Monday, September 8, 2014
Saturday, September 6, 2014
Svaneti Trip Day Three: Chalaadi Glacier and Khachapuri 101
So after thunderstorms during the night, day 3 began as a drizzly morning. About 1/3 of our group passed on hiking to the glacier (?!?!?). The vans drove us about an hour along the edge of the Mestiachala River. When the Mestiachala River meets the Chalaadi River, there is a place to park and a wooden footbridge to cross the Mestiachala River. Mason had no fear trotting across the bridge.
We followed the trail uphill through the forest for about 1 km. At some point, the trail turned and we were walking parallel to the Chalaadi River. This river starts at the glacier and it is amazing to me how quickly the water is flowing having just begun.
After hiking through the woods, we came to the last 0.5 km of hike.....across boulders. You can see Mount Chatini in the distance.
Its odd how these boulders seem to be so precariously stacked on top of one another were actually pretty stable for climbing on. Only occasionally would you step on a wiggly rock.
The snow you see towards the middle of the photo is Mount Chatini. Below that to left is glacier (it's somewhat 'dirty' from rocks and debris tumbling down.
The face of 'no mom, you didn't seriously ask if I think this is natural or manmade'....
Mason was kind of 'adopted' by the guide of another group with the same company that hiked with us. She apparently is much more believable when saying you can do this than mom is. She helped him over the rocks and up this giant boulder.
We made it to the glacier! All the white 'walls' along the river are actually a huge piece of ice.
We came. We saw. We poked it with a stick. We touched a glacier!
The ice is more obvious from this angle.
It was a little daunting as we turned to head back to the van.
After getting back to the van, Mason decide to check out how cold the water was (umm, it just melted off a ginormous ice cube about 1 km back....I'm going to go with freezing cold).
After the glacier hike, the rest of our group took a funicular (ski lift) to a restaurant overlooking the townlet of Mestia. Mason and I opted to stay in town and find the pizza shop. In the town square there is a statue of Queen Tamar. The horse is quite odd looking and from what I have read online, the statue has not been well received among the Svans.
Pizza place had no power, but another cafe did.....I think he is happy with his plate of delicious Eastern European fries....yum!
After lunch, he played basketball with some local boys (it appeared they lived next door and are possibly related to the family owning the villa we stayed at).
In the evening we had a cooking class/demonstration. We were shown how to make Imeruli khachapuri. Khachapuri is a traditional Georgian food (cheese bread). It is quite similar to pizza without the sauce. There are several types of khachapuri with Imeruli being the most common (and most tasty in my opinion).
So you begin with a yeast dough. You make a little circle with it and flatten out. You then place a ball of sulguni cheese on the dough. Sulguni cheese is a brined Georgian cheese. (the cook helping with the demonstration said, if sulguni cheese is not available you can mix mozzarella and feta cheese to get a similar consistency).
You then pull the dough around the cheese and pinch it together.
You then pat the ball of dough covered cheese into a 12 inch (or so) disk.
You then place the disk on top of a wood fired stove. You cook it for several minutes and then flip and cook several more. You then cut it in pizza like slices and enjoy.
Oops, I ate it before snapping a finished photo.....
We followed the trail uphill through the forest for about 1 km. At some point, the trail turned and we were walking parallel to the Chalaadi River. This river starts at the glacier and it is amazing to me how quickly the water is flowing having just begun.
After hiking through the woods, we came to the last 0.5 km of hike.....across boulders. You can see Mount Chatini in the distance.
Its odd how these boulders seem to be so precariously stacked on top of one another were actually pretty stable for climbing on. Only occasionally would you step on a wiggly rock.
The snow you see towards the middle of the photo is Mount Chatini. Below that to left is glacier (it's somewhat 'dirty' from rocks and debris tumbling down.
The face of 'no mom, you didn't seriously ask if I think this is natural or manmade'....
Mason was kind of 'adopted' by the guide of another group with the same company that hiked with us. She apparently is much more believable when saying you can do this than mom is. She helped him over the rocks and up this giant boulder.
We made it to the glacier! All the white 'walls' along the river are actually a huge piece of ice.
We came. We saw. We poked it with a stick. We touched a glacier!
It was a little daunting as we turned to head back to the van.
