Election Day – it’s been exciting being here during the run-up to the elections as we’ve seen lots of electioneering. In the morning we go to Alavardi where there is an extremely strict dress code – dark glasses are not allowed. A problem for me – as my regular glasses go dark in the sun … Read more
Spend morning in Tbilisi and then go to the roof of the hotel Sharden to sketch the roofs of Tbilisi. Leave late morning and drive towards eastern Georgia along an avenue of walnut trees which stretches all the way to the Caspian, having stopped for a wine-soaked lunch; wine is meant to have originated in … Read more
I’ve been reading Lermontov’s Hero of Our TimeĀ on my kindle – wonderful for travelling. After leaving Mestia we have a hair raising drive down the mountain in a mini-bus before getting into a more stately bus. On the way back to Tbilisi – a long drive – we stop at a church in a farmyard … Read more
Spend the day in Mestia – go to an old house and get a real feeling of how people would have lived. 48 people lived in this one room – with the cattle underneath. The wooden carving dates from the 18th and 19th centuries. Christianity came very late to this part of Georgia – and … Read more
Leave early in a 4-wheel drive for Ushguli. Fabulous autumn colours and splashes of lime green against dark coniferous hills. Our car is passed by endless supporters of the Georgian Dream party – led by Ivanishvili – the richest man in Georgia. They go on to win the election on October 1st. Delicious lunch, in … Read more
Gelati Monastery outside Kutaisi has a real feeling of completeness. There is a huge mosaic/frescoe of Our Lady. I sketch the Bell tower. Every day we have the most enormous lunches (today in Zugdidi) and dinners – always tomatoes and cucumbers and soup and mostly cheesy bread, meat and pates made with walnuts and beetroot. … Read more
Leave Tbilisi and visit Mtskheta Ā – the ancient capital of Georgia. I quickly sketch Dzhvari Church, visited by Lermontov, before we go on to the cathedral of Sveti-Tskhoveli – a particularly sacred site as legend has it that Christ’s robe is buried there. In a very different spirit we drive to Gori, Stalin’s birthplace, where … Read more
Visit museum to see various famous 19th century Georgian painters – Pirosmanashvili, Gudiashvili and Kakavadze. While we are in the museum it rains for the only time that we are in Georgia. Wander round the flea market and go to the open air museum of ethnography where we are shown round by a guide who … Read more
Walk round old Tbilisi with a very academic guide. Much is being restored – but there is an enormous amount of work to still be done. Balconies and courtyards abound. Fantastic gold treasure from Vani in the Georgian National Museum. A golden goblet from Trialeti with lapis, cornelian, jet and amber dates from the first … Read more
Fly to Tbilisi on BMI – we have to go via Baku – and as Baku is in Azerbaijan and is much further away – we have a much longer journey than necessary. Arrive late at night and the hotel doesn’t have enough rooms for us all, but everyone was given a bottle of red … Read more