Our trip to Georgia!

Yes, we are back home now.. From an amazing, long, exciting, overwhelming trip to Georgia! :)

Trip with our almost 16-month-old Adelaide and a bun in the oven, just rolling into the 3rd trimester.

We took a chance and bought the tickets already forever ago.. Not even knowing, if we will be able to go for sure, and the pregnancy for sure made it a question, but there wasn't really a reason not to go, so.. Here we were. :) 

Georgia.. Is a place I have always wanted to go. It just seems so interesting, so welcoming.. with their great food and wine, and hospitality. Really, from almost all the places in the world, this was one we were really excited about. 

And so it happened, that I met an internet friend and we got a chance to go visit her.. :) Visiting Tbilisi, Kakheti wine region and taking part in an actual, real grape harvest with a real Georgian family, then driving up to the Caucasus mountains and Kazbegi.. We had plans to go the Batumi and the Black Sea as well, but we didn't get more far than Kutaisi, as we all caught some nasty virus.. It still was awesome. An amazing experience. :)

It wasn't easy as well.. And there is a lot to write in detail about travelling with a toddler.. :D But there is time for that, at first - here are the captures from our 10 day vacation, that we will remember forever!

Flying with a child.. A whole separate story. It actually wasn't so bad, even with both flights being in the middle of the night. Here is Adelaide's first time in an airport. :)

Discovering Georgia, starting with the capital - Tbilisi. We loved Tbilisi! It really surprised us.

Fresh produce, fresh fruit.. everywhere on the streets.

The oldest and very lovely church of Tbilisi (and this trip was a lot about churches, as Georgia has so many ancient and beautiful ones) - Anchickhati church. And the scene with the cat lying in the front and being photographed - it paints the scenery just perfectly. :)

One must have a picture with palm trees.

And grapes are just a decoration as well.

The modern architecture from Saakashvili era, we loved it! It matched with the city perfectly and made Tbilisi what it is. The old and the new, Georgia is a land of contrasts.

And after lots of walking, the breaks with food and drinks are the best. :)

Georgian food.. Maybe different than I had expected. It was great, simply marvelous for the first 3 days.. :D Perhaps too strange for us? But definitely still good, just maybe for an occasional taste. ;)

We tried to have moments for Adelaide as well.. So she could run around a bit, take a break from all the sight-seeing. A wonderful Rikhe park.

Another church.. Sioni Cathedral.

And the view to the Tbilisi Old Town.

And over the river. The fancy bridge over the river seen as well, another modern piece, as well as couple of others seen on the picture.

The first day was hot. The second day was cloudy and rainy, but the views were still great. We went up with an air tram.

In Tbilisi we mostly used the stroller for Adelaide, sometimes tried to walk with her too.. But it wasn't easy to keep the direction that way. :)

Checking out cute cafe's in the Old Town.. :)

The Old Town itself was shockingly abandoned. Something like this and worse.. It is even in some list of places that are in danger of vanishing totally, as it hasn't been restored and is in a horrible condition.
Don't get confused though.. The rest of Tbilisi looks fancy and nice, a lot more impressive than Tallinn or Riga or even many European cities.

And when it starts raining.. They make good soups and have good black tea in Georgia. :)

And then we went for the grape harvest in Kahheti region - in the town of Tsnori.
It was with the family of my friend's Georgian husband. An actual thing - all the relatives coming together to pick the grapes, growing in the fields that have belonged to them for generations, then joining for a feast afterwards.. And making the wine out of grapes the next day. It was so real and authentic. We really got to experience an actual Georgian family and them welcoming us as their guests.

Adelaide enjoyed the grapes, of course, and so did we. :)

For Estonians this fresh fruit just growing there is unbelievable..  All we get are apples, pretty much. :D

On the way back we stopped for a second in the cute Sighnaghi town. It looked European and definitely worth to stay and enjoy. Oh, and those in the clouds are mountains, sadly not seen.

Also the view and the feeling at Bodbe monastery was incredible.

But next in our trip was Mtskheta town with it's super ancient, famous churches (from 4-5th century).

Jvari church was one of our favorites, the view is amazing. (To the town Mtskheta.)

Jvari church (built between AD 586 and 604).

Lovely streets of Mtskheta..

Sveti Tskhoveli cathedral in Mtskheta (the first church here was built in the 4th century AD, the present church in 1010-29).

We didn't take almost any pictures inside the churches, this is one of the few.. It was not allowed, and also not necessary. There was an amazing, sacred feeling in the churches.. Even though we are not Orthodox, we appreciated it a lot. It's quite amazing, the faith that people have there.

And another church in Mtskheta - Samtavro nunnery..

The road lead us to the North, to the high Caucasus mountains, the Russian border..
The views grew more and more spectacular as we drove.
The first stop we made in the Ananauri town, the lake of the dam and the churches overlooking it..

Our destination was Kazbegi (Stepantsminda) town high up in the mountains. It was an interesting experience. :) The streets to our guesthouse were insane.. That was a real countryside, with pigs right at the next yard..

Adelaide didn't like all of the Georgian food, but she enjoyed some, like a really spicy harcho. :)

The highest mountain of the area - Kazbeg (5033 m).

And the Kazbegi town down in the valley..

Mountains and a toddler.. not a good combination. :D

The famous Gergeti Trinity Church. The drive up there with a jeep was insane.. Thank God I didn't go in a preterm labor! The hike up there also would have been too much for me.. So, yes, mountain climbing at 7 months pregnant - not a good idea!
But the view..

One of the rare family pics from the trip. :)

We did want to take at least a little hike in the fresh mountain air.. So we tried to reach the Gveleti waterfall. It was nice.. But I didn't make it till the end. :D Mr. Husband and Adelaide did.

This road, leading to Kazbegi from Tbilisi, calls the Georgian Military Highway. It is an old road, and still one of the only roads heading into Russia, crossing the mountains. This is a very Soviet monument, built for the best view.

And this is pretty much it from our trip.. :)
We made it to Kutaisi as well, but is was raining, we didn't get to see much, no nice pictures either.. Instead, we spent some family quality time, and it was still very enjoyable.
Sad, that we didn't get to Batumi, but you can't want it all, and we will go see the Black Sea another time, hopefully when it's nice and warm. ;)

And just yet another picture of the fresh produce, just on the side of the Tbilisi-Kutaisi highway.. Loved it. Loved it all.. This is something I really wish we would have more in Estonia.

All in all, it was great..
But even greater is to be back home. :)