After getting back to the van, Mason decide to check out how cold the water was (umm, it just melted off a ginormous ice cube about 1 km back....I'm going to go with freezing cold).
After the glacier hike, the rest of our group took a funicular (ski lift) to a restaurant overlooking the townlet of Mestia. Mason and I opted to stay in town and find the pizza shop. In the town square there is a statue of Queen Tamar. The horse is quite odd looking and from what I have read online, the statue has not been well received among the Svans.
Pizza place had no power, but another cafe did.....I think he is happy with his plate of delicious Eastern European fries....yum!
After lunch, he played basketball with some local boys (it appeared they lived next door and are possibly related to the family owning the villa we stayed at).
In the evening we had a cooking class/demonstration. We were shown how to make Imeruli khachapuri. Khachapuri is a traditional Georgian food (cheese bread). It is quite similar to pizza without the sauce. There are several types of khachapuri with Imeruli being the most common (and most tasty in my opinion).
So you begin with a yeast dough. You make a little circle with it and flatten out. You then place a ball of sulguni cheese on the dough. Sulguni cheese is a brined Georgian cheese. (the cook helping with the demonstration said, if sulguni cheese is not available you can mix mozzarella and feta cheese to get a similar consistency).
You then pull the dough around the cheese and pinch it together.
You then pat the ball of dough covered cheese into a 12 inch (or so) disk.
You then place the disk on top of a wood fired stove. You cook it for several minutes and then flip and cook several more. You then cut it in pizza like slices and enjoy.
Oops, I ate it before snapping a finished photo.....
Friday, September 5, 2014
Svaneti Trip Day Two: Ushguli and Church of St. Kvirike & St. Ivlita
So we woke up to a beautiful morning the next day.
After our breakfast, we headed out on ashort 35 km drive (given we were driving on the edge of mountains it took about 3 hours each way) to the village of Ushguli.
We stopped to get another view of Ushba (you can see the two peaks of the mountain much better from this angle) on the way.
Throughout the Svaneti area there are towers. A lot of these towers were built starting in the 9th century. The purpose of the towers is mainly for protection from avalanches, but they work against invaders as well. The first floor is typically about 12 feet in the air and accessible only by ladder.
We stopped at the Love Tower. Our guide told us two legends associated with this tower. One is a woman's love went off to fight in a war, she stayed in the tower waiting for him, but he never returned. The other is a woman's parents did not like her love and she was locked into the tower to keep him away from her.
We had the opportunity to climb the tower. We went up the outside stairs, there was some stones stacked up along the wall we could climb to get up to the next floor, followed by 2 ladders up to the 3rd and 4th floors. The floors were made of what looked like birch logs. It doesn't seem like it would be warm and cozy during an avalanche, but that's just me.....
The Svan woman who was charging the admission to the Love Tower also had a collection of crystal rocks for sale. Mason tried using Russian to negotiate a price. Svans are a subgroup of Georgians that speak Georgian and a Svan language, so it is possible she didn't know Russian.
Both appear happy with the deal negotiated (yeah for fingers!).
Mason's crystal! He paid 8 GEL (a little more than $4) for the large crystal and she gave him the small one as a bonus.
Ushguli is considered to be the highest settlement in Europe (wikipedia has it at 2400m (close to 8000 ft)). The area is a UNESCO heritage site. Our guide said 200-300 people live here year round. During the winter though, the road to Mestia is impassable and no visitors can make it in.
Obviously the architecture of the buildings is so different than anything we normally see, so we took a ton of pictures, the green mountains behind the village was so beautiful as well.
It seemed nearly every home had a tower associated with it.
There were streams meandering throughout the streets, as well as, many a cow patty to navigate around. The mix of old and new was so apparent. Houses with power lines and satellite dishes built of rock connected to these 1000+ year old towers.
A closer view of the apparently shy Shkhara mountain hiding behind the clouds now. Note the cows grazing on the hill.
We visited the Ushguli chapel that overlooks the city. It was built in the 12th century. I failed to get a photo of the church, but it seems every Georgian Orthodox church we have visited has a set of three bells. We've heard the bells rung a number of times but I've never gotten a good picture of them. I love this shot with the stone wall and Shkhara mountain in the background (also note the wine making grapes design on the bells).
