Silk

Monday evening we walked to La Maison Bleue Textile Art Studio where five artists work and sell their goods.  We had to ring the door bell and get buzzed in.  Then climbed a dark stair case to the studio.  The front room was a gallery and show room, and the back two rooms was their work area.  All five were painting on silk making wall hangings, scarves, ties, pillow cases, and book marks.  The five ladies had graduated together, but each had their own slant to painting on the silk.  One artist did a lot of Georgian alphabet calligraphy.  (Georgian has its own alphabet, one of only 6 alphabets.)  Laurel bought a wall hanging that she was eyeing from her last visit.  I bought a 5x8 inch silk painting stretched on light little sticks, an egg, and a book mark. 

The stair case was even darker on the way down.  I kept a good grip on the railing, as I could not see my feet.

The pictures are their studio and show room.

Bazaar

Saturday we took a long walked to the bazaar, through several construction zones.  Actually I think this whole city is a construction zone.   Laurel wanted me to get a chance to see the city, the problem was that I was too busy trying to place my feet and cane. 

This bazaar covered several blocks.  Part had overtaken a park and part was in two story sheds including the ally in between.  Items were hung across the walkway at just under six foot.  So my head was hitting everything from shirts to soccer balls.  Vendors were grouped by the products they carried.  So all the plumbing supplies were together, and the meat in another area, house wear, ect.  The smell from the meat market and fish mongrels was unpleasant, so Laurel wanted to keep moving in that area.  At least on merchant did have a large log on end for a chopping block.  Imagine cleaning the end grain of that chopping block.  Most the stalls were small.  In the clothing stalls, they had two straight back chairs side by side against the back wall where they could sit and wait with their shoulders touching each other and the walls.  The goods were hung on the walls up at least ten feet.  If someone wanted to try on a pair of jeans, they hung a sheet across the bottom of the stall.

I was talking that I wanted to buy a bottle of wine that evening, when Laurel realized that she did not have a corkscrew.  So now we had something to shop for.  We found it.  And as Laurel was paying for it, the vendor realized we were Americans.   He pulled out two little stools, and made us sit.  Then washed out a set of little traditional glasses.  So he could pour us some of his home made wine that he had in a old pickle jar.   Toasted Americans.  As he spoke no English, and we speak no Georgian, he panimind “drink a little we be friends, drink a lot we fight.”   Next he decided we needed food, so off he went and got a can of olives.  Nice break from shopping.  Then he took off again after motioning that we should stay, and brought back a bottle of wine in a really cool bottle that he gave us.  He really lost on that sale.

That is the start of my wine bottle collection.

We took a short cab ride home, as my feet and legs were killing me.

Looking down at the area between the two shed from the second floor catwalk

Bees

On Tuesday walking back from Freedom Square I stopped at Kvashveti Church of St George.  Situated right on the main street.  A lovely church and very busy.  As I was walking in the court yard I spotted two bee hives tucked in the corner behind a large Icon of St George slaying the dragon.  Each super box was about 5 inches, with the total hive being about 3 feet tall.  Besides the honey, I assume they harvested wax for their candles. 

In the picture the hive is right above the car hood, tight to the left of the tree trunk.  Yes the cars are parked in the church court yard.

Wine

I will let my sister, Laurel, explain why I am up at midnight on Sunday blogging when we turned in early.  J

This is the wine region Khaketi, and Georgians take their drinking very seriously.  The local grape is Saperavi, and the vines grow even grow in the city.  When we went for dinner with co-workers on Friday night, we saw where the grape vines made a canopy for the second floor porch.  And then on Saturday we saw where one foot square openings were made in the sidewalks on a busy main street, Chavchavadze Ave, and the vines were trained to climb the second floor balcony, where they screened the apartment and furnished grapes.

The grapes have been picked and wine been made, now is time to let it age.  On Saturday when we were shopping in the bazaar, one of the shop owners realized that we were Americans and shared some new wine from a jar.  He then gave us some olive to go with the wine, and a bottle of the local wine.   (He lost all of his profit plus on that sale.)  The bottle was in a fancy bottle, so latter we walked to Goodwill, a grocery store here, and bought three more fancy bottles of wine.  Got all four lined up now with the flowers in the kitchen.  I plan on drinking during vacation so I can take home the empty bottles.

On Sunday while walking on Chavchavadze Ave we passed the “Wine House”.  It was an outlet for the winery.  It had three big stainless steel tanks right there; one for white wine, one for sweet red, and one for dry red.  “Tasting” and “by the glass” did not translate.   You could bring in your own bottle to fill and buy by the liter, three gallon jug.  I will have to bring back a plastic bottle just to be able to buy good wine in bulk like that.  They had prior vintages bottled and for sale on the shelves.  There also was distilled liquor made from the seeds and skins of the grapes.  They take the leftovers from squeezing the primary wine fermentation, then grinding the seeds and further fermenting before distilling that mash just like making whiskey, just using grape seed instead of corn

My Travel Book

I have not found a travel book of Tbilisi or Republic of Georgia.  So this will be a list and description of things I want to see.  After I return I will update to what I did see.  Longitude and latitude are noted so I can find them with Google Earth.

