The journey through Georgia (the country) has continued. Back in Tbilisi, we rounded out our time in that city with:
- Gulo's Thermal Spa - a traditional sulphur bathhouse where we soaked in a hot private bath before enjoying a wonderful and intense exfoliating scrub/massage/body wash, which left me feeling so refreshed and clean... I could do this every week.
- Excellent dinners at Ethno Tskivili(lively cultural restaurant with traditional music and dance), Cafe Littera(located in the 120-year-old Writer's House of Georgia) and Bread and Wine(discreet underground spot that was a wonderful find).
- A long walk to every corner of the city - across the Dadeana Park, over the Mtkvari River, along Mikheili Tsinamdzghvrishvili Street, around Rike Park and back through the old city for lunch at the quaint Cafe Leila (great vegetarian options).
Then we left Tbilisi.
We rented a car and drove to Sighnaghi, a small wine-region town about 2 hours east of Tbilisi. We checked into the simple, yet comfy, Hotel Traveler, ate a delicious home-cooked lunch prepared by our hosts and then...stared at the fog.
The entire town was completely covered in an extremely thick fog. Visibility was no more than 20 feet (7 meters). So, we spent the evening wandering around this town without any idea what it actually looked like.
The following morning, it was more of the same - complete fog.
But we decided to walk uphill to The Terrace Signagi Restaurant anyway, even though it was famous for its view, which was nonexistent when we arrived.
What a pleasant surprise though, that by the time we finished our mushroom soup, eggplant and traditional honey cake, the clouds had parted and we finally saw what we had been missing (see below!).
We spent the rest of the day wandering all over this quiet town, checking out the various local winemakers (there are many here). Luckily, Georgian wine is known for its natural wine-making process and lack of chemicals, which leads to a wine-tasting experience that is much easier on the body and mind.
In the evening, we capped off the day with a brilliant dinner at the welcoming American/Georgian-owned Pheasant's Tears Winery, a spot that Anthony Bourdain once visited as well.
Yesterday, we left Sighnaghi and drove to Telavi, another important wine-producing town (I'm bound to get sick of wine soon enough). I'll let you know how our time here goes in next week's newsletter!