After we had lunch, we began heading back to Mestia for the night (remember, its another 3 hour drive to get back those 35 km). On the way we made one last stop at the church of St. Kvirike and St. Ivlita. The church is located 1.1 km off the road according to the sign at the entrance of the trail.
See the church up there at the top of the mountain. I seriously think it was 1.1 km as the crow flies. We hiked up the mountain and through the woods to the church on the top of the mountain. We had a couple of Marines in our group who raced to the top. Mason took lots of breaks on the way up and I did lots of cheerleading and.....we made it!
See those two little white specks parked on the side of the road toward the center of the picture, that's the vans we were riding in. It was real sweet. Some of the older individuals heard Mason yell "yay, I made it" and he motivated them to not give up and keep on going. I was very proud of Mason for not giving up and making it up the mountain! That night when we got back to our villa, we both slept good!
After our breakfast, we headed out on a
We stopped to get another view of Ushba (you can see the two peaks of the mountain much better from this angle) on the way.
Throughout the Svaneti area there are towers. A lot of these towers were built starting in the 9th century. The purpose of the towers is mainly for protection from avalanches, but they work against invaders as well. The first floor is typically about 12 feet in the air and accessible only by ladder.
We stopped at the Love Tower. Our guide told us two legends associated with this tower. One is a woman's love went off to fight in a war, she stayed in the tower waiting for him, but he never returned. The other is a woman's parents did not like her love and she was locked into the tower to keep him away from her.
We had the opportunity to climb the tower. We went up the outside stairs, there was some stones stacked up along the wall we could climb to get up to the next floor, followed by 2 ladders up to the 3rd and 4th floors. The floors were made of what looked like birch logs. It doesn't seem like it would be warm and cozy during an avalanche, but that's just me.....
After climbing back out of the tower, we stuck our toes in the freezing cold river water rushing by. Mason then picked a crab apple from a tree.....this was before he bit into the tart little treat.
The Svan woman who was charging the admission to the Love Tower also had a collection of crystal rocks for sale. Mason tried using Russian to negotiate a price. Svans are a subgroup of Georgians that speak Georgian and a Svan language, so it is possible she didn't know Russian.
Both appear happy with the deal negotiated (yeah for fingers!).
Mason's crystal! He paid 8 GEL (a little more than $4) for the large crystal and she gave him the small one as a bonus.
Ushguli is considered to be the highest settlement in Europe (wikipedia has it at 2400m (close to 8000 ft)). The area is a UNESCO heritage site. Our guide said 200-300 people live here year round. During the winter though, the road to Mestia is impassable and no visitors can make it in.
Obviously the architecture of the buildings is so different than anything we normally see, so we took a ton of pictures, the green mountains behind the village was so beautiful as well.
It seemed nearly every home had a tower associated with it.
There were streams meandering throughout the streets, as well as, many a cow patty to navigate around. The mix of old and new was so apparent. Houses with power lines and satellite dishes built of rock connected to these 1000+ year old towers.
The Ushguli village is located at the base of Shkhara. The tallest mountain in the country of Georgia and third tallest mountain in the Caucasus Mountains.
A closer view of the apparently shy Shkhara mountain hiding behind the clouds now. Note the cows grazing on the hill.
We visited the Ushguli chapel that overlooks the city. It was built in the 12th century. I failed to get a photo of the church, but it seems every Georgian Orthodox church we have visited has a set of three bells. We've heard the bells rung a number of times but I've never gotten a good picture of them. I love this shot with the stone wall and Shkhara mountain in the background (also note the wine making grapes design on the bells).
After we had lunch, we began heading back to Mestia for the night (remember, its another 3 hour drive to get back those 35 km). On the way we made one last stop at the church of St. Kvirike and St. Ivlita. The church is located 1.1 km off the road according to the sign at the entrance of the trail.
See the church up there at the top of the mountain. I seriously think it was 1.1 km as the crow flies. We hiked up the mountain and through the woods to the church on the top of the mountain. We had a couple of Marines in our group who raced to the top. Mason took lots of breaks on the way up and I did lots of cheerleading and.....we made it!
See those two little white specks parked on the side of the road toward the center of the picture, that's the vans we were riding in. It was real sweet. Some of the older individuals heard Mason yell "yay, I made it" and he motivated them to not give up and keep on going. I was very proud of Mason for not giving up and making it up the mountain! That night when we got back to our villa, we both slept good!
