no seats but we were sick of traipsing so just ordered a beer, which was incredibly cheap, and perched on one of the concrete steps outside. The inside was incredibly smoky, so much so it really made you appreciate the smoking ban, and people were playing beer pong on two specifically made tables for such a game. It was quite rowdy so outside was definitely the best option, so we found ourselves sat in front of a loud gang of Americans, who were clearly having fun but their accents for quite grating, so we downed our beers and decided to call it a night, walking back into the Old Town, crossing the Mktvari River and heading back to the hotel. We toyed with the idea of going to a wine bar for one, but they were all about to close so we decided to cut our losses and get some sleep, particularly after we had noticed all the bars we had previously seen closing, and even trying the hotel restaurant which was darkened and desolate.
Sleep was somewhat difficult due to the air conditioner in the room being set at an immovable 27C. We opened the door to our balcony a bit but the noise from the city was disturbing, meaning we had to live with the heat. We had a relaxing morning in bed before checking out at noon, leaving us one hour to our meeting with George, our tour guide and contact in the city. We decided to take a look at the nearby Rike Park on the Avlabari side of the river, which looked quite different in the scorching sunshine when compared to the night before. The park is one example of the recent regeneration of Tbilisi, with the new tubular concert hall and exhibition centre yet to be open. A stunning piece of urban design, it is viewable from every high vantage point around the city and promises to be a great space for the arts. The park itself is sculpted in the shape of Georgia, again something seen from above, while there is a miscellany of items littered around including a stone piano and a pretty fountain. The cable car up to the fortress also departs from here while the Peace Bridge is a wondrous example of contemporary architecture, having been constructed in 2010. In the evening, the metal ceiling which is draped over the walkway is lit up in the colours of the Georgian flag while the glass panels underneath the railings are flecked in yellow dotted lights which spell a message in Morse code. The Peace Bridge is one example of the grandiose urban projects commissioned by the Sacashvilli government after 2003, which very much have changed the face of the city. Instead of turning left down the bar-filled Erekle II Street, we turned right and walked through the winding cobbled streets of the Old Town, which very much have been preserved. The Patriarch of Georgia is down this street with its robust metal door with details of the saints on it, while before the street began, there were the head offices of the Georgian Dream party, with candidate #41 whose adverts were plastered everywhere across the city. The election was last month but the billboards were everywhere, particularly on the sides of buses and any available wall space. Walking further down, we spied The Presidential Palace on the hill overlooking the city before we saw the charming higgledy piggledy clock tour outside the Gabriadze Puppet Theatre. Built in 2010 to symbolise that nothing everything in life is stable or straightforward as it seems, it's a beautiful addition to the area, with an angel popping out of a door near the top to strike a bel every hour, while at 12 and 7 o'clock a little wooden stage appears upon which a small puppet show takes place. Alas we did not get to see this due to our timings. On this street we also saw the typical Georgian houses with their wooden balconies, with social interaction being very important to the local people. Interestingly the Soviets banned these balconies and people had to fight the bureaucracy to get them installed. Most insisted they wanted private balconies but just build communal ones anyway out of wood, wood being the easiest material for the average man to sculpt. A Georgian saying highlighting you are always alone in your own home highlights the prevailing mentality.
We turned left out of the Old Town, spying a statue of a group of frolicking dancers, symbolizing a theatrical tradition in Georgia in springtime deigned to give life back to the earth. As in the Middle Ages in England, only men are allowed to act in this, meaning the female characters are done in drag. Walking down the main highway of Baratashvilis Qucha and back towards Freedom Square, we noticed that the flyover was built over the remains of the old fortification wall of Tbilisi, which was uncovered when they built the road. It was weird to see the old and the new juxtaposed in this way, with the exposed brickwork giving foundation to the road above but at least it's preserved I suppose. Our destination was the Freedom Square Metro station, where we were going to meet George, who we had decided to meet earlier than planned due to our change in circumstances. I knew him from a friend of a work colleague and I did have a picture for him. We were five minutes early but so was he and finding him proved easy. We chatted as we walked around to the apartment we had reserved for us, which was conveniently just three minutes' walk from Freedom Square right in the centre of the city. He took us past the place where a new Ibis Styles is being built and down a narrow alleyway which was daubed with graffiti. Signs weren't good but it opened out into a wide courtyard around which a number of family homes were congregated. We met the owner of the apartment, who showed us around, before we paid and dropped our bags off. Everything was clean and it was a neat little place, with tall ceilings and wooden features, which seem to be popular here. George waited outside as we got ourselves sorted before taking us to a couple of museums as he had other errands to run. However, he did invite us around to his family home that evening, an invitation we accepted, so we weren't on our own for overly long.
