Time ticks away in Georgia

Hello everyone

Things continue here in Georgia, most days being filled with the English teaching and school matters. The weather here is diabolical - There was a day a couple of weeks ago when the weather in Batumi closed over something fierce and well, there was sleet and hail a plenty. And then some snow. The mountains surrounding Jikhanjuri (my village) are covered in snow. It's rather pretty.

This week I took a chance to visit the second biggest city in Georgia, Kutaisi. It's a pretty nice place all told, much nicer than Batumi or Kobuleti, with museums and statues. Unfortunately I visited on St George's day - a major holiday here as you can imagine. The main church was in use and the museums were closed. The weather was awesome on Tuesday when I left, but on Wednesday the weather was again freezing, sleet and snow.

Inside the church at Motsameta

Not far from Kutaisi is the church of Motsameta, set in a beautiful valley even with the bad weather it was clear that this was a special place.

Valley at Motsameta.

 Just a small church perched above a raging river and below snow capped hills. It was a 20 minute walk from the main road, which would be awesome - in sunshine. But the low clouds in the valley still made it quite a beautiful place to visit.

Interesting wall in central Kutaisi.

 Back in Kutaisi I enjoyed wifi at McDonald's before it disappeared. Ahh Georgia... reliable electricity? What was that again? The weather remained miserable and it took me two hours to dry out. I did enjoy my hot hotel room though and something a little different from the beans and borscht I get at home. No problems though - the food is great and plentiful with my host family, no cause to complain, I have had awesome hospitality here.

Houses struggle to stay up on the banks of the river in Kutaisi.

 It's hard to believe my time is running out. I realise that I have become pretty close with my host family. Now that winter is upon us the downstairs with the fire is much warmer than my room with its little heater. But I am surviving most nights warm enough, however Monday night the power was down (as is often the fashion) and things weren't so warm.

Time is almost up not just for Georgia but for the whole Trip 2011. A couple of weeks back I went to a wedding too so been able to enjoy some of the culture here.

Batumi covered in hail and snow,

Wedding celebrations Georgian style.

Trip to Tbilisi

Dear avid followers and those who just happened to visit this page by chance.

I visited Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, a couple of weeks ago. Strange to take a break from the daily routine of teaching here in Georgia which challenges and is rewarding too. But I have a series of photos needing explanations here for you!

A bride in Tbilisi.

Tbilisi is really quite an attractive city. The population of Georgia is around 4.7 million people, so the capital was never going to be a huge metropolis or even Almaty-sized, but with around a million people (so I am told) it is definitely the capital, where much is possible that isn’t in other places around the country.

Metro station - the escalators. 

 I must confess that staying in a hotel with a proper warm shower with actually water pressure was one of the highlights, as was the wifi. Tbilisi is not a flat place at all. The city follows the river Mtkvari as it winds its way through the Georgian hills. It stretches up to the top of the hills where castles, churches, a TV tower and theme park watch over the city’s life.

Freedom Square is one of the main centres of town, where celebrations the week before had been going on with the French President Nicholas Sarkozy making a special visit. Georgia sees itself as part of Europe, which according the map.. isn’t quite where it sits. It seems to have desires to join the EU at some point.

Freedom Square

The castles on the hills are typical of Georgia. I visited the Narikala Fortress, mostly in ruins but when I was there the church inside was hosting a bit of wedding. Or they were just there for photographs, I wasn’t quite sure.

Bride of Peace

 The stylish glass bridge, which lights up at night, is called the Bridge of Peace. It’s certainly one for the camera. On the other side of the bridge is a park and there was much activity going on. I also visited an amazing synagogue and a couple of churches in the old town. The next day, after getting some important business out of the way, I visited the amazing Sameba cathedral. A modern construction conforming to older orthodox designs. A very peaceful place to spend a bit of time – I was there for an hour or so, mostly due to the pelting hail and rain that I encountered.

 

Sameba Cathedral.

The journey back home to my village was a serious one. Nearly six hours in a marshrutka – a minibus like the ones in the ‘Stans, through the mountains winding around. Passing on blind turns – well of course they do. Since then I’ve had just over a week more of teaching. The classes are sometimes a challenge. But the kids are great! More soon!