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Svaneti Trip Day One: Dadianis' Palace and Inguri Dam
Over St. Mary's Day and Labor Day weekend, Mason and I signed up for a trip to Svaneti (a province in Northwest Georgia). Due to all the hiking, the trip was not recommended for kids under 6, so Richard had a daddy/daughter weekend with Clarissa while we were gone (and will possibly take the trip next year). Given Mason and I took over 700 pictures, I have decided to split the trip into multiple posts.
The majority of the first day of the trip was spent driving from Tbilisi to Mestia (the town we stayed in). It is a 430 km drive, that takes about 8 hours with no stops. So it was broken up a bit with some stops along the way.
The first stop was the city Zugdidi, which is located in the province of Samegrelo. The Samegrelo area really reminds me of the Florida keys a bit, with raised houses, outdoor stairs/porches, tropical flora (palm trees and blooming flowers) and lots of sun and humidity.
In Zugdidi, we visited Dadianis' Palace. Unfortunately, the palace was closed and we were unable to see one of three copies of Napoleon's death mask and a shroud of Mary (among other archeological finds).
The Dadiani family built the Queen's Palace (above), Niko's Palace, Nobel's church and a decorative garden. The palace was built in the mid 1800s. The Dadiani family collected many artifacts and in 1921 the property was turned into a museum.
Mason and I walked through the shaded gardens and exited the ornate gates.
The reservoir was just breathtakingly beautiful.
The tallest peak of Ushba (4700 m) is directly behind me, the second peak is to the left in the picture.
The majority of the first day of the trip was spent driving from Tbilisi to Mestia (the town we stayed in). It is a 430 km drive, that takes about 8 hours with no stops. So it was broken up a bit with some stops along the way.
The first stop was the city Zugdidi, which is located in the province of Samegrelo. The Samegrelo area really reminds me of the Florida keys a bit, with raised houses, outdoor stairs/porches, tropical flora (palm trees and blooming flowers) and lots of sun and humidity.
In Zugdidi, we visited Dadianis' Palace. Unfortunately, the palace was closed and we were unable to see one of three copies of Napoleon's death mask and a shroud of Mary (among other archeological finds).
The Dadiani family built the Queen's Palace (above), Niko's Palace, Nobel's church and a decorative garden. The palace was built in the mid 1800s. The Dadiani family collected many artifacts and in 1921 the property was turned into a museum.
Mason and I walked through the shaded gardens and exited the ornate gates.
Next we stopped at the Inguri Dam. Inguri Dam is the largest dam in the Southern Caucasus mountains with a capacity of 1300 MW. Mason and I made many dam jokes.....just because we could. So with no further ado, here are our dam pictures.
The reservoir was just breathtakingly beautiful.
We had lunch at a little restaurant on the side of the road. You can imagine Mason's excitement when the family owning the restaurant had a pig!
We dined at some tables right next to a waterfall. Talk about some natural air conditioning. It was so nice and cool by the tables. After eating, Mason, being a boy, decided to climb up towards the top of the waterfall.
We stopped on the side of the road to view Ushba mountain (which provided a nice stomach calming break for those who were suffering from motion sickness...Mason). Ushba is not the tallest peak in the mountain range but it is the most picturesque due to having two peaks.
The tallest peak of Ushba (4700 m) is directly behind me, the second peak is to the left in the picture.
In the village of Latali, there are 63 churches. Some are in ruins, about 25 are small family churches, and most are situated in the mountains (and far off the road). We stopped at the church of the Prophet Ionah (Jonah). This is the only church in the world dedicated to Ionah and there is a commemorative celebration every October 5th.
Mason preferred to hide near the church because as we arrived a storm was coming over the mountains. Clouds rolled in with a lot of lightning. I guess being so high up and close to the clouds you could practically feel the lightning. Several bolts struck a mountain adjacent to us (we even saw smoke rising up from one lightning strike).
As we continued on our way, we saw a rainbow. I was trying to get a good shot of the rainbow as the road curved back and forth down the mountain (a tricky feat!). So you can imagine my surprise when I got a decent photo of the rainbow (which even appears to be a double rainbow) with a bonus lightning strike!
We arrived at our villa in the village of Mestia after dusk, had dinner and went to bed to rest up for the next day.
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