Thursday, October 23, 2014 Sunny & 14 degrees Celsius
The buffet breakfast at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel was the most sumptuous so far on this trip. A positive comment for American business hotels. We had a later than usual start at nine o’clock and met in the lobby for an informational lecture about Georgian cloisonné given by an expert whose name was Manana Vardzelashuli. Our knowledgeable guide, Inga Belova, is in the photo below:
The weather was perfect for touring the Old Town section of Tbilisi. Our bus dropped us off and we walked the narrow picturesque streets for several hours.
We walked onto the Peace Bridge which is a pedestrian-crossing over the Mtkvari River. The view of lovely Tbilisi reminded me of Paris.
We walked to Tbilisi’s eighth century sulphur baths which were built during Arab rule of the country. They are still used today.
Further up the hill was a botanical garden which we didn’t visit. We were tired of walking by that time. We had lunch in a nearby restaurant instead. Then went to the studio of a cooperative of artists who make batik crafts. We saw a demonstration of batik making and viewed their beautiful products. Of course, there were lovely things to buy.
Dinner tonight was at a restaurant named for one of the medieval gates in the old wall: Baratashvili. We had mushrooms stuffed with cheese, veal stew, cold eggplant, tomato & cucumber salad, cabbage salad, cheese pie, and fruit for dessert. The entertainment was provided by four singers from the Tbilisi Ensemble.
