Who: Katie Holzwart of Arvada
Where: Tbilisi. From left, the Sioni Cathedral Church (fifth century) and the ancient Narikhala Fortress.
Out and about: As Georgia has increased its ties with the United States, most Georgians were friendly and excited to meet an American. Georgian hospitality surpasses any country in Europe, and long suppers, or supras, last well into the night. In a country known for its food and wine, a typical Georgian meal includes sweet-red wine, khachapuri (bread filled with suluguni cheese), chicken tsatsivi (a cold chicken dish with walnuts) and khinkali (meat dumplings). I sampled Georgian hospitality at the foot of a mountain and ate dinner with the president of Georgia’s mother and son. At our supra, we toasted to everything: to Georgia, to the president, to his mother and even to me, the U.S. visitor!
Travel tip: Unfortunately, Georgia is not an easy country for tourists. Tbilisi is fairly cosmopolitan and easy to navigate without a guide, but learning a few words of Russian will be helpful in basic transactions. Getting outside of Tbilisi can be tricky, and the best way is to hire a tour guide to make the arrangements. Tbilisi is only three hours over a dirt road from Borjomi, a city famous throughout the former Soviet Union for its spring water. If you are more adventurous, hire a guide to take you to Vardzia. Carved into a cliff in the 12th century as ordered by Queen Tamar to serve as a religious complex, the city of Vardzia is one of the great cultural sites of Georgia.