Our first stop was Gocha's for wine degustation. Georgia was one of the first countries to develop viniculture around 8000 years ago and they have a very proud tradition of winemaking, particularly in the easterly Kakheti region which is home to 50-60% of wine production. There are many establishments offering wine tasting in Tbilisi but with many catering for tourists, it's hard to know the authentic ones. Fortunately George knows the owner of Gocha's, which is just as well as from the outside it looks like a touristy one. We were soon sat down and the nice assistant Janet gave us a number of wines to try, along with a vodka like spirit called chacha which is made from the fermented remains of the wine making process. No sugars are used, the grapes are pressed and put into a clay pot called a qvevri, skin, seeds and all. The qvevri are buried in the earth and it is here where the grape juice ferments into wine. As no sugars are added, the wines have a more natural and subtle flavour. The favoured varieties are dry whites and semi-sweet reds, and we had a good five or six, with the Georgian version of Mulan distracting us on the television in the background. Janet was very knowledgeable and while George grabbed a coffee, she let us sample two chachas, the original and a lemon infused one. Infused chacha is quite popular, with herbs being the favourite, and I can see the appeal even if drinking spirits gives me chronic stomach pain. Still I sampled out of courtesy and after we had sampled so many wines, we thought it would be rude not to buy one. We purchased a liter of semi-sweet red, thinking we could drink it at George's in the evening. As we had plans to visit some museums he very kindly took it home with him for us to collect later.
The museum George recommended was The Museum of Fine Arts, only enterable with a guide, which he kindly sorted for us. She was an elderly lady who had clearly done the tour numerous times as she had the whole patter down by rote and rushed us through the two rooms of icons, crosses and jewelry from old Georgian churches across the country and some in modern day Turkey. The only personal relic of the great Queen Tamar is here, a twelfth century small pectoral cross with four emeralds, five rubies and six pearls. It made a nice change from the innumerable wooden icons, no matter how revered and sacred they are. The tour was over in about forty minutes, giving us some time to check out the nearby Museum of Georgia. There was no time to go through every exhibition so we focused on two of the highlights - the Museum of Soviet Occupation on the top floor and the Treasury in the basement. The former was quite harrowing, with a train carriage riddled with bullet holes one of the first things meeting you, used to shoot dissidents of the regime. The lives of key figures of the clergy and intelligencia, again shot in the 1920s and 1930s were highlighted along with a small video presentation on the Abkhazia and South Ossetia conflicts, with those being described as continual Russian occupation. The stories of the resistance to Soviet rule largely focused on the days before World War II and the later years could have been highlighted more, along with the days leading up to the collapse of the Soviet Union. In a balcony section upstairs there were a range of letters written to the authorities regarding the reconsideration of political boundaries of villages in South Ossetia while there were also Soviet reports sentencing people to death. The English language explanations were enough without going into huge detail but it was an incredibly harrowing half hour, with some of the images gruesome indeed. On our way down to the Treasury, we noticed an exhibition on pre-historic skulls, with a large number on display charting the phylogeny of man over the last seven million years. Many of these come from Dmanisi in southern Georgia, with the 1.8 million year old hominid skulls challenging the current consensus on the ancestry of Homo sapiens. Alas we couldn't spend too long here as time was pressing, so we headed over to the Treasury to check out the breathtaking gold smithery from the third millennium BC onwards. Gold working has been a particular skill in this area throughout time and some of the intricate and delicate examples from antiquity on display were amongst the best items I have ever seen. The precious stone work too was enchanting, with most of these objects coming from burials, but the Colchis gold ornaments, such as jugs made from a single leaf of gold, were undoubtedly the highlight. We had no guide but a French party of schoolchildren were visiting so we piggybacked onto this for a while, while the English language descriptions were quite informative. Indeed, gold making has been renowned in the area for so long that the tale of Jason and the Golden Fleece is set in western Georgia, with the fleece coming from Georgian mountain traditions as a sheepskin used to be spread across the water of a river into which tiny flecks of gold would accumulate. The beer Argo, one of the most popular in Georgia and named after Jason's ship, celebrates this story.
