Now or Never

Georgia is a country that we’ve been excited to visit for a while now because it was highly recommended by a number of our friends for its scenery, hospitality, and amazing food. It also happens to be the birthplace of wine – what’s not to love? Georgia has generally flown under the radar as a tourist destination for Americans, but after spending 10 days there, we see that changing soon.

For the first five days we booked an Airbnb in the old city of Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi. The apartment was halfway up a steep hillside so it offered up some great views.

During our first few days in Tbilisi we covered some serious ground. Ian got a much needed haircut and we walked, ran, and hiked our way through the city. With its older buildings, graffiti art, and “way too hip for us” young people, Tbilisi reminded us of a mini-Berlin. Adding to that the anti-Russia rhetoric was also very blatant and in your face, not too surprising considering Russia still occupies about 20% of the country after its 2008 invasion. One bar we went to (Dedaena Bar) even made the local news a few months back for requiring Russian citizens to sign a pledge disavowing their government before being let inside…hilarious.

Beyond the city center, the multiple viewpoints from the hills that rise up behind the city were unreal and included old churches, monuments, and even a slightly creepy, and very empty, Soviet-era amusement park. But hey, the giant Ferris wheel that no one was riding was objectively cool.

We even linked up with a local named Sophie (shout out to our friend Matt Southern for the intro) who took us out with her friends on a Friday night. We ended up getting very acquainted with chacha, a type of Georgian brandy. At ~50% alcohol it’s surprisingly tasty and therefore quite dangerous…we’ll leave it at that.

Georgia is flanked by the upper and lower Caucasus Mountains and one of the most beautiful places to visit is in the far north of the country in a region called Kazbegi, right at the Russian border. We booked a group day trip tour which stopped at monasteries and amazing mountain lookouts along the way. While it was some of the coldest weather we’ve had or likely will have during our six months of travel, it was absolutely beautiful, and very much worth the long mini-bus ride there and back.

A visit to the birthplace of wine is pointless without spending a few days in the actual wine growing region where it all began. So after five days in Tbilisi we made our way to the far eastern region of Georgia, Kakheti, for a three night guest house stay in a tiny town called Sighnaghi. Sighnaghi sits in the hills above the massive Alazani Valley from which the Caucasus Mountains dramatically rise from the opposite side.

During our first couple days in Sighnaghi we payed a visit to a few of the small wine shops for a tasting plus spent our time exploring the town and some nearby monasteries.

However the highlight of our time in Kakheti was the private wine tour from our guest house host who spent the day driving us around to the top wineries that dotted the valley. Some were super impressive with massive production/fermentation rooms and extensive wine caves that rivaled anything we’ve seen in Sonoma or Napa. Also, because it was after the high season, we basically got private tastings and tours wherever we went. We learned first hand that rather than fermenting the wine in barrels, giant clay pots are used which are then sealed and buried underground, taking upwards of six months to ferment. Chacha is then made from the grape residue left over after making the wine.

Beyond being very generous with their pours, we quickly found that each winery also likes to give out free shots of their own chacha. This extended to our host, who at lunch broke out a plastic bottle full of his own homemade stash for us to enjoy. So much generosity equated to a 6pm bedtime…can’t hang like we used to! Regardless, it was one of the more memorable days we’ve had thus far.

Before leaving Georgia we headed back to Tbilisi for a couple more nights. While we spent a good chunk of time travel planning to fill in some gaps in the Asia leg of our trip, we also met back up with Sophie and her friends on our last night to check out a Georgian rock band called Circus Mirkus, who played a mix of originals and classic covers. Cool band, cool venue, and a perfect way to close out our time in Georgia.

The next morning we caught a flight to Dubai with a connection in Kuwait. Not sure if we can really recommend Jazeera Airlines but hey, it was cheap and our second flight was less than 10% full. Back to the warmth we go!