Visiting Mtskheta

The introduction

So the other day was just a normal day and I didn’t really expect anything from it. we were at home, me , my mother and my sister and we were just there sitting and stuff like that. We had just come home from Kakheti and we were like resting or something. Well, I had these things, I mean, I wanted to prepare this Summer Tolma and I had to buy some ingredients for it, as I only had some of them and I need some, too. And, also, I wanted to buy some milk and I thought that I would buy it easily, but I wanted to buy not those pasteurized ones, I wanted to buy that one that people sell and they call it “village milk” and it’s just from those cows that people have at their houses and grow them and feed them and stuff like that. We used to have cows, too, but that was ages ago, like in an ancient time. I just remember them a little, because I was a little kid, too, and I didn’t really know what the cows were or things like that, I guess. However, I still remember this one time, it was already dark when my father and grandfather and other neighbours went out to look for one of our cows and they said that it was lost and, well, they searched for it and found it somehow after some time of wandering around the neighbourhood. It was a young male cow and it was supposed to be my brother’s. it was kind of gifted to him, however, it was not really his, because he was really little, I mean, he is younger than me, I’m like almost a year older than he. So, I bet, he doesn’t even remember that day or that his cow went missing and all the neighbourhood was searching for it.

Anyways, it was a pretty hot  day and we were just at home and, well, I had to go out. To tell you the truth, it doesn’t really bother me going out in a hot day or whatever. I just love going outside by myself alone and wandering around. Well, I just love walking, if you want to know the truth. If I don’t go out for a walk it’s like a disaster, I mean, I feel like I’m a stone or something and I just want to walk. I wasn’t like that some years earlier, because I didn’t really go out and when I went out it was my father who drove me wherever I wanted to go. So that my everyday living didn’t really involve walking and if I was walking, it was just on stairs from the first floor to the second and vice versa and in the house from one room to another. Though, don’t think that I was just sitting and not doing anything or something like that. I mean, I did my homework, of course, and I studied really well at school, and, also, I went to Georgian national dance lessons and I had them for years, so it was something that I did for exercising and stuff. Our lessons last from one hour and a half to two hours and it was pretty intense and so I was in a good shape, I can say that.

Well, I went to shopping. So I wanted this village milk, but there was not any . I  couldn’t find it anywhere, so it was a bust. Then it was bell peppers that I needed and I bought some green and red bell peppers. Well, there was not red bell peppers in that grocery store where I went, so that I went to the bazaar, where there’s almost everything and I just bought them there. I also bought some plums, as I just love them and, though I bought sweet plums as my mother doesn’t like when it’s not kind of sweet, I mean, she doesn’t like when it’s sour or whatever it is.  So, I was going to go home, when she called me and asked me where I was. I told her, that I was coming back home and then she told me that my uncle and cousin were there and whether or not I needed a lift as my uncle could come and get me with his car. Well, it was just 10 or 15 minutes walk back home, so that I didn’t really need a lift and so that I said no and I didn’t want to bother him, of course. So, I went back home and saw them and stuff like that, and my uncle had this amazing idea of going somewhere outside the city or something like that. He suggested Mtskheta, as it’s not very far away and it’s a great place to visit and sightsee and stuff like that. I just loved the idea and others had the same thoughts, too, I guess. So that we decided that we would get ready and go there, maybe in an hour or so. And, meanwhile, I could prepare my Summer Tolma, too, so that everything would be just perfect.

Going to Mtskheta

So that, it was something like 4 or 5 p.m. when we got into the car and went to Mtskheta. It was still really hot outside, however, while the car was going and we had all those windows down, it was all windy and stuff in the car and it was good. We stopped at the gas station to fill up and then we went on the road. Well, while on the road we looked at the buildings and streets and, well, there were some places that I hadn’t been and it was kind of a sightseeing thing in Tbilisi, too. There were some factories that I didn’t know they existed and, turned out, they were working pretty hard during the Soviet Union and they were one of the distributors of tea and other stuff for the whole Soviet Union, I guess.

Well, we went all the way through the Tbilisi Sea road to Temka and then to Avchala and then to Zahesi and stuff like that and then there was this road closed and we had to go back a little and go to other road that would lead to the road going to Mtskheta. Sooner or later we went on that road and we knew that in some minutes we would be there.

First of all, my cousin was pretty hungry, because he was asking about Khinkali and when we would get to Mtskheta, so that he could eat it, and so we would stop at Mtskheta Salobie, where there’s this well-known Lobio Kotanshi _ bean dishand it’s great with Mchadi and some pickles and everyone just says that it’s a great dish that they prepare there, but I don’t really agree with that. Well, I have eaten that dish twice there in Mtskheta Salobie and, I must say, that it is not the most delicious ones that I have eaten, I mean, there’s this place called Pilpili in Tbilisi nearby Marjanishvili metro station and there I’ve tasted more delicious Lobio Kotanshi than in Mtskheta Salobie. Well, I don’t know, maybe it was just that time that I didn’t really like it in Mtskheta, who knows, but that’s how it was.

