Dream to Travel from NCM

Tag: #vakepark

Sulfur bath & spa and cooking class,

October 29th, 2024

From my morning walk. Another beautiful day and everyone is taking advantage of it, even the street dog. Waiting for the bus—patiently. FYI: I have started my Vake Park morning regimen. Wish me luck.

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Chreli Abano Sulfur Bath & Spa. So therapeutic and relaxing! Sulphur baths are a thing in Tbilisi. Tbilisi means warm place/location, a fitting name as there are numerous hot sulphur springs running beneath the city. The Sulphur bathhouses are in an area called Abanotubani. Brick domes with little brick chimney-type vents crown the bathhouses that remain of the 65 or so that operated during the days of the Silk Road. There are public and private bathhouses. Chreli Abano is a private bathhouse. I enjoyed it!

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We also took a khachapuri and khinkali cooking class today. We did great—none of our khinkali leaked and our megruli khachapuri was really good! Both came out terrific. Looked beautiful and they were delicious!
Welcome November,

November 1st, 2023

A few pictures from my leisurely yesterday and today. You are in luck. An easy two days for both of us.

One of the wild dogs joined us for coffee this morning. And the people are friendlier than they look in this picture.

Tbilisi students stand with Ukraine.

My entrance to the Vake Park. The special charm of Vake Park is added by red sand, which is used to cover the roads.

Under street passage. Much better than dodging traffic or waiting for the very long traffic lights.

Lots of steps from my entrance.

Children’s playground in the park. Vake Park has a children’s town, open-air cinema, cafes and restaurants.

What makes this park special is that each year, I am told, actual WWII veterans gather to celebrate Victory Day on May 9. It is indeed a rare experience to meet them and hear all about their heroic stories. Uphill a statue of victory gazes down on you, which is a mesmerizing sight. It is peculiar, but the statue depicts a woman celebrating the end of the war, which they think underlines the role of Georgian women in national history.

Churchkhela is a candle-shaped candy.
The main ingredients of churchkhela are grapes—a must, nuts and flour. Almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts and chocolate and sometimes raisins are threaded onto a string, dipped in thickened grape juice and dried in the shape of a sausage. Made in eastern Georgia. YUM!

Twilight from my balcony.

Dusk this evening from my balcony.

Wednesday, November 1.

Orthodox Church near my apartment. Many make the sign of the cross even when they just walk by. And I think I have noticed that they make the sign of the cross from forehead to sternum then first to the right shoulder (not the left, like us) and then to the left shoulder. I’m going to try to notice this more. Stay tuned.

Turtle Lake and cable car to get there. I did this all by myself today.

People just hanging out and enjoying this beautiful day. I walked the loop.

Restaurants. Taken from the other side of Turtle Lake.

Another Turtle Lake restaurant.

PS Chacha is a Georgian pomace brandy, clear and strong! Ranging between 40% alcohol for commercial production to 65% for home brews. It is made of grape pomace, the grape residue left after making wine. If aged for at least five or six months and often infused with tarragon, peach or apple (to name a few) they call it brandy. No aging = chacha—clear and strong. I can’t remember if I mentioned this before. I can’t drink, too strong. Like our moonshine I guess.
Kus Tba or Turtle Lake,

October 26th, 2023

Turtle Lake is a small lake up a very large hill from Vake Park which is one of the beautiful parks in Tbilisi. It can be reached via cable car (1 gel) or zipline (20 gel) from Vake Park. We took the cable car. ; ) The cable car only holds seven or eight people.

Going up.

Going up. Taken from the cable car.

Going up . . .

Turtle Lake. We walked the loop. Just sat down for lunch.

This cable car picture was taken from the top. Getting ready to go back down. No zip line for me.

Some pictures of the apartment. It’s nice—two bedrooms, two bathrooms, living room and a kitchen. Modern.

Living room.

Kitchen.

Kitchen, after I purchased a few essentials. : )

Balcony. From where I have been taking my evening view pictures.

PS Money in Georgia is the lari. The exchange rate is good. 1 USD = 2.7 GEL. And everything is fairly inexpensive anyway.

PPS Taking is easy tomorrow and Saturday. On Sunday, Mike and I are going to the wine region for a couple of days. Sighnaghi, Kakheti. I’m really looking forward to this visit to their wine region.

PPPS I’m trying to ship Georgian wine back for my packing parties. Please come, it will be worth it!

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