20 May 2009

Extra day in Tblisi (yay!) because of the Swine Flu Problem--Tim used it to sort our visas for Azerbaijan (granted and expertly haggled down from $150 to $22 each). Extra night in a hotel as well, which no one is complaining about, although we'll have to make it up budget-wise somewhere along the way. We had a huge room in the Hotel Nata, the rooms of which seem to vary between semi-modern and entirely decrepit. Some of us were luckier than others, I gather. Lovely courtyard with fountain, encircled by verandas, and they did give you a free bottle of wine and also hardboiled eggs (two each).

Spent our extra time in the city wandering and went up to Mtatsminda Park, perched up on the hills overlooking Tblisi, all swaying pine trees and quite the modern amusements. The children's characters that are on signs and statues at the park are clearly benign, but interestingly to me and no doubt to your average four-year old, all seemed to be proffering jugs of wine. City bus back for 40 tetri (about 25 cents each). Have mastered the bus and the dour, Soviet-built metro as well, feeling very proud of ourselves.

Lobiani for lunch, a sort of fried dough stuffed with refried beans. Roughly $2.40 for both of us to eat with leftovers. Between the free wine and cheap-arse food, Georgia is good value for money...until you get to the tourist areas. Dinner with Rich, Amy, Alan, rachel, Paul and Louise in an American bar, in which David ordered the American Sandwich. Chicken and banana. David will no doubt elaborate on his food blog.

Going up to Telavi, in the sort-of Napa of Georgia. Georgian wine being world famous...in Georgia. They do claim to have the world's oldest cultivated vines, and what we've had so far has been really pretty good--and freaking cheap. Sadly in the West you really only see Old Tblisi, which is not very nice. Worth looking out for Georgian wines, though, as they are just beginning to sell in the West and you'll look like quite the oenophile.

Today is also Amy's 30th, and she's chosen the theme of Bad Taste. Zaza (the guide) led us to a market outside Tblisi to spend $10 each on something to wear complying with the theme...the onl difficult part was staying in budget. Bad taste is plentiful, though not so affordable. Am currently sporting a jade green top embroidered with large cranes. Together with Pat Butcher-esque pink earrings...and I reckon I'm till the most tastefully attired person on this truck. David, being a Poor Team Player, opted for a t-shirt stating that he was Very Excited to Be Here. That's him in the centre above...with the other boys, who being mainly British / Irish, pretty much entirely opted for cross-dressing (trust me, it's just what they do).

Following on from my celebrity-mention of dear Emma in a previous post, I'm been gently urged to throw out a line about the various virtues of our friend Louise as well, as her parents apparently also read this blog, and she is jealous. Louise Firth is a lovely girl, extremely intelligent, enjoys beating Denis Lucey at backgammon, and does not like walking uphill. (Louise's Parents: I shall expect some sort of message from you noting your apprectaition for this shout-out).