With time pressing as we had agreed for George to pick us up at 7:30pm, we reluctantly left the Museum and headed back to the Old Town in search of food. Our initial destination was Shavi Lomi but we ended up going to the wrong place and it was closed. This saw us walking back up the main drag, Kote Abkhazis Qucha, looking for anywhere appropriate. As I wanted a little time in the room ahead of meeting George, we opted for somewhere quick, with khachapuri house Machakhela being the option decided. As we sat down, the lady on the table next to us overheard our English accents and started a conversation, even recommending a food option which was effectively a meat feast pizza Georgian style. She was from Australia and had just spent three weeks in Armenia, and had many interesting stories to tell. She was doing everything on the fly and was due to spend a further three weeks in Georgia, having just arrived in Tbilisi the night before. We shared our experiences so far before wishing each other well, just as our food arrived.
We got back to the house just before 7pm but our half an hour of relaxation was interrupted less than five minutes later by a knock at the door. It was the owners, who came in and started telling us about how to use the sink tap, which wasn't affixed to the sink as strongly as it should have been. Upon spying the single double bed and relating it to us, they then insisted for whatever reason that they set up the fold down bed settee for one of us. I drew the short straw as Wolfie was ill with a cold, so I let him have the bed (although with the springs on one side broken, maybe I was the lucky one with my rather solid couch). It took them about fifteen minutes of faffing about to set up the bed, which involved moving the television and dresser to accommodate it. They then put sheets on it and by the time they had left, I only had time for a quick toilet trip before George was at the door...
Even though we were quite tired, after checking in, we decided to utilize the one hour of daylight we had left by walking up to the top of the hill overlooking Avlabari upon which sits the Tsminda Sameba Cathedral. Consecrated in 2004 after a decade of construction, the cathedral is visible day and night due to its prominent position. It is lit up in the hours of darkness, punctuating the blackness with gold, and it is a symbol of the post-soviet Christian Renaissance which is currently sweeping through the country. The building proved controversial though as it sits atop an Armenian cemetery but there's no denying that its golden roof and dome, along with the intricate patterned stonemasonry is quite impressive. The Cathedral is sat in its own marble clad grounds with some gates and a bell tower, along with two lumps of stone highlighting the two principal materials of its construction. Lining the main route up to the building there stands some stone cross obelisks with pictures of the life of St George on them, the patron Saint of Georgia. We popped inside briefly, with the atmosphere quite reverential, with candles burning in gold plated troughs and the devoted kissing images of the Virgin Mary and the saints. The design of the cathedral makes it more airy than other churches in the region while the jewel incrusted triptych was a true wonder.
Upon heading back to our hotel from the Cathedral, we noticed the large number of houses that seemed to be in a state of disrepair. Indeed many were almost falling down, impossibly held up by bits of wood at rakish angles and this contrast against the new developments which have sprouted up in the city over the last fifteen years was telling. We called off at a Spar on the way back to pick up some of their own brand sour cream and onion stackers, which we ate at the hotel along with sharing a small bottle of wine from the minibar as it was a Georgian variety that we had not yet had. We also grabbed a shower, having been unimpressed with Tamari's, which was quite weak and in a cold room. We also relaxed a bit before heading out into the city at around 8pm looking for some food and a few places to have a drink. On first inspection, it was far better than anywhere else we had been, but there was a plethora of wine bars offering tastings with pushy introducers outside many of the restaurants urging you to try their Georgian cuisine. In the end, we went to Samikitno on Freedom Square as this was a place recommended in the guidebook. The food was okay and they had their own beer, both dark and light varieties, but the thick pervasive smell of smoke did make eating difficult. We opted for the Hot Tasting Menu, as we got to try seven Georgian specialities (although some we had had before). In the end, these were quite similar to the curry buffets you get in the U.K., with the steamed beef in walnuts perhaps being my favourite (and indeed it was the most curry-like). The chicken in garlic sauce, which looked a little like luminescent yellow cum was nowhere near as good as its equivalent we had in Gori, suggesting that this restaurant was merely average. The Sulguni cheese backed this up as it was quite stringy and tasteless. The Gomi, a breaded dry thing, was useful to mop up the sauces though and Georgian bread is so divine that you can rarely go wrong with it.
