Stalin's Toilet and Wine in a Basement

22 May 2009

The vineyard in Kakheti was bizarre—little old couple (they had to be 80) keep chickens, a dog, and several enormous wine vats in their backyard...and they ferment it in the basement. They laid on a spread of flat bread, four kinds of wine, chacha (Georgian grappa...and grappa is never a good idea), salty cheese and cucumbers. Zaza toasted us with wine in silver mounted cowhorns, and we bought something like 110 litres of their product in big plastic containers brought with us for just such an eventuality.

              

Bushcamped in yet another tediously lovely meadow, and were adopted by a big white dog / polar bear. The locals brought out their children to give us roses and branches of cherries, and Amy had her bad-taste birthday party. Lovely.

In Telavi last night at a home-stay...although this place is more like a palace. Someone was clearly a very good Comrade to have lived here. Ten-foot ceilings, all corniced and with gilt chandeliers, parquet floors, and glass-fronted display cabinets containing 30 year old German perfume. We've lucked out with the biggest room again, which includes a vanity table, huge bed, hand-knotted carpet on the wall, and porcelain chandelier. Bushcamp again tonight on the edge of a Georgian national park, so this little slice of Soviet Style is a welcome break.

I think I forgot to blog about Gori, and definitely wanted to drop a shout-out to Stalin's hometown. Big Soviet-style square (useful for parades to intimidate capitalist pigs), 50 foot iron statue of the great leader, and a giant museum with English-reciting guide who literally didnottakeabreath during the entire tour...or mention the gulags, millions dead, and pact with Hitler. But you know, a museum can't hit everything. Also they had the only textiles in the place in direct sunlight...but I digress. They have his personal train car (original toilet in place) and the cabin he was born in. Fabulous, I was actually giddy to be in a Soviet museum. Note to self--calm down. Suspect fellow travelers think am lunatic. Stayed in a Soviet hotel...shower unit not actually attached, and hot water 5 hours a day (not consecutively), but very grand with blue velvet curtains and 9 chairs. The sort of room in which one might plan exactly who's taking a trip to Siberia from...

           

Have finally been granted Azeri and Kazakh visas, so tomorrow we will run the border into Azerbaijan, and be in Seki (said Sheck-ee) tomorrow night, on our way to the modern oil city of Baku.