Feeling fresh and rested, I left the hotel around 10 after a delicious breakfast that included khinkali, Georgia’s famous stuffed dumpling. I took the jammed metro  to Rustaveli boulevard, ground-zero for the Independence Day festivities.Food! Balloons! Clowns! Folk-dancing! The best shows were on the folkdancing stages which attracted large crowds. The demands of tourism eventually pulled me towards  the Old Town for a look at the famous sights. First up was the  famously goofy clock tower.   The cafes and boutiques lent the pedestrian streets a cosmopolitan flavor and I loved the particularly Georgian architecture that features lacy wood balconies. The central part of the Old Town was delightfully restored but wandering just a few streets away revealed a much poorer environment of crumbling buildings and cracked pavements. One of the major highlights was the Anchiskhati Basilica where a wedding was in progress with men dressed in traditional Georgian costume. Boots! Swords! And this fashionable guest dressed in a female version of Georgian dress.   After strolling Shevli street I meandered over to Peace Bridge, one of Georgia’s celebrated ventures into modern design. From there, I was close to the cable car that glided up to Narikala Fortress. and a … Continue reading →

I left the unloved Hotel Delisi this morning. Curious that the departure breakfast was the worst, probably as a punishment: cold pasta, salad, stale bread, hot-dog. I took a taxi over to the Hotel Classic which was much better located near to Rustaveli. I left my luggage and headed off to find a marshrutka to Mtskheta with fingers crossed that the weather would hold despite the forecast. Took the metro to Dududi minibus station and was welcomed by a cloudburst. It lifted after a quarter hour and I hopped aboard the minibus to Mtskheta, the birthplace of Christianity in Georgia. UNESCO-protected Mtskheta is stunningly set at the confluence of two rivers with mountains rising in the distance. The highlight is the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral dating from the 11th century. Unlike in France where the most celebrated cathedrals are filled almost exclusively with tourists, Svetitskhoveli was the Grand Central Station of Orthodox Christians. There were groups of adults, of kids, couples and more men than you usually see worshipping in Catholic churches. There was a lot of contemplating and kissing of icons. Priests strolled the aisles like rock stars dispensing blessings and accepting hand-kisses. I felt awkward as I approached realizing I had … Continue reading →

At the Hotel Classic I asked for a taxi to take me to the Batumi marshrutka. We got to station square before 10 and I immediately boarded a comfortable minibus with cushioned seats. Then I waited. And waited. And waited. No one else got on. I knew he wasn’t going to make a 7 hour trip only with me. Finally we left at 10.30 and drove to another place looking for passengers, then another. Finally about a half dozen people boarded and we were off. Mostly the trip was relaxing. The sun was shining and the driver chose a varied entertainment program that included Georgian music, international pop,  music videos and one strange comedy segment that seemed to be a Georgian version of Archie Bunker screaming at his hapless son and daughter in law. The other passengers chuckled. I liked the videos that seemed to show actual weddings where the men were twirling and leaping in  traditional Georgian wedding dances. Outside, we followed the river as it wove through a flat valley backed by verdant peaks. One house followed another, always with  two stories,  big enough for an extended family and with a plot of land. We hurtled past vegetable … Continue reading →

First look at Mestia; view from balcony of Hotel Svan House. #mestia A photo posted by Jeanne (@globaltravellerblog) on Jun 1, 2016 at 8:32am PDT By this point, I had learned to take taxis everywhere. They are cheap enough and the streets are too horrendous for wheeled luggage. So I ordered a cab around 8am to take me to the old bus station for a journey that I hoped would end in Mestia if all went well. There’s something exhilarating about the purposefulness of a bus station when one’s final destination is unknown. Around the dented minibuses were swarms of toothless old men, soap sellers, beggars, fruit peddlars, tired  women hauling cheap luggage and young men chatting earnestly on cellphones. It was an extremely bumpy ride to Zugdidi, even though the landscape was mostly flat farmland. In exactly three hours we pulled into Zugdidi which was good since this minibus was much less comfy than the Tblisi-Batumi one. I wasn’t sure whether I would stay in Zugdidi; it very much depended on on whether I could quickly catch a bus to Mestia. Fortunately the Mestia bus was right there with only a Chinese couple. The driver asked us to pay … Continue reading →

I woke up to clouds and the hint of rain in Mestia. As beautiful as the region was, I was glad I decided to head south. The guest house arranged a minibus to Zugdidi that left around 9.30 for the beautiful and scenic ride that wound around the mountains for about 3 1/2 hours.. Arriving in Zugdidi around noon, I  immediately hopped another minibus  to Kutaisi. Two hours in a crowded bus passed slowly especially as the scenery was a monotonous spread of one small farm after another. Unlike the hardened, slim farmers in the Svaneti region, these people were uniformly obese. Tired and hungry, I debated whether or not to overnight in Kutaisi but fortunately there was another bus to Akhalksikhe leaving almost immediately. I grabbed a Pepsi (no Coke Zero in this country) and homemade cake and boarded the old, rickety bus. I arrived completely exhausted but the family who ran Hotel Almi greeted me like their long-lost cousin.. I checked in wearily and headed to a beautiful room with hardwood floors. The hotel had a restaurant that conjured up a delicious dinner which I devoured in their pretty garden. Save