One night in Tbilisi

We left Gurjaani and spent one night in a hostel in Tbilisi.  Then the plan was to catch a plane to Batumi (on the Black Sea) the next morning.  

This is the top of the hill that our hostel was on.  Tbilisi is very hilly, and it's amazing what these people will drive on!!

 We went exploring the neighborhood.  

 It is a beautiful city!

 Khachapuri is Georgian cheese bread, so we had to try it!  Very rich and cheesy with an egg on top!  Very good!

 The restaurant we found was in a basement, and looked a little like a wine cellar or something.  

 Badrijani nigvzit - eggplant with walnuts

After we ate we climbed the hill up to an old fortress and a church.  It was an awesome view of the city.  

I really wanted to try figs while I was here and Ahneka managed to find some on the street that night... they were interesting, and kind of weird, but good...

The view out our window that night...

Sveneti

Sveneti is a small tourist-y mountain town in the napa valley area of Georgia.

We ate at a winery/restaurant called Pheasant's Tears.  It was very nice and we got to try a number of different wines... even Mari!:)

Waiting to be seated...

 This is the kitchen.

 The food was a variety of Georgian dishes.  It was awesome

 We also got a tour of the winery and an explanation of the Georgian process of winemaking.  

My Birthday

Ahneka let the cat out of the bag that it was my birthday while we were visiting and we had planned to leave Gurjaani and do a little site-seeing around Georgia, but before we left in the afternoon, the morning was a flurry of preparation for a birthday party!:)

 Marina preparing the meat for the grilling

Marina built a fire on the ground in her garden and put a grate over it and cooked the skewered meat... this is special party food.  I can't remember the name.

After the meat was cooked she picked onions and sliced them and mixed them up with the grilled meat.  

Ready for a party!

They invited some neighbors and Keti and her family, and they bought a fabulous cake!

And they sang happy birthday!

I felt loved and a little embarrassed to be the center of attention and know so little of their language.