Perfect day for a tour. Warm, clear and light wind.
Watched the Late News and Weather on WDAY from home off our antenna with the help of Unlocator Smart DNS/VPN, AirTV and SlingTV. Watched some Fox News.
Took a shower
Had coffee and got ready for the day.
Ordered a BOLT, but the first two tries the credit card was declined. Finally went through and it was a 30 minute ride to meet the tour.
The tour was to meet at 10:45 AM at the Radisson Blu Iveria. After getting there, I went in the hotel to find a restroom. When I came back out a man asked if I was John. It was Lasha our tour guide. He said there would only be two other tourists. They were from Tajikistan and only spoke Russian. The van for the tour was parked at the Bicycle Monument.
We headed out of Tbilisi in heavy traffic. The first stop was KTW Winery. KTW, "Kakhetian Traditional Winemaking."
While waiting for the tour our guide Lasha entertained us
It is a large commercial winery that makes wine the traditional Georgian way of burying an amphora called "Qvevri" for 8 to 9 months. This keeps the new wine at the right temperature and the egg shape of the vessel allows the "chacha" (grape skins, stalks & pips) to sink to the bottom. They then put it in huge stainless steel vats where they can control the temperature and other environmental conditions
Each vat has a convenient spigot for sampling the wine. We sampled 5 wines, all extremely good. We then sampled the brandy, quite a change from the wine but good.
We then had a sampling of ChaCha, a high alcoholic drink made from the residue in the bottom of the vessel.
Our next stop was a traditional bread and cheese maker long the highway
Here you can actually get involved in making the bread
The bread and cheese were very good, their home made wine not so good
I bought a slice of the cheese and they wrapped up the bread and cheese we didn't eat. Erik, the bread connoisseur, was able to sample and agreed it was good.
As we headed up the mountains there were vineyards and beautiful fields
Our next stop was Bodbe Convent. It was originally built in the 9th century as a monastery. It is a pilgrimage site because the relics of St. Nino are believed to be buried here. St. Nino was A Roman Christian Evangelist from Jerusalem who traveled to Iberia to save them. She converted Queen Nana. The king lost his eyesight and said he would become Christian if his eyesight were restored. St Nino prayed and his eyesight was restored. Georgia became a Christian country.
The entry is off a small square. There is a hotel, cafe and WC on the square
We entered the convent where an old woman was collecting money. She wasn't a nun
I didn't give her anything on the way in, but did on the way out
We toured the chapel. While we were standing in front, Cathy was chastised for standing on a marker for a burial.
It was ok for the dog though. I didn't get a picture of the chapel, but this is the new church
The grounds are beautiful and kept immaculate by the nuns, you can see the chapel in this picture
There were snow capped mountains across the valley
and fields in the valley
The nuns had a huge garden
Our next stop was the small town of Sighnaghi. It is at an altitude of 836 m or 2,742 ft. The streets are very steep
We were given an hour to look around on our own. Cathy went to a shop with their wares out on the street.
There were a lot of friendly dogs
There is a wall dedicated to those killed in WW II
Lasha met us at 5:00 PM and we headed down to a terrace restaurant
We stopped at the Kusika Restaurant. Great views of the valley
several dogs
We sat down and ordered. Cathy ordered a Greek Salad and I ordered Ojakhuri, (meat, potatoes & vegetables) and a draft beer
the beer really hit the spot
The ladies from Tajikistan kindly gave us some of their appetizers. One was a large mushroom filled with melted cheese
The other I can't really describe, but it was good
We had table guests
I fed them, but they were picky eaters.
We got back in the van for the ride back to Tbilisi. We did have in vehicle entertainment, unlike Air France
and an escort
until the driver passed them
The driver was adept at driving fast down the mountain, around curves and passing cars while using his cell phone
On the outskirts of Tbilisi we ran into a herd of cattle using the highway and a couple of places the Police had blocked off because of protests. We finally got back to where we started at 8:00 PM and said good-bye to Lasha and our driver.
I ordered a BOLT, but the driver couldn't find us. Ordered another and he spoke English and was there in a couple of minutes. 20 minutes later we were at Kathryn and Erik's.
Didn't watch any Office, but went up to bedroom and watched Fox News.
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