Anyways, at first we went to Salobie in Mtskheta and ordered some Khinkali and Mtsvadi and Khachapuri. They brought Khachapuri first. Then there were Khinkali and Mtsvadi, too. And with that I remembered my other uncle telling us about our ministers some years ago, well, actually, those ones had told that story themselves, about how they were in Kakheti for Mtsvadi and one of them brought some things and he was helping laying the table and he told others that they should eat Khachapuri first and then Mtsvadi. To be honest, that’s kind of hard to believe, because Khachapuri is pretty nourishing and then it’s kind of hard to eat Mtsvadi, I guess, however, when they brought Khachapuri here at first and then there was Mtsvadi, I tried to do that and, I guess, he was right. Well, he loved eating and knew many things about it,  I guess, so when he said that, maybe he had some facts about that, too.

So, then we decided to sightsee Mtskheta a little. We went to the main square and there was Svetitskhoveli, of course. This is a wonderful cathedral, which dates back to the 11-th century and there are many stories about how it was so amazing, that the architect was cut the right hand so that he would not make anything like that or even better. And then there is Samtavro, where there’s St. Gabriel’s body and people go there and they say he heals people. There’s a blackberry tree, too, which is said to be that one that St. Nino prayed nearby. There is this museum, too, where we went some years ago when we were brought there by our history teacher and we had there some archaeological diggings and we dug some things, that were beforehand dug there by those organisers of that event and it was really fun and stuff like that and we really had a great time and we learned some new things, too, of course. And then we went to that museum and saw those historical things and findings and stuff and were pretty amazed by it, because I didn’t think that this museum was keeping all those ancient things of our country’s history. I mean, I thought that all those things were kept in the capital of Georgia _ in Tbilisi. Well, Mtskheta was the capital of Georgia, too, if you want to know the truth, but that was pretty long time ago, I mean, I guess, it was the first capital of Georgia and at that time it was just the beginning! So, now you get why Mtskheta is a place where many tourists and Georgians go to and sightsee. It’s a historical place with many places to visit and since it’s been renovated it’s really beautiful and lovely and everyone just loves going there. Also, it’s not very far from Tbilisi, it’s just half an hour drive and even microbuses go there for a couple of Laris and, well, you can go there with friends or family and if you don’t want to go to the churches or sightsee the place, you can go to Mtskheta Salobie and eat there, or just wander around or whatever.

There is this place there on a hill and there’s this church called Jvari, I really love that place. It’s amazing and it’s really beautiful when you look at it from the road below. And when you get there, you are amazed by the church and the landscape and the view of the whole Mtskheta from up above there. You can see two rivers flowing into each other and that is one of the main pictures that you will see anywhere about Mtskheta, I mean, it has become one of the symbols of Mtskheta, the very popular and common one being the picture of Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, of  course. That is the main place for weddings, too.

Shiomghvime Monastery Complex

There’s this Shiomghvime Monastery nearby Mtskheta. It’s like 13 km far from it or something like that. And we decided to go there, too. It’s up on a hill, too, and there are caves all around that hill, where the monks lived in the early ages. There are some churches all the way up there to the hill, the main one remaining on the top. Well, of course, we don’t really go up on the top of the hill. You can see those caves from below and there is not  a road going to them, I guess, well, at least, it’s not available for people to go there, because it’s dangerous and the monks have those precautions, because no one wants visitors or other people to hurt something or even worse. There is also a church market on the top nearby the main church, where you can buy some candles and light them in the church. The working hours are from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.if I remember correctly. Well, the closing hour is definitely 9 p.m. I’m sure of that.

The road was tricky kind of, and it was a sunset and it was really beautiful, though I couldn’t really take a good picture of it. the landscape was just amazing and everything was perfect, if you want to know the truth. Well, I have been there once, I mean, we went there in 2012 when we graduated from schooland had this graduation excursion. Imagine, that was 4 years ago and many things have not changed here, if you ask me. Well, the road then was pretty bad, I mean, there was this asphalt and then started stony road, though it was kind of flat and not very bumpy. So, now when we were going up to Shiomghvime Monastery I was anticipating that there would be some bumpy road and every second I was waiting for it to start, but they had done the asphalt, as it seemed, so it was all shiny and stuff like that. I mean, the road was just perfect. Its width was good, the colour was freshly dark, you know, how it is when the road is new, and there were signs all over it and it was good, in all. Although the road had many turns and stuff like that, but how you want to go up on the hill otherwise?! There were some cars moving around, people were going to Shiomghvime Monastery, I guess.

