Atypical Neurotic writes:
The first time I visited the “other” Georgia, called Sakartvelo in the Georgian language (which in turn is written საქართველო in the Georgian alphabet), was at Christmastime 2004. My next visit was in November 2006, and I have been back once or twice ever since. The pics in this series are all from 2011 or later, as I did not have a decent digital camera until I got one for Christmas in 2010. They are not in chronological order. I hope that my blog readers with OCD issues will bear with me here. If it isn’t a problem for me, it shouldn’t be one for you.
This is a shot of the Greater Caucasus Range from the village of Sighnaghi, overlooking the Alazani Valley. Beyond the mountains is Daghestan, which is why Sighnaghi is surrounded by a wall. In Soviet times, Sighnaghi was a popular tourist destination, but after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Lithuanians, Estonians and Uzbeks could – at least in theory – now travel to Florence or Cape Town. In the meantime, Sighnaghi has been spruced up, and looks more lived-in these days, not so much like a movie set.
This is a shot of Metekhi Church and Narikala Fortress taken from Kopala Restaurant. Pretty good food and a great view.
A shot of the Gombori Pass region, which separates Kakheti (eastern Georgia) from the central region surrounding Tbilisi.
When I first visited Georgia in 2004, there were almost no advertising-supported periodicals for sale. Now they are everywhere. People need to have celebrity mags in their own language.
There was a gallery/beanery at the edge of the Old Town called Sans Souci, founded by a returning ex-pat in the late 1990s or early 2000s, I am guessing. It wasn’t originally a restaurant until two German tourists came in, sat down at a table, and asked for a menu. The artist/proprietor dished up some lobio, a brown bean stew seasoned with cilantro and fenugreek (which are in just about everything, by the way) and the rest was history. Unfortunately, the building had to be torn down because it was structurally unsound, and this is what replaced it. The food is still good.
I took this picture in spring 2012 on a stroll along Davit Aghmashenebulis gamziri (David the Rebuilder Boulevard) on the north bank of the Mtkvari, the muddy, swift-moving river that runs through Tbilisi and flows into the Caspian through Azerbaijan, where it is called the Kura. My FB comment at the time was “All the Lenin statues have been resmelted, but the remaining Soviet-era art gets to stay, as it is pétit-bougeois in taste”.
A park bench in Tbilisi, and we know this because that is what it is written in the ironwork.
From my most recent visit. A campaign poster for one of the presidential candidates (the election is today). Nino Burjanadze was a supporter of Mikheil Saakashvili during the Rose Revolution in 2003, and for a period afterward, but is now a critic. Her motto is “Fairness – everywhere and for everyone”. A Georgian friend said that people refer to her as Tootsie…
A greengrocer selling real food. Those pendulous thingies hanging from the lintel are called churchkhela, a confection made from grape pulp and walnuts.
For once, a decent place to eat…
Finally, another shot of Sighnaghi, from the approach from the south/west, with the Greater Caucasus shrouded in clouds…
Blowhard, Esq.
Callowman
Sherbrooke
Eddie Pensier
Enzo Nakamura
Epaminondas
Fabrizio del Wrongo
Fenster
Brundle Guy
Glynn Marshes
Paleo Retiree
Atypical Neurotic
Question Lady
Sax von Stroheim
Sir Barken Hyena
The Mistaken
Uncouth Reflections 
Nice pix, tks for sharing them. There can’t be many Americans who have been to Georgia numerous times. Do you manage the language at all? It seems like a very scenic place. But are you hinting that the food’s no good?
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Are there movies that do a decent job of conveying what life in Georgia is like, do you think?
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Re: Georgian food. On the contrary, Georgian food is wonderful (just take it easy on the khachapuri, a pizza-like pastry stuffed with cheese). I usually order veal chashushuli (braised veal served in a tomato and onion sauce – seasoned with cilantro) or kharcho, braised beef in walnut sauce, with lobio (bean stew) and chvishtari, corn bread made with sulguni cheese. By the way, I have been to the McDonald’s in Tbilisi, but I’ve never _eaten_ there. Along with the Mariott, it’s the only place in town that serves drip-coffee, i.e. where the non-Turkish coffee isn’t Nescafé.
I don’t really speak Georgian, but I can say things. Please. Thank you. I’d like some more wine. Numbers to a hundred. Stop here. Time to go…
As for movies, there was a Georgian-French co-production from the mid-2000s about someone who returned to Georgia from abroad to put an end to a feud, I think it was. It’s all pretty vague. I’ll see if I can Google it. Not much about life in Tbilisi in it, apart from cafe scenes, but lots of shots of the countryside.
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Walnut sauce sounds pretty amazing.
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The movie I was thinking of is “The Legacy” by Gela Babluani. It was a touring troupe of French actors that get mixed up in a blood feud.
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Thanks.
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Awesome black and gold shot of the church. Hard to believe how little urban light contamination there is.
Found this thread on what Georgian women look like. Very striking, and with pretty low hairlines if you dig lots of wild wavy hair (just make sure they shave the middle of their unibrow). And they don’t look as self-absorbed, pose-striking, calculating, or gold-digging as in other countries of the former Soviet Union.
Georgian guys say the Slavs are sluttier, implying their own women are more the type to marry. I suppose there could be worse fates in life than putting down roots with someone like this bride or this one.
Did you see any Caucasian shepherd dogs when you were there? Those things look bred in Hell.
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That’s only what very, very, very pretty Georgian women look like. Notice how they all have straight noses? Georgian women almost never have them. It’s a more common trait among Mingrelians, but still a rarity. Regardless, they’re some of the most selfless women I’ve ever met. I’ve spent a few months all over the country and have a decent hold of the language. Caucasian shepherds are huge but aren’t scary.
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Thanks for the comment. I have met a fair number of Georgians over the years, of both sexes, some of whom I count among my dearest friends. The photos you link to are fairly representative for women into their 20s. While the Georgian diet does not turn children into land-whales (you never see fat children in Georgia, ever), it has a tendency to sneak up on adults as they mature. Which is why: if you are considering falling in love with a Georgian woman, meet the mother. And be sure to wangle an invitation to dinner. The best food in Georgia is made at home.
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Great pictures.
Interestingly, I was just reading all about ancient Colchis in Gibbon over the weekend. It was a highly strategic place during the Byzantine empire; Persia was always trying to grab it as a side route to Constantinople. Apparently the Colchians were pretty formidable people. Gibbon certainly respected them highly.
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A Spiegel photo gallery on the architecture boom in Georgia: http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/das-ende-von-saakaschwilis-architektur-boom-in-georgien-fotostrecke-103017.html
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Interesting! Love the eclectic styles – mostly.
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