Day 9 - Last day outing to Mtskheta and Telavi

Last day and we decided to see some countryside. 

We headed first to the nearby (barely pronounceable) town of Mtskheta, which sits very prettily at the confluence of the Aragvi and Kura rivers.

Mtskheta is the cradle of Christianity in Georgia, since St Nino (a Turkish maiden, some say a Roman general's daughter, some say the niece of a Jerusalem Patriarch) travelled to Iveria in eastern Georgia in the 320s AD and converted the queen by praying nearby as she recovered from a serious illness.  When the King, Mirian, was temporarily blinded in a hunting accident and recovered after praying to Nino's new Christian god, there was mass baptism in Mtskheta and adoption of Christianity.

The Mtskheta cathedral, "Svetotshoveli", means "living column", apparently after the pillar that miraculously shifted to show Nino the whereabouts of the lost buried mantle of Jesus.  The present building succeeds that from Nino's time, dating from C11th.

Sadly no photos are allowed inside. On the plus side, you're saved the spectacle of me swathed and scarfed (God forbid women should display that they have legs, even fully trousered ones); on the down side, you'll have to take our word that it's stunning inside : light, airy, spacious, with magnificent frescoes and, studded into the stone floor, striking grey granite plaque-gravestones marking the burials of Georgian kings since Vakhtang Gorsali in the 5th century.

Above the city and visible for miles around is the beautiful 6th century church of Jvari, to many Georgians the holiest of holies as it is supposed to stand where Mirian erected a cross upon his conversion by Nino.

and has sweeping views down over Mtskheta town. 

  

To the east of Tbilisi is the old medieval trading town of Telavi and, around it, a collection of venerable old churches, monasteries, nunneries (some going back to the 5th century), the vast 11th century Alaverdi cathedral (and the wine region of Kakheti, so what's not to like?)

The Summer house of the family of Prince Alexander Chavchavadze  (godson to Catherine the Great) at the village of Tsinandalis is part-museum, part-winery

and a tour, promenade around the park and glass of white set us up for a proper tasting at a family farmhouse winery.

Local family producers such as these also distill the last of the lees after the juice is drawn off for wine, making the local grappa-esque firewater called chacha - 65% alcohol (after the first sip, I thought a thimbleful only would be required but actually it became pretty smooth after the first one!!) Not wasting anything, they also set aside some grape and add thickener to make a toffee consistency, into which they dip (like making a candle) strung local whole walnuts  - interesting!

(See the walnuts-in-grape-caramel thingy-s hanging behind me)

Tomorrow it's an early start with a 6.30am pick-up for another Turkish Airlines via Istanbul.  Let's just hope we take the sun back with us. Meanwhile, a last wander by the river

Day 8 - Dilijan back to Tbilisi

Unhappily, it rained very hard all night and we woke to thunder and lightning.  Undeterred though, our guest house dropped us in town for the 9.30 bus to the nearest big town (Vanadzor). It was an ancient old Soviet bus that had seen better days a lifetime ago, still painted bright yellow but with rather battered seats and raindrops on most of them! But it safely delivered us to our destination.

It turned out that the last bus of the day to the border had gone but our genial bus driver helped find us a taxi; enter Gary with the gold tooth who obligingly stopped for photos and got us there double-quick. Regrettably Duncan restrained me from taking a sneaky photo of the fine scene of Armenian and Georgian flags flying as we walked across no man's land (namely a bridge over the river), but we strolled back into Georgia and took another cab, now in bright sunshine, to the edge of Tbilisi (the driver refused to go any further!), and then a local bus into the centre of town.

We were welcomed back to our guesthouse with a plate of cherries and apricots and fine Georgian coffee.  It almost feels like home!

Day 7 - The monasteries of the Debed canyon

From our base in Dilijan, we're within a day-trip reach of the UNESCO heritage monasteries dating from the 7th to 9th centuries, located in the canyon of the Debed river, surrounded by sheer rock faces and heavily wooded hillsides.

We chose four : Odzun

 

Sanahin

Haghpat 
 

and Akhtala 

all very different although each was built in a spectacular position, with magnificent stone carvings, headstones (apparently "khatchkars"), conical roofs, frescoes (in the case of Akhtala).

Day 6 - Yerevan to Dilijan, Armenia

Making our way back from Yerevan north towards the Georgian border (and on to Tbilisi), we were slightly bracing ourselves for the usual scrum and game of charades at the bus-station to find ourselves a minibus headed to our next destination, Dilijan. In fact it proved to be a neither and was instead a breeze. We handed over 1000AMD (£1.40) each for the 59 mile/1.5 hour trip, and waited 20 or so minutes for all 16 seats to be filled. 

In Dilijan in time for lunch and then a taxi to 13th century Haghartsin Monastery, nestled in a temperate rainforest on a mountainside.

Being Sunday, there were a fair few visitors (most of whom solemnly reversed out of the churches, genuflecting or kissing the wall), and a resident priest who approached and greeted everyone.

 The monastery complex comprises three church-cum-chapels, with fine stonework on the inner and exterior walls and around the conical roofs.

Tomorrow, more monasteries! But meanwhile we're in a comfy little guesthouse which is hosting a BBQ. So if anything is guaranteed to make it rain...