When entering, there’s this huge metal gate, that was open, it was brown and I haven’t really looked at it carefully, so that I can’t say whether it was painted in brown or was it just old and that’s why. There is a sign on the right side of the gate, which says what is forbidden on the territory of the monastery complex. Well, there’s almost everything forbidden, if you want to know the truth. The sign says no camera, no shorts, no short skirts, etc. It’s like one can’t really take a visit up there if they are not properly dressed. And what about those people who are first time there and want to go there and sightsee and stuff like that?! Well, that is my question every time we visit such places.

Anyways ,when you enter, it’s like you see all the buildings that are on that territory and it’s an amazing view. There’s this stone pathway leading to each one of them and you can enter and see yourself these amazing buildings from inside. The pathway goes all the way up to the main church building, where there are services and stuff.

Going up, you see small church with stairs going down. There’s a sign that says that there is the grave of St. Shio Mghvimeli.You can go inside and see the tomb yourself. There is a small chamber, where the tomb is. It’s in a large stone and there is a glass on top of it. then there is another church, where there are lots of icons and they are really well-painted and I was amazed by all that. It was not a very small church, if you want to know the truth. It was pretty alright. And there were those things, where you light candles and all the other things, too. Though no one was there and there were not any candles lit in there. Seemed like monks were getting ready for sleep or something, because it was kind of getting 9 p.m. already.

Well, we kept going up and up there was this church and there was a church market, too, where you could find many crosses and candles and some other church things. There was also some water container and you could drink water from there. My cousin was really thirsty and he was really happy when he saw this thing and he drank that water. Then we all went to this church, where the monks and other people were singing and their choir was really good. Actually, I hadn’t heard choir singing in a church for a long time and it was really nice to hear it then. There were some people in the church just like us. We bought some candles and lit them and my cousin wanted to light them everywhere and I remembered my childhood and how I wanted to light all the candles everywhere. That was a good time. You know, childhood is always a good time and you should definitely appreciate it, because when that time passes it’s never coming back and looking back you think about how you didn’t embrace that time.

Coming back to Tbilisi

Anyways, it was getting dark already and we went back to our car and got into our car and left the place. Well, it was all dark and stuff, however there were those things that are on the roads on the edges and they are lit when the lights get on them. There was this moon lighting from above and it was a good view from down there. My cousin was really thirsty and he was asking about water and we told him to wait and there would be a market soon, where we would buy him some water or whatever drink he would like, but it wouldn’t be for a couple of minutes until we would get to any markets, in fact, we would have to get into Mtskheta to see some market on the road. Well, we told him that, so that he would be patient and wait a little longer until the water would be available. He was looking forward to seeing any markets or grocery stores on the road and he was looking here and there to be faster than anyone else and see a market and tell us that he saw it and to stop the car. However, there was not any market on the road and it was just dark around. Then there was this one time when something went on the road. My uncle said that it was a fox and it was not surprising, as there is this forest and there are not any houses or something like that on that specific road. So, we were driving that road, well, actually, my uncle was driving the car, of course, and my cousin was just looking for any foxes there and he forgot that he was thirsty and that was just great. He really wanted to see any fox, but there were not any, because it’s really rare to see anything like that on the road where lights are on or something is driving through or something like that, you know.

Anyways, at last we went into the town and there were these restaurants and then there was this small market, where we could buy some things that we wanted. Turned out that everyone wanted something to drink and then it seemed like everyone wanted to drink Likani _ that is a fizzy mineral water, which is very popular in Georgia nowadays. There are some same mineral waters in Georgia, first been Borjomi, which is well-known all around the world now, I guess. It’s really good one and so is Likani, however, I prefer Likani, if you want to know the truth. So, we all said that we wanted Likani and so that my uncle went into the market and bought two Likani in 1 litre bottles and some glasses for us to drink it. we really enjoyed Likani, because we all were thirsty and we just wanted to drink all of it, and, well, we drank almost all of it, if you want to know the truth and then there was this little of it left and my cousin wanted some, so that he drank the rest of Likani and in the mean time, we were already in Tbilisi and somewhere in the middle of it, so we would have been in a couple of minutes in our homes.

It was still very hot in the streets of Tbilisiand we anticipated it, if you want to know the truth, so that we went home and turned the air-conditioner and everything just cooled down in a couple  of minutes and since it was already getting late, we got ready to sleep. That was a pretty great day for everyone, I guess, well, it was for me.

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