There appear to be many monuments and churches that I am only going to list major targeted ones here, and just keep my eyes open when I am traveling and not hesitate to stop.

Laurel is scheduling two day trips away from the city when I am visiting.  One to a vineyard on the first full day I am there, and then to a monastery during the week she is on fall break.

Museum of Cultural History

Art Academy where the students display and sell their art work on the front steps.

City bazaar; this is the one written up in Laurel’s blog (41deg 43’ 15.52”N, 44deg 47’ 40.28”E)

Lion Bridge; I am sure I will cross this bridge often enough in-route to other places (41deg 42’ 29.42”N, 44deg 47’ 35.04”E)

Soccer stadium would love to see a pro game.  There are two stadiums in Tbilisi. 

1st) The Boris Paichadze National Stadium, also known as the Dinamo Stadium, is a football stadium in Tbilisi, Georgia. It is the home stadium of FC Dinamo Tbilisi. The stadium was built in 1976 by Georgian architect Gia Kurdiani. It had the third-largest capacity in the Soviet Union. It could hold 74,354 supporters and fulfill all standards and requirements of Soviet Football Federation as well as UEFA.  (41deg 43’ 21.64”N, 44deg 47’ 23.39”E)

2nd)  Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, also known as the Lokomotivi Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Tbilisi, Georgia named after the famous Georgian. It is used mostly for football matches, and occasionally for rugby union matches. The stadium was renovated in 2001 and has a capacity to hold 27,223 people. It is the second largest stadium in Georgia, after Boris Paichadze Stadium.  (West of Laurel 4000 feet)  (41deg 42’ 38.50”N, 44deg 44’ 41.35”E)

Bailey; the state troupe is support to be performing the week I am visiting

Tbilisi concert hall Also would love to hear a classical concert with Philharmonic.    41deg 42’ 27.34”N, 44deg 47’ 10.46”E

Tbilisi Circus   (41deg 42’ 51.96”N, 44deg 47’ 09.94”E)

Hero Monument; in a traffic round about.  The pictures look even more striking when the fountain is turned off.  (41deg 42’ 47.63”N, 44deg 46’ 57.46”E)

Hippodrome  An oval track for horse races,  It appear from Google Earth to be an oval dirt track about 2400 feet in length  (41deg 43’ 13.55”N, 44deg 45’ 09.70”E)

Zoo with in a mile of Laurel’s apartment (41deg 42’ 55.88”N, 44deg 46’ 42.46”E)

Lisi Lake; it appears to be a lake at a high altitude (41deg 44’ 39.38”N, 44deg 44’ 06.88”E)

Mukhatgverdi Memorial. To the memory of soldiers killed in the Russian-Georgian war   (41deg 48’ 21.43”N, 44deg 43’ 49.26”E)

It is surrounded by a City Cemetery

Turtle Lake just above Laurel’s apartment (41deg 42’ 17.14”N, 44deg 45’ 17.76”E)

What to pack?

I am taking a second suitcase full of stuff for my sister.  ‘If you were to move to another country where access to goods differ, what would you miss?’  My sister Laurel’s answer is microwave buttered popcorn!  I am taking a whole suitcase full on my visit to Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia.!!! 

To fill you in on her experience I am going to just direct you to her blog: http://laurelmiller2011.blogspot.com/

And yes one of my tasks for my trip is to get my sisters pictures on her facebook account and blog.

Staying in an apartment with a washer so I will pack:

prescriptions (in carry on)

passport

hiking boots (wear)

tennis shoes

slippers (in carry on, in case boots get uncomfortable)

2 pair jeans (wear one)

2 casual shirts (wear one)

2 dress slacks

3 dress shirts, dry cleaned and boxed

sports jacket

Cameras

Christmas presents

POPCORN 

This will fill two suitcases and a carry on.  Lots of popcorn!

Introduction to my Blog

Welcome to my travel blog.  I intend on writing about my preparation and experiences while traveling to Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia.  This blog is for family and friends who wish to travel with me from their armchairs.  As I travel to visit my sister who is teaching in the QSI international school in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia.

This blog will only be updated the month of September 2011 while I am making my finial preparations and on my trip.  Then possible followed by a few wrap up notes.  I hope to take this blog and insert it into my electronic travel scrap book.  So that explains some of the items I will write about, as I want them in my scrap book.