Baptizing ceremony

Within one year I have attended an orthodox baptizing ceremony in Georgia and a protestant baptizing ceremony in Finland. To summarize the ceremony in an orthodox church in Georgia with one word: chaos. The ceremony was held in a church in the center of Tbilisi. The baptizing ceremony was not the only event being held. There was also a wedding, another baptizing and also many other visitors to pray and tourists. During the baptizing the priest was interrupted few times to give a blessing, the priest took the baby around the church and a tourist interrupted in order to take photos of the baby. Afterwards the celebration was continued in a restaurant. In Finland the event was held in a small chapel with only the people attending the event and without any interruptions. After the ceremony the celebration was continued in the home of the baby.

The religious rituals reminded each other in the both events. The head of the baby was wetted in the near presence of the chosen god parents. In both countries family and friends gather together to celebrate the baby.

Return to Martvili

The waterfall

Last summer I visited Martvili for the second time, three years after my first visit. I wanted to visit the place again as I enjoyed the place very much in the first visit. When we arrived it was a big surprise that the area of Martvili canyon had had a big makeover. The area was fully comerzialized with organized rubber boat tours, landscape by the canyon and a big building with restaurant and other services. Exploring some of the area was restricted due the changes on the other hand some new areas had been made accessible. You were not allowed to swim either in the canyon. Though nearby is an impressive waterfall where you can swim and enjoy the chill water in a hot summer day. The most of the tourists did not seem to know about the waterfall as it was much more calm there than in the area of the canyon. Personally I enjoyed more spending time by the waterfall.

Uefa Nations League in Georgia

Georgia - Latvia

Earlier this year I went to see a match of Geargian national league and it seemed that football is not doing well in Georgia. On Sunday I had a chance to see a match of national team of Georgia. I bought a ticket for 1,6 euros and thought how many people would attend the match. The 55k stadium was not full but I would estimate that around 45k people attended. The match was not very entertaining but the crowd kept supporting their team which was rewarded with 1 - 0 winning goal from a penalty kick at 77 minutes. Waves were started but they did not manage to catch enough people to go around the stadium. National team of Georgia is still drawing crowds to the stadium eventhough local league teams are not getting much people to the stadiums.

Anaklia

Bridge to Ganmukhuri

I had a chance to visit a summer holiday destination in Anaklia on April. As it was off season the hotels were closed and there were just few people around, one street dog joined us when we walked 552-meter long bridge to the beach in Ganmukhuri. The same dog followed us also on the way back when we returned. The area used to be swamp but it was transformed to a summer holiday destination. You could hear the frogs coarking and see the mist floating in the air

Decline of Dinamo Tbilisi

Renovated Dinamo Stadium on 2018

Last weekend I went to see Erovnuli liga match between Dinamo Tbilisi and Saburtalo. It was a local derby of the teams topping the Georgian league. There was less than one thousand people attending on a stadium with capacity close to 55k people. I saw a match three years ago, then attendance was several thousands and also the fanatic supporter group was bigger. In the Soviet Union Dinamo stadium had average attendance of 45k. Therefore you can say that the popularity of Dinamo Tbilisi has drastically decreased. In the times of Soviet Union Dinamo Tbilisi was a big European clud and won UEFA Cup winner's cup. Seems that the collapse of Soviet Union has had very bad impact to Dinamo Tbilisi and Georgian football. One positive thing compared to last time was that the stadium had been improved. For example the seats had been renewed, two big screens had been added, the grass looked good etc.

Georgian Easter

Easter cake "paska"

This year I had a chance to celebrate Easter in Georgia. Georgians are mostly orthodox therefore the Easter is the most important celebration of the year. Georgian easter tradition is to paint boiled eggs red on red Friday. On Sunday you battle with the eggs against your neighbours and family members. In the egg battle you and your opponent choose an egg and hit the sharper ends against each other. The holder of the egg which breaks loses and gives the broken egg to the winner. The winner can battle again with the egg that did not break. The Easter meal is eaten on Sunday and the Georgian Easter table includes cake called "paska" which is funny to the Finns as it means shit in Finnish. Funnily Finnish have Easter dessert called "mämmi" which looks like shit.

Georgian hospitality

Tower of the wall in Signnaghi

Georgians are known to be very hospital towards guests and foreigners. I was told a story which highlights how important it is to be a good host for visitors. People from UNICEF was visiting Georgian rural areas to see if families needed some aid. The news about arrival of visitors reached the area and the families wanted to wish them welcome. One of the poor families was struggling and thinking how they could give the visitors a warm welcome. The family felt that they did not have anything good enough to offer for the visitors. Finally the family came up with an idea to sacrifice their only chicken which provided them steadily eggs and serve it for the visitors. When the visitors heard this they thought that sacrificing the chicken was stupid but the hospitality was so important to the family that they sacrificed something very valuable for them.

