Wednesday, May 14th.
Today's journey took us through Kakheti Province, Georgia's famous wine district, a landscape dotted with fine old churches and vineyard after vineyard. The area was lush and very green and the weather cool and mostly cloudy with some showers. Roba arranged for us to visit a small local organic winery where we were given a tour and a sampling of three of his wines. He grew up in the culture of wine making but worked in the petroleum business for a while and lived in the US for three years, so his English was excellent. He showed us the clay casks that he buries in the ground in his wine cellar as part of the process. He explained the process and answered the questions of the people in the group who know more about wine that I do. He produces approximately 10000 bottles per year. We sampled two whites and a light red which I liked the best. Then we drove east and then south and the terrain changed dramatically from the lush greenery to the semi-desert hills. During the Soviet era they forcibly relocated people from the high mountain region to this bleak region. Maybe of the people are still here and have created a town based around animal husbandry and farming. We stopped for lunch at a strange local restaurant that has taken advantage of the tourists that come to the region to visit the monastery in the area. We had a nice soup with lamb and tomato and rice. Then we drove to the Davit Gareja Monastery, situated deep in the semi desert area opposite a multi-coloured hill of layers of sandstone rock. Founded in the 6th century by the Christian Father St. David, the monasteries are remarkable for their original frescoes that date from the 8th to 13th centuries, and the site is considered to be one of the most important landmarks of Georgia. It is situated on the Georgia and Azerbijian border and unfortunately at this time there is a conflict between the countries and we are only allowed to see the main part of the living quarters and the small church. However, this was remarkable in its self as some of the monks lived in caves on a cliff overlooking the small courtyard. The church was simple but quite lovely. From there we drove for ninety minutes north-west to Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. Our hotel is located right in the old historic area of the city and is reminiscent of some of the Eastern European cities like Lublijana. We checked in and had an hour before we gathered for our dinner, after which a few of us had a drink before heading off to bed.
Looks like Georgia is panning out to be a pretty good place to visit. I would never have expected wine to be stored like that. Pretty cool vineyard.
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