Vardzia

Vardzia is a place I have read about many times from my childhood to teenage years. Every year we would learn about Vardzia in our school books, should it be Georgian literature, history, geography or art. Well, this place is worth seeing! Ar last, we went there on excursion _ the whole class and I was fascinated. That should have been a splendid fortress and living place with all the equipment and innovations.

Of course, from what I had read in books, I had some expectations, and Vardzia lived up to my expectations and beyond.

It’s obvious, that books aren’t really “teachers” teaching people how to live in an organized, well-observed, beautiful, well-planned life. Books are written by people and, hence, they become humans like every one of us dictating others what right and wrong is. In spite of being so naturally made up, books are still work of art and aren’t always understood by everybody in some ways they should be. Books contain practical experiences gained in life written to be shared with others. It’s said, that wise men learn from their own mistakes, others learn from other’s mistakes. So, not everybody is able to stand their own life experiences and learn something from them. Sometimes people like just to ignore those things and go on like they have never happened. In that case, books are really helpful and they can change the whole mentality one can have. To my mind, life experience is more important, because that is one of the reasons why books exist. According to Herodote, history is a cycle and everything is repeatable. So that, one can learn from books too. But these books are written by humans like us and eventually it can be concluded, that books are full of true life experiences, which some people turn into sentences and stories… to sum up, life is full of obstacles _ everytime you overcome some, you have to face another one. This sentence is from Eminem’s lyrics and it’s really true. So, one should learn how to overcome these obstacles with a help of life experiences experienced by oneself, or heard or read in books. Still, sometimes books can’t really help you, because there aren’t people you meet everyday and you’re not a character, and also, in some ways, you can’t really find the right book for problems or for your occasion. So, life experience is more important because of its naturality.

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