Discovering Georgia

TRAVEL DIARY

OF GEORGIA 2001

written by Marelli Emiliano

Dedicated to my cat Pioggia

PREFACE

Recounting the events and emotions of those 3 days in Georgia is absolutely not easy, but I hope at least to convey the skeleton of these feelings. To do justice to this country, Georgia, I wanted to contribute by adding historical notes and research on its cuisine and crafts, especially since it is still a destination completely ignored by commercial tourism. Before publishing this information, I wanted Lasha's approval, given some "delicate" content.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In particular, and with much affection, a special thanks to Lasha, our friend and guide, who opened all the doors of Georgia for us and let us discover this fantastic land; to Hosè (was that your name??), a great guy for his friendliness and liveliness, whom I never managed to meet again despite living nearby; to Francesca (that was her name!!), our Italian assistant, who I think spent three fun days, dazed and confused like us in Georgia, a land that is only seemingly hostile. A hello also to Schumi, the Georgian driver, since we stayed safe and sound despite his reckless driving on the rough Georgian roads. A heartfelt thanks to Marco, who looked after my car at the Central station in Milan! I couldn't forget to mention TIM, where among other things I worked until October 2000, the paying sponsor of this fantastic adventure of mine!

31 MAY 2001 TOWARDS UNKNOWN WORLDS

Georgia 2001, 31 May-3 June. Three days...yes, only three days in Georgia!!

But what did you go there for?? The trip costs a lot, it's already a miracle if there are flights... it must have been a momentary madness, maybe for love?? I doubt it, at least from that point of view everything's fine...

I won't explain how I managed to go there for free, otherwise I'd be liable to I don't know what... The fact is that I got up early one Thursday, parked the car in via Filzi, near the Central station in Milan...are you mad?? Relax... I gave the spare keys to my colleague Marco, who kept an eye on it and made use of it!! (and besides, with the spare keys the alarm was missing, so he found himself at the mercy of a car sounding off in the middle of the 6 pm chaos...)

I take the 6.00 little train heading for Genoa??!! But... where are you going?? Relax.. I arrive at the beautiful Principe station, surrounded by those prison-like walls, slightly dilapidated, alone, at 7.50 with the first foreigners beginning to stake out their area for the day... The train to Pisa is late, but only slightly... luckily everything goes smoothly and I get off in the Tuscan city well ahead of time... around 10.40.

Ahead of what? Afterwards... breakfast, then an "aperitif" in the bar on the square (which I could have skipped...), then a taxi to the airport... blimey, not to say worse, 8 euros (15,000 lire at the time) for a couple of km... oh well!

Airport deserted, as if SARS were around... I ask for news about the "groups" desk where I'm supposed to collect my plane ticket...it exists!!! But there's no one there, not even a symbol of an airline... On the display, not even the flight... we're in a fine mess!! Oh well, let's wait... at worst I'll treat myself to a weekend in Versilia, a land I love so much: quiet, without particular problems, since the luggage is with me... Right, people start to arrive... oh no!! That idiot Civoli, what rotten luck! Red trousers (weren't they out of fashion 10 years ago?? maybe in 2004 they're still worn...but not in 2001!! whatever!), a garish shirt, a big bag with the rest of his fabulous clothes...

I wander round the airport a bit.. practically 2 minutes later I've already finished!!! Have you ever seen Pisa airport?

A one-bedroom flat is bigger!! The most you can do is go to the toilet and back!! At the counter now some people appear, and with the little sign of Sestante Viaggi!!! Hurray!!! Hurray!!! It exists, it exists!!! Let's go and check... maybe I'm not on their list... and my trip could really end up in Versilia! I go, smiling, straight towards the prettiest one... and I put my little question... Yes!!! Yes!!!! I'm there!!! There it is!!!

My ticket to Tbilisi!!!

A bit on my own I watch the people arrive, especially journalists, and boarding time approaches (check-in was a breeze!, with that pain Civoli always behind me...); boarding all fine and..... Bloody hell!!

A fantastic Boeing 767 departing Pisa for Tbilisi is ready to take off! I've never been on a plane like it: 3 rows of seats with 7 seats per row! At least in our economy section... even if there's very little that's economy about it!!

I sit in the assigned seat (the one in red in the photo, towards the back on the right)... exposed to the jet-engine drafts... I find myself surrounded by unknown people, except the journalists, including Pizzul in the seat next to me... and in the front half of the plane THEM... THEM!!!

Them who? Why of course... the players of the ITALIAN NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM!!!! Totti, del Piero, Inzaghi, Montella, Di Livio.... I keep to myself, while the journalists take turns rushing over for interviews... and the rolling out of fleshy red carpets...

I'm quite undecided whether to go and bother them, asking for autographs or such; in the end I prefer to watch them and scrutinise their behaviour from my seat, rather than sticking my tongue out (really long and red), the way the journalists do!!

The flight will last 4 hours, passing over Turkey and gradually on towards Tbilisi!

But where is this Georgia? In Europe, in Asia... I still haven't worked it out!!! Will it depend on the wind??

There, in the middle of the globe... there...yes..under Europe and just above Turkey..see?? In the map on the right is it clearer?

At last, dinner arrives; the tray seems different from the usual domestic flights... I wonder why!! I remember smoked salmon rolled up, chicken in wine with roast potatoes... in short... it really felt like dining!! A good coffee to stimulate digestion and... we find ourselves over Turkey, the plane starts to shake...the weather is nasty, storms, lightning and thunderbolts. At times we lose altitude and it feels like being on a lift dropping 5-6 floors!!

And to think I wanted to stimulate digestion... next time I won't even say it so no one hears me..

The arrival in Tbilisi means a good three quarters of an hour's delay!! Strange for Alitalia!!! Come on...this time it's forgiven...I also have to give thanks for being still alive!! The delay will make us miss the evening planned at the Krtanisi Government Residence, where we would have had a gala dinner... with folk dancing to the sound of pirouettes, war rituals, drum rolls and whirling swords... instead... maybe a dinner!!

The landing is certainly not the best, with the wind at 6 million knots (imagine the bother of unrolling all that...) wanting to make us land nose-first. The sky is pitch black, the airport lights seem fewer than those of a Christmas tree, the wind rustles on the windows... but where the heck are we landing?? Once out of the hatch, I nearly lose my nose, swept away by a freezing blast of super-wind...

The welcome at the airport has an effect 100 times worse than the landing!! 250 people channelled into one big room, for passport control; obviously the footballers in the priority lane (or emergency lane..) and the others crammed into a lane that even had works in progress... Who welcomes us?? So... one soldier... two...three....damn!!! all armed soldiers!!

Luckily my passport gives no problems... despite the ordeal I went through to get it!!

...continues on