Georgians do not let you pay when you are their guest and will insist serving different foods. Though tourism has increased in Georgia and now there are also people who are taking advantage of the tourists. Beggars can be aggressive towards foreigners and sales people might charge more from foreigners.

The old new year

Toasting for the old new year

The sky was full of fireworks on the first of January in Georgia as it was the new year celebration. Yesterday night I also witnessed fireworks exploding in the sky. There was not as many fireworks as on the first of January but still plenty of them. Georgians like to celebrate the new year two times. The old new year is unofficial celebration day which is celebrated according to the Julian calendar. I have been said that Georgians like to find always a reason to celebrate.

Christmas in Georgia

Georgian Christmas tree

Georgian Christmas tree called Chichilaki is made of dried hazelnut or walnut branch. Chichilaki represents the beard of St. Bazil the great who is thought to visit people like Santa Claus. On the top there are three spikes where you place three fruits. Average size of Chichilaki is around 30 cm tall so it is generally smaller compared to a Christmas tree. 25th of December is not a holiday in Georgia. Christmas gifts are given on the first of January and Christmas is celebrated on the 7th of January.

Airport taxi Tbilisi

I arrived to the airport of Tbilisi at 5 am on Monday. My friend was late and decided to walk outside to wait my friend there. After stepping outside from the airport door I was surrounded  by 20 taxi drivers who were offering me a ride to the center. I declined offer from 5 taxi drivers while walking to a good waiting place. I was waiting my friend on my feet for 30 minutes and during that time at least 20 different taxi drivers came to ask me if  I needed a ride. There were few who were more persistent than others and I had to decline them 5 times as they came back to me again and again. It felt like Taxi drivers were fighting to have customers. Black market taxis were offering ride for 20 liras (8 EUR) as official taxi costs 30 liras (12 EUR).

Customer Service in Georgia

Georgia is not famous of good customer service. Georgians who have been abroad told me that Georgian customer service has room to improve. I experienced also few times bad customer service. In one restaurant the quality of served khinkali was bad so we asked them not to bring the rest of the order as just half of the order was delivered. Waiter said that the whole order will be delivered and it cannot be cancelled. The full order was delivered but we decided not to eat as the quality was bad and went to speak to the management. First the manager was understanding and promised to give some discount. A bit later another person from the management came and started to threat and insult us because we were unsatisfied with the order. I never expected that by giving negative feedback you would end up receiving threats and insults.

Night life in Tbilisi

DJ set in Underwheel

Tbilisi night life is different to all the previous countries where I have been. The biggest difference is the music. in Tbilisi there are no night clubs which play commercial music. All the clubs play rather minimal club music. Here dancing for commercial music is not considered cool. Night life is mostly focused on the area of Meidani. Occasional events are organized in Underwheel which is a place on a top of a mountain in Mtatsinda park. Most of the travel guides tend to mention something about possibilities for gays to go out. In Tbilisi Cafe Gallery turns to a club in the weekends and there you can find gay people mixed with straight people having fun. Nearby Cafe Gallery you can find Canudos Ethnic Bar which has international atmosphere. Cafe Gallery and Canusdos Ethnic Bar are close Rustaveli metro station.

Shopping in Tbilisi

Table ready to be served

In Tbilisi you can do shopping in a mall or in a outside bazar. There is a big outside bazar next to the station square. You can find there groceries, souvenirs, spare parts for your vehicle, clothing etc. Outside of Tbilisi on the Kakheti highway is bazar called Lilo Mall which has the cheapest prices. Lilo Mall you can reach by mini bus from Isani metro station.

You can find also shopping malls in Tbilisi. I have visited few of them and they feel quite abandoned compared to the outside bazaars. The malls I have visited had available retail space and they were not crowded. The biggest mall is Tbilisi mall where you can find different brands of Spanish Inditex, Turkish brands like LC Waikiki and Koton etc. Near station square is shopping mall called Qarvasla. In the area of Vake you can find Pixel shopping mall which is easy to recognize from outside as it looks like pixelated building.