After this we went looking for a bar, stopping to admire the impressing golden statue of St George slaying the dragon in Freedom Square. A gift to Tbilisi from its sculptor Zurab Tsereteli, it stands where the statue of Lenin used to be, right in front of the pink and white striped old fire brigade building which was built right next to the Old Town city gate and higher than any building so as to watch out for fires. Looking for a bar, we headed up the main avenue of Rustaveli towards the other main nightlife district outside of the Old Town. Along the way, we saw a number of grand buildings including the Museum of Georgia and the high-arched former Parliament building, outside which the Rose Revolution took place on 22 November 2003. Parliament moved to Kutaisi in 2012 but this has proven unpopular with MPs so there's a chance it could return if the constitutional issues get resolved. The building itself was constructed for the Soviet government between 1938 and 1953. Outside there stands some fountains and stone panels at irregular angles, which are lit up beautifully at night to commemorate the 19 Georgian hunger strikers who died at the hands of Soviet troops on 9 April 1989.
At the top end of Rustaveli, next to the brutalist Stalinist architecture of the Academy of Sciences and behind the monument to Shota Rustaveli, there was the only McDonald's we have seen in the country. Apparently there are about five to six in Tbilisi and when it opened, there was a 3km queue. We peered in but noticed that the menu was much the same as it is back home. This isn't the case for Dunkin Donuts, who serve burgers and bagels in Georgia, while Wendy's is another popular chain. We had already eaten however and soon found the bar district which was an odd mix of loud karaoke type bars (including an "authentic" London pub and the stereotypical Irish bar, Dublin), desolate places and venues which were closed. As it was 10pm on a Friday evening, the loud ones were too busy and the quiet ones unappealing, so we walked out of the area and under one of the main bridges where we found Canudos Ethnic Bar. Situated around a pretty fountain with Chinese style lanterns adorning the trees, we thought this would be a good place to go, but it too was rammed so we needed to look elsewhere. Dive Bar is where we ended up, deep in a suburb and underneath a tower block. Particularly popular with travellers, there were no seats but we were sick of traipsing so just ordered a beer, which was incredibly cheap, and perched on one of the concrete steps outside. The inside was incredibly smoky, so much so it really made you appreciate the smoking ban, and people were playing beer pong on two specifically made tables for such a game. It was quite rowdy so outside was definitely the best option, so we found ourselves sat in front of a loud gang of Americans, who were clearly having fun but their accents for quite grating, so we downed our beers and decided to call it a night, walking back into the Old Town, crossing the Mktvari River and heading back to the hotel. We toyed with the idea of going to a wine bar for one, but they were all about to close so we decided to cut our losses and get some sleep, particularly after we had noticed all the bars we had previously seen closing, and even trying the hotel restaurant which was darkened and desolate.
