Days 45-47 (10-12 July)

Leaving our bags at our landlady's in Tbilisi, we set off for a three-night excursion to wine country. Georgia has an ancient and distinctive wine-making culture, and lots of grape varieties that are unfamiliar to run-of-the-mill wine-drinkers like us.

We travelled by marshrutka (a large minibus, capable of accommodating 27 people).

We blundered around a bit trying to find this thing, so here for posterity are the instructions:

Come out of Samgori Metro station on the north side, and walk west (through the market, and past the first lot of minivans). The second lot includes the one you want.

The trip costs GEL 6 each, and most sources seem to say the vehicles go every two hours, starting at 9 am. We arrived in time for the 11 am departure. It's pretty hot and cramped in there, even when all 27 places are not taken, so we were happy the journey took less than two hours. The further you go, though, the more spectacular the view gets (and the thicker the density of vines and churchkhela stands).

Sighnaghi is set on a hill, and the balcony of our guesthouse (the Zurabashvili) has the most amazing view -- way out over a huge, flat valley to the gutsy big mountains to the north. Indeed, sitting on balconies and decks is part of what you do here...







The little town is definitely given over to the tourist industry. But if you time things right, you don't get overwhelmed. Eat lunch away from the central area. Use the early morning or late afternoon/evening hours for walking (when there's hardly anyone else around). And just enjoy the prettiness.






There are lots of notable churches in this region, but the only one that is close to Sighnaghi is Bodbe Convent, which is an easy walk away. This is another go-early place, so that you're ready for the 10 am opening, and ahead of the tour buses that come along later.

It seems much more easy-going on the dress front here, with no scary diagrams of what is and is not acceptable. Some women, like me, were wearing trousers, and were not asked to don sarongs (I had one handy just in case). Some even went into the churches bare-headed, although I didn't follow that example.

There are two churches, one old, one new. The old one (no photos allowed) houses the tomb of St Nino, who played a key role in bringing Christianity to Georgia. This church is plain outside, and dark and frescoed inside. The tomb area features wonderful mosaics.

The new church is richly ornamented outside, and very simple inside, with impressive marble floors and arches. There's a constant twittering of swifts, and another, lower, rather hypnotic murmur, like the composite echo of everything that has moved within that space so far this morning or maybe all week. Mesmerizing.






We actually visited Bodbe twice, as we ducked out of going to the holy spring the first time (long way down, long way up, hot...), then repented of our laziness, and went the next day... It's a knee-challenging walk, but it was still quiet when we arrived. After paying our respects to the little trickle of water, we sat a while, a cool stone wall at our backs. A couple of taxi drivers filled bottles from the trickle; a nun arrived to supervise the handing out of towels; and eventually devotees started to turn up, collect their towels, and queue to enter the little cubicle where you can stand in the shallow, semi-circular pool of water, and splash around a bit.




Sighnaghi has retained a number of its ancient walls, which also make for pleasant walks (either on or alongside the fortifications).





The walls make for pleasant sits, too. We were amused by this cafe, just off the walkable bit of wall, which has a cute ladder to get you from the battlements to the lofty deck.



Another tower contains an ancient church:



There's a little museum in Sighnaghi, and finally we caught up with the Romans again, largely missing in action since Ankara: "In early spring of 65 BC Roman legions under Pompey's leadership came close to the reaches of Mtshketa... [Delay tactics worked, and] Iberia [Georgia] was named as 'the friend of Rome'." (Of course, there's a lot more to it than this. For lots of interesting details, see this article.)

There's also a great collection of work by Niko Pirosmani, an artist from these parts whose work I really liked, and must follow up.

All this has been wonderful. But if someone were to ask, "What's your favourite thing about Sighnaghi?" my answer would have to be, "Food, wine, and pleasant places to enjoy them."

Our days here have been slow-paced, and perfect for bountiful breakfasts and leisurely lunches.

It has been really heart-warming to have Anna's amazing spread before us every morning, out on the sunny balcony: tomato and cucumber salad; eggs; smoked sausages; bread; butter; honey; yogurt; bottled cherries; and a pile of little pancakes drizzled with chocolate.

I love breakfast. Best meal of the day.


Apart from lunch. That's the best meal, too, all the more so if it's stretched out over a luxurious couple of hours or so.

Lunch at the Natakhtari Restaurant in town, for example. We ordered a couple of tried-and-tested Georgian starters, but our new dish there was chicken in pomegranate juice. Yum. Especially when set off with a couple of glasses of Saperavi red wine.

On the road from Bodbe to Sighnaghi is the Club Kanudosi, another place with a million-dollar view and a substantial deck to enjoy it from. Excellent food: mchadi, a kind of cornbread; ajapsandali, Georgia's answer to ratatouille; sulguni cheese...

And Rkatsiteli wine. This is the white wine that appears almost orange from its contact with the qvevri, the vessel it is made in.





The Restaurant Burji, near the tower with the church, is also a good bet for lunch. The food was great: matsoni soup (cold and super-refreshing), and shkmeruli, which is chicken in a creamy, garlicky sauce, sprinkled with paprika.


And we ticked a few more boxes on the wine front. We were offered a cherry-hued Kindzmarauli semi-sweet red as a little aperitif. We drank a Tsinandali white semi-dry with our food. And we were presented with a little glass of Georgian cognac after our coffee.

Here's to the wonderful world of Georgian food and drink...



A great little side-trip. Tomorrow -- back to Tbilisi.