Georgian names

View from Jvari monastery

Georgian last names have three different kind of endings: -ia, -dze and -shvili. Three example last names with the previous endings are: Antia, Arveladze and Dzhughasvili. Georgian language does not have feminine and masculine therefore it is sometimes hard to tell if certain names belong to women or men. For example in Spain -o ending means usually that name belongs to a male and -a ending means that name belongs usually to a female. Georgia names: Nino, Nato and Qetino are names of females. Then there are also female names ending-a which are for example: Ana, Baia and Manana. Then there are also male names ending with -a, for example, Kakha, Gela and Shota. There are also Georgian male names ending with -o, for example, Sandro, Dato and Tengo.

5 attractions to see in Tbilisi

I collected the top five attractions to see in the capital of Georgia. Previously I have posted the top five attractions of the capital of Turkey.

Waterfall in botanic garden

The botanic garden of Tbilisi is well maintained and in the big area you can find many kind of plants. There is also an impressive waterfall.

Marjanishvili

Marjanishvili is an old merchant street which has been restored nicely. There are a lot of Turkish restaurants and possibility to shopping.

Mtatsminda park

Mtatsinda park is on a top of a mountain and you can have good view over the city of Tbilisi. You can find here also an amusement park. I like especially the view during the night when you can see all the lights of the city. Another option to have a view over the city of Tbilisi is to go to Mother of Georgia statue.

The bridge of peace

Next to the bridge of Peace you can find a nice park. From the park you can take a lift to the mother of Georgia statue. In the park you can find dancing fountain, activities for children and interesting shapes.

Tbilisi canyon

Inside the city of Tbilisi you can find a canyon. A route down the canyon leads to a waterfall.

Mtskheta

Svetitskhoveli cathedral on the background

The atmosphere of Mtskheta reminds the atmosphere of Sighnaghi. Both cities are restored to remind the past centuries and offer nice streets for strolling. Mtskheta can be reached by a minibus from Didube in 15 minutes. Nearby Mtskheta are two monasteries (Jvari and Shiomghvime) where drivers are offering rides for 15 - 20 laris (6 - 8 euros). The monastery of Jvari is more interesting because you have a nice view over the city and landscape around. Inside the city can be found Svetitskhoveli cathedral which is surrounded by walls and has nicely maintained courtyard.

Elder people

Mtskheta

One day I had a discussion how elderly people are taken care of in Georgia. In Finland elderly people who cannot take care of themselves anymore are generally taken care by nurses in the facilities for elderly. In Georgia sending your parents to such facilities would be considered disrespectful. If you are living in a different city than your elder parent(s) who have difficulties to take care of themselves, you would invite them to live with you. Georgians tend take care of their family and not send them to a facility.

Okatse Canyon

Platform over the canyon

The third spot which I visited near Kutaisi, was Okatse Canyon. The route to the platform is approximately 5 kilometers and taking it costs 5 laris (2 euros). The view is impressive but if you have fear of heights you will not feel 100 % comfortable walking the route.  The problem with Okatse and Martvili is that there is no public transportation to these destinations. We managed to negotiate with a taxi driver who took us to the both destinations from Kutaisi for 50 laris (20 euros). It is good idea to take a driver who actually knows the area because we missed few worth seeing spots due the lack of the knowledge of the driver.

How to go to Prometheus Cave near Kutaisi

Inside the Prometheus Cave

I visited also Prometheus Cave during my trip to Kutaisi. This is an informational post in tourist guide style. The Prometheus Cave is about 40 kilometers from Kutaisi. You can reach the cave by taking a mini bus N44 from McDonald's, N34 from central bus station of Ktaisi or N30 from the red bridge to Tskaltubo. The mini buses to Tskaltubo operate every 15 minutes. From Tskaltubo you have to take bus N42 to the Prometheus cave but the mini bus operates only every 2 hours. Each bus ride costs 1 lari (0.4 euros). Entrance fee for the walking tour is 5 laris which is about 2 euros. The tour by foot is 1,5 kilometers long and it is taken in a group with a guide. There is also separate route which you can go through by a boat. The cost for the boat tour is 7 lari (3 euros). The boat tour is only available in the morning.

Martvili

Martvili

Canyon

Last weekend I went to visit Kutaisi. 45 kilometers from Kutaisi you can find Martvili where is a beautiful place that can be seen in above pictures. There is a slow stream of water flowing through a canyon. The water is chilly so you cannot swim in it for very long. Locals were offering rubber boat rides through the canyon for 30 lari which is about 12 euros. If you bring your own rubber boat you can take your time and enjoy the place as long as you feel so. There were many Georgians visiting the place but I could not see many foreigners.