Sleep was somewhat difficult due to the air conditioner in the room being set at an immovable 27C. We opened the door to our balcony a bit but the noise from the city was disturbing, meaning we had to live with the heat. We had a relaxing morning in bed before checking out at noon, leaving us one hour to our meeting with George, our tour guide and contact in the city. We decided to take a look at the nearby Rike Park on the Avlabari side of the river, which looked quite different in the scorching sunshine when compared to the night before. The park is one example of the recent regeneration of Tbilisi, with the new tubular concert hall and exhibition centre yet to be open. A stunning piece of urban design, it is viewable from every high vantage point around the city and promises to be a great space for the arts. The park itself is sculpted in the shape of Georgia, again something seen from above, while there is a miscellany of items littered around including a stone piano and a pretty fountain. The cable car up to the fortress also departs from here while the Peace Bridge is a wondrous example of contemporary architecture, having been constructed in 2010. In the evening, the metal ceiling which is draped over the walkway is lit up in the colours of the Georgian flag while the glass panels underneath the railings are flecked in yellow dotted lights which spell a message in Morse code. The Peace Bridge is one example of the grandiose urban projects commissioned by the Sacashvilli government after 2003, which very much have changed the face of the city. Instead of turning left down the bar-filled Erekle II Street, we turned right and walked through the winding cobbled streets of the Old Town, which very much have been preserved. The Patriarch of Georgia is down this street with its robust metal door with details of the saints on it, while before the street began, there were the head offices of the Georgian Dream party, with candidate #41 whose adverts were plastered everywhere across the city. The election was last month but the billboards were everywhere, particularly on the sides of buses and any available wall space. Walking further down, we spied The Presidential Palace on the hill overlooking the city before we saw the charming higgledy piggledy clock tour outside the Gabriadze Puppet Theatre. Built in 2010 to symbolise that nothing everything in life is stable or straightforward as it seems, it's a beautiful addition to the area, with an angel popping out of a door near the top to strike a bel every hour, while at 12 and 7 o'clock a little wooden stage appears upon which a small puppet show takes place. Alas we did not get to see this due to our timings. On this street we also saw the typical Georgian houses with their wooden balconies, with social interaction being very important to the local people. Interestingly the Soviets banned these balconies and people had to fight the bureaucracy to get them installed. Most insisted they wanted private balconies but just build communal ones anyway out of wood, wood being the easiest material for the average man to sculpt. A Georgian saying highlighting you are always alone in your own home highlights the prevailing mentality.
We turned left out of the Old Town, spying a statue of a group of frolicking dancers, symbolizing a theatrical tradition in Georgia in springtime deigned to give life back to the earth. As in the Middle Ages in England, only men are allowed to act in this, meaning the female characters are done in drag. Walking down the main highway of Baratashvilis Qucha and back towards Freedom Square, we noticed that the flyover was built over the remains of the old fortification wall of Tbilisi, which was uncovered when they built the road. It was weird to see the old and the new juxtaposed in this way, with the exposed brickwork giving foundation to the road above but at least it's preserved I suppose. Our destination was the Freedom Square Metro station, where we were going to meet George, who we had decided to meet earlier than planned due to our change in circumstances. I knew him from a friend of a work colleague and I did have a picture for him. We were five minutes early but so was he and finding him proved easy. We chatted as we walked around to the apartment we had reserved for us, which was conveniently just three minutes' walk from Freedom Square right in the centre of the city. He took us past the place where a new Ibis Styles is being built and down a narrow alleyway which was daubed with graffiti. Signs weren't good but it opened out into a wide courtyard around which a number of family homes were congregated. We met the owner of the apartment, who showed us around, before we paid and dropped our bags off. Everything was clean and it was a neat little place, with tall ceilings and wooden features, which seem to be popular here. George waited outside as we got ourselves sorted before taking us to a couple of museums as he had other errands to run. However, he did invite us around to his family home that evening, an invitation we accepted, so we weren't on our own for overly long.
Our first stop was Gocha's for wine degustation. Georgia was one of the first countries to develop viniculture around 8000 years ago and they have a very proud tradition of winemaking, particularly in the easterly Kakheti region which is home to 50-60% of wine production. There are many establishments offering wine tasting in Tbilisi but with many catering for tourists, it's hard to know the authentic ones. Fortunately George knows the owner of Gocha's, which is just as well as from the outside it looks like a touristy one. We were soon sat down and the nice assistant Janet gave us a number of wines to try, along with a vodka like spirit called chacha which is made from the fermented remains of the wine making process. No sugars are used, the grapes are pressed and put into a clay pot called a qvevri, skin, seeds and all. The qvevri are buried in the earth and it is here where the grape juice ferments into wine. As no sugars are added, the wines have a more natural and subtle flavour. The favoured varieties are dry whites and semi-sweet reds, and we had a good five or six, with the Georgian version of Mulan distracting us on the television in the background. Janet was very knowledgeable and while George grabbed a coffee, she let us sample two chachas, the original and a lemon infused one. Infused chacha is quite popular, with herbs being the favourite, and I can see the appeal even if drinking spirits gives me chronic stomach pain. Still I sampled out of courtesy and after we had sampled so many wines, we thought it would be rude not to buy one. We purchased a liter of semi-sweet red, thinking we could drink it at George's in the evening. As we had plans to visit some museums he very kindly took it home with him for us to collect later.
