Of Cities and Mountains (Part 1): Tbilisi, Georgia

Some of Tbilisi's modern architecture mixed with the old.

The Republic of Georgia has been keeping me busy. After the change in my flights, I ended up arriving, picking up my bags, and getting back to the apartment with Reed around 3:30AM. After three nights of a combined 12 hours of sleep, my body made me sleep...for about 10 hours. 

After finally getting up and out of the apartment, Reed showed me the museum area where he works each summer and where the bones from the excavations are stored, and yes, it is as hot as he says it is. Wow. I had my first authentic Georgian meal just around the corner which consisted of the standard cucumber, tomato, cilantro, and hot pepper salad; Khachapuri (a dough stuffed with cheese); and meat, potatoes, and peppers cooked in a cast iron dish. It was all delicious! Reed took me over to Old Tbilisi for a while to see some of the older and charming areas which are also within view of the highly modern architectural style which is popular in Tbilisi today. Then we headed home to sleep more. 

House from the Museum of Ethnography.

The next few days were full of different activities and sites all across the city. We visited the Museum of Georgia, which has a fantastic display of gold and silver objects dating from the late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age to the Roman Period -- Georgia is the land of the Golden Fleece from Greek mythology! The Museum of Soviet Occupation is housed in the same building and describes 70 years worth of fighting, oppression, and the road to independence in Georgia. 

Another house with a view of Tbilisi.

My favorite museum was the Open Air Museum of Ethnography located on one of the hills surrounding the city. The park extends further up the hill and is full of houses collected and brought to the park from all over Georgia. The houses demonstrate a variety of building traditions (wood, wood and stone, and stone) and their placement on different levels of the hill correlate with where they would be found in their original region (i.e. valleys for some, high mountainous points for others). Many of the houses in the lower areas are open and have many of the original furnishing as well as interpreters who describe (in Georgian, Russian, or English) the history of the house, the use of the objects within it, and the social hierarchy and roles of the family. Some of the houses are in rough shape, but in general, it is interesting to walk around the park to see the diversity of architecture all found within a single country. 

Fortress and a tree of wishes!

One afternoon (trying to avoid some of the heat) we took the gondola up to one of the surrounding hills for a view of the city from Narikala Fortress. Within the fortress is a small Georgian Orthodox Church full of brightly colored murals of various saints highlighted with gold leaf (Reed got kicked out for wearing shorts and I had to cover my hair while in the church -- nothing wrong with a little propriety in a sacred place). A short distance from the fortress was the colossal statue of Kartlis Deda, or Mother Georgia, who holds a cup of wine to greet those coming to Georgia as friends and a sword to keep away enemies. The National Botanical Gardens are located just behind the fortress. While the gardens are not the well organized and well maintained types found in western Europe with abundant signs, they are a nice place to escape the heat and to soak in some nature in the city. Vake Park, located just down the street from Reed's apartment, is another nice place to escape the heat and has several impressive monuments and memorials within it. 

Inside the fortress. I did not climb up those stairs -- yikes!

Eating has also been a bit of a pastime. I have heard from Reed for the past three years how great this-and-this is or how much he likes that yummy thing. Well, as a person who loves to try new foods, this was a priority. Many of the restaurants we visited are actually in basements or cellars making them a cool reprieve from the summer heat. I already mentioned the traditional salad and Khachapuri, which you find everywhere. Meat in general is pretty popular and cooked in a variety of ways. Last night I tried Khinkali, aka Georgian dumplings, which can be filled with a variety of meat with greens, potatoes, or cheese. They look like little money pouches you see in Medieval movies except sealed shut creating a little knob. These must be eaten with your hands and there is definitely some technique involved. The meat ones, and the best kind, create their own broth as they cook. To eat these, you must bite a hole in the site of the dumpling and slurp the juice out, then you may continue to eat the meat and dough, but never the knob (apparently since its just a big wad of dough people don't like it and the knobs can also be used to see how many you have eaten). Well, they are delicious...and filling; I had seven and felt like I could be rolled home. Another well known dish which I get to try tonight is Shashlik, or meat on a stick. 

Reed and I. The tower is not leaning, its my camera.

Lemonade is rather popular and is super refreshing in the heat (have I mentioned its been in the 90s since I arrived??? -- major change from the 70s we were having in Minneapolis when I left...). While it is called "limonade," it isn't really lemonade in the American sense, rather, it is carbonated water with a bit of sugar and specified flavoring added to it (e.g. lemon limonade, peach limonade, or the most disgusting, tarragon limonade). I will miss lemon limonade when I leave...

I am glad I decided to do this in several parts. This is only a fraction of what I have to say, but I think this is enough for today! Stay tuned for my trips to Shatili and Dmanisi!