Telavi, Telavi, Telavi

The weather is overcast, but it is quite manageable. The city center is just a 10 minute walk up the hill. There is a lot of construction going on and the smell of exhaust from cars is a bit annoying. A friend told me they use the cheapest form of gas in Georgia and many young people die from car accidents, which is very sad but understandable. 

I walk to the main center where i see there are beautiful views from every point you stand. There is a tree that is 900 years old, the architecture is special to the region of Telavi and the dogs are out being very friendly as usual.

Georgia has he most friendly dogs of any country I have ever visited-calm, sweet, adorable, chill, and kind (yes kind) 

I stop in a coffee shop where school kids all stop to get a snack. A very sweet girl speaking English offers me some coffee and fresh khachapuri from the oven. The streets are not crowded and chaotic like Tblisi. 

There is still traffic, but the city is so easy to walk around and see the sites. I stop by the tourism office and speak with another sweet Georgian woman wearing a beautiful black dress and black stockings- black seems to be a common color. I told her she looks like a model and so did my friend at cafe. The way people take pride in their appearance no mattter what their job is beautiful. 

My tour agent explains the wine route and all the different wineries from village to village. It really takes a car to drive from winery to winery or a group tour, which I do not prefer. She tells me about the local wineries and makes a phone call to her friend who owns one. She puts him on the phone and he is so kind. He is inviting me to his winery and saying I am welcome to come anytime and he can come pick me up from the main square in the afternoon. 

She felt so insecure about her English and I encouraged her to keep speaking as she was doing really well. It was above and beyond her description of the wine routes, the different papers/maps/contact numbers, and connecting me to the winery owner...so sweet melts my heart everytime ugh 
In various spots, you see signs for wineries, but then some are not labeled so that is confusing. I walk up to the Nadikeri park where they have an outstanding view. There are clouds and a fog under the mountains, but you can see the snow on top- very peaceful as there are very few people around. I walk back to my guesthouse and say goodbye to my owner. 

He has his hand gesture pointing at the chair telling me to sit. He offers me some juice while he is organizing his coins with his older tv on in the background-it had this thing called an Antenna lol 

He is sad to see me leave and writes on google translate “please come again.” We take a photo together and off i go back to the center to stay with Bakti. 

Bakti is a lovely, talented kind girl from Kazebkistan. She is a photographer, a writer, she plays the piano, loves to cook, and also coaches people who have Chrones disease as she has the same illness. She tries to teach others a more hollistic approach rather than being on medication.
We share ginger tea and she tells me she has lived in Telavi for 6 months. Her house is lovely with a full mountain view, a small living room and 2 bedrooms. As we are talking, a knock on the door comes shortly after and it is the arrival of two Chinese backpackers. They were traveling for 2 months coming from Baku Azerbaijan, Egypt, and Kuwait.
Zoe and Joanna- Zoe is the extrovert and Joanna the introvert. Zoe has a super friendly and engaging personality always wanting to learn about culture and asking questions to learn more. She likes to try new things and meet new people traveling. We share some time together and help Bakti prepare for tomorrow as she is having a gathering at her home with the expat community. She is preparing a speciality from her country with homemade dumplings and she had horsemeat brought over from her country. She is also making pumpkin muffins out of roasted squash. She is baking bread and making compote out of apricots. She loves to cook and says it is her "meditation," which we share our common therapy with cooking. 

I went out to purchase some wine and cake for the evening gathering and that was it for the night. I had the main bedroom and the girls took the floor in the living room with sleeping bags (old woman gets priority) sorry girls.