The museum George recommended was The Museum of Fine Arts, only enterable with a guide, which he kindly sorted for us. She was an elderly lady who had clearly done the tour numerous times as she had the whole patter down by rote and rushed us through the two rooms of icons, crosses and jewelry from old Georgian churches across the country and some in modern day Turkey. The only personal relic of the great Queen Tamar is here, a twelfth century small pectoral cross with four emeralds, five rubies and six pearls. It made a nice change from the innumerable wooden icons, no matter how revered and sacred they are. The tour was over in about forty minutes, giving us some time to check out the nearby Museum of Georgia. There was no time to go through every exhibition so we focused on two of the highlights - the Museum of Soviet Occupation on the top floor and the Treasury in the basement. The former was quite harrowing, with a train carriage riddled with bullet holes one of the first things meeting you, used to shoot dissidents of the regime. The lives of key figures of the clergy and intelligencia, again shot in the 1920s and 1930s were highlighted along with a small video presentation on the Abkhazia and South Ossetia conflicts, with those being described as continual Russian occupation. The stories of the resistance to Soviet rule largely focused on the days before World War II and the later years could have been highlighted more, along with the days leading up to the collapse of the Soviet Union. In a balcony section upstairs there were a range of letters written to the authorities regarding the reconsideration of political boundaries of villages in South Ossetia while there were also Soviet reports sentencing people to death. The English language explanations were enough without going into huge detail but it was an incredibly harrowing half hour, with some of the images gruesome indeed. On our way down to the Treasury, we noticed an exhibition on pre-historic skulls, with a large number on display charting the phylogeny of man over the last seven million years. Many of these come from Dmanisi in southern Georgia, with the 1.8 million year old hominid skulls challenging the current consensus on the ancestry of Homo sapiens. Alas we couldn't spend too long here as time was pressing, so we headed over to the Treasury to check out the breathtaking gold smithery from the third millennium BC onwards. Gold working has been a particular skill in this area throughout time and some of the intricate and delicate examples from antiquity on display were amongst the best items I have ever seen. The precious stone work too was enchanting, with most of these objects coming from burials, but the Colchis gold ornaments, such as jugs made from a single leaf of gold, were undoubtedly the highlight. We had no guide but a French party of schoolchildren were visiting so we piggybacked onto this for a while, while the English language descriptions were quite informative. Indeed, gold making has been renowned in the area for so long that the tale of Jason and the Golden Fleece is set in western Georgia, with the fleece coming from Georgian mountain traditions as a sheepskin used to be spread across the water of a river into which tiny flecks of gold would accumulate. The beer Argo, one of the most popular in Georgia and named after Jason's ship, celebrates this story.
With time pressing as we had agreed for George to pick us up at 7:30pm, we reluctantly left the Museum and headed back to the Old Town in search of food. Our initial destination was Shavi Lomi but we ended up going to the wrong place and it was closed. This saw us walking back up the main drag, Kote Abkhazis Qucha, looking for anywhere appropriate. As I wanted a little time in the room ahead of meeting George, we opted for somewhere quick, with khachapuri house Machakhela being the option decided. As we sat down, the lady on the table next to us overheard our English accents and started a conversation, even recommending a food option which was effectively a meat feast pizza Georgian style. She was from Australia and had just spent three weeks in Armenia, and had many interesting stories to tell. She was doing everything on the fly and was due to spend a further three weeks in Georgia, having just arrived in Tbilisi the night before. We shared our experiences so far before wishing each other well, just as our food arrived.
We got back to the house just before 7pm but our half an hour of relaxation was interrupted less than five minutes later by a knock at the door. It was the owners, who came in and started telling us about how to use the sink tap, which wasn't affixed to the sink as strongly as it should have been. Upon spying the single double bed and relating it to us, they then insisted for whatever reason that they set up the fold down bed settee for one of us. I drew the short straw as Wolfie was ill with a cold, so I let him have the bed (although with the springs on one side broken, maybe I was the lucky one with my rather solid couch). It took them about fifteen minutes of faffing about to set up the bed, which involved moving the television and dresser to accommodate it. They then put sheets on it and by the time they had left, I only had time for a quick toilet trip before George was at the door...
