It's Kaf-KRAZY!

Just because I wasn't terribly kind to Batumi, or the mashrutka driver that delivered me from it, doesn't mean I don't love Georgia. Absolutely not the case. What's to love about Georgia? Here's a list:

Food: It's not Turkish, let's be 100% clear on that. But Georgians know how to combine simple ingredients like walnuts, spinach, garlic, tomatoes, onions and eggplant together so harmoniously it's like living on a higher plane and incredibly hard to replicate successfully beyond the border. HoM and I visited our favorite Tbilisi restaurant (World of Urine) twice.

It was about 1000 degrees in Tbilisi and the cafe is down in the wine caves, which made it even more appealing than usual. Its spinach balls are divine and the owner spent a lot of time explaining to me, using helpful hand gestures, that Abkhazani sausages are different, but just as good, as kupati. It's just that they're made of different contents of the pig's stomach. Or something like that.

World of Urine is also great because the old dudes there know their wine. If you say, "I need a good wine to take to Kazbegi," they can offer several suggestions. If you say you need a good wine to take to Baku, they'll politely suggest something sullen and dusty that tastes like ass.

Sans Souci is also a fantastic little cafe. The food isn't quite as good as World of Urine's, but it has wireless and sits right next to one of Tbilisi's ancient churches.

It's owned by Georgia's most famous puppeteer (puppets are surprisingly big in the Caucasus, so degrees of fame in this realm are plausible) who staged "The Battle Of Stalingrad: a Requiem" using puppets, which seems pretty ambitious to me. They served a fruity little summer red the evening we were there, making it awfully difficult to walk home.

Mountains: The Caucasus are like the Himalayas without the Indians! We traveled up to Kazbegi and I experienced pangs of regret at my failed mountain climbing career (so many careers, so many pangs of regret).

The view from my bed

If you've ever seen the old Lonely Planet Caucasus edition, the Holy Trinity Church on the cover is where we were. Unfortunately, the light was exceptionally harsh so the photos aren't that great.

Kazbegi is about 20 kms from the North Osseti...I mean, Russian, border. Vladikavkaz, a city with a great name, is just 27 kms away.

One of the best parts about hiking in the Caucasus is coming across a pit full of fresh sheep heads. While Holy Trinity church is of the Georgian Orthodox variety, just up the hill from it stand a little white shrine covered in melted candles and surrounded by empty vodka bottles, where Georgians come to sacrifice a sheep or a calf.  There's a pit available for convenient head disposal nearby. I'm not sure where throwing the heads into a pit fits into the orthodox theology, but there are a lot of modern traditions that haven't really taken up there in those mountains.

Georgians: Georgians are hospitable, open, sexist, family-oriented, stubborn, headstrong, inscrutable, horrible drivers, fantastic cooks, hilarious -- everything you need for an entertaining visit.  While up at Holy Trinity, I was fortunate to hear polyphonic singing. Georgians will break into song for any old reason, and that day it was a group of workers laying concrete at the church. It was the most otherworldly sound I've ever heard and I find it impossible to describe.

Comments

[Lisa]

OK you're off the hook.

[Andi Bastin]

I just wanted to correct you..
the restaurant is "World of Wine"
...not urine.
Rvinos (the first word) means Wine in Georgian..
just a correction.

Sincerely,
Andi

[Tara]

I've just moved to Tbilisi! Where is World of Urine located - I'd love to try it out! (Even a district would be helpful). Sans Souci is great!

Your blog is fantastic, by the way!

[Carpetblogger]

World of Urine is on the street downhill to the left of the Opera house, if you're standing in front of it, facing it. Not even a block down on the left. Prices have gone up a lot though since this post. Last time I was there (November) I was underwhelmed.

I thought San Souci closed ages ago. Maybe it has been reopened.