Evening feast - it's called a supra

Before the evening feast, or supra, we went on a walking tour of the Old Town part of Tbilisi. It was raining. It was cold. It was almost miserable. LOL, but hey - no one wanted to waste any of our precious time here, so off we went. In the rain. And cold. OK - enough of that. The first thing we learned when we got out of the van was that you do not have to cross the street at a cross walk. It simply doesn't matter - they will run over you anyway. Consequently - people just cross where they want and there seens to be a great deal of "one-finger saluting" going on.  LOL - anyway, we arrived in Old Town and were greeted by these lovely textiles.

Textiles, I think rugs, in Old Town Tbilisi.

Signs in Old Town, Tbilisi

Just across the street from this was the most curious domed building. I was suprised and delighted to find out they are bath houses. The area is famous for the hot sulpher springs and these are still used today, I believe that's what our guide said. 

Right beside the little bath houses is this little space with a statue of a falcon. There is a legend that goes along with the falcon that is so much like the legend of the eagle on the cactus in Mexico that I was instantly struck by the story. The story goes like this: The founder of Tbilisi, the king at that time, was out hunting with his falcon one day and it disappeared. When he tracked it down it was in this beautiful place by the side of a river. However, the falcon and it's prey were both dead, boiled in the hot water. Nonetheless, the king was so struck by the beauty of the place that he built a palace here and later on called it his capital. This little statue is dedicated to that falcon.

We continued along our path, beside a stream, and the guide was telling us that all along the top of the ridge ahead and on the other side was the botanical gardens of Tbilisi. They are known for several sulpher springs that form waterfalls and we were headed to see the nicest of them. So, as we're walking I keep seeing these locks on the railings of the bridges we keep crossing. 

The story is actually quite charming: When couples decided that they are together for the long run they go to their favorite bridge and put a lock on the railing then throw the key into the river or stream. This symbolizes being together forever. Some of the locks are engraved with dates, initials, or names.

Then, we got to the waterfall and it was quite lovely. However, we were all getting quite wet and cold by this time so I don't think any of the group really appreciated how pretty it really was. 

We walked on around and down another street until we came to this friendly fellow.

Of course, there is a story behind this. At the Georgian feast, called a supra, there is one man who acts as a "Master of Ceremonies". His job is to keep the toasts, storys, drinks and food flowing. This man is known as the Tamada. This is the Tamada Man statue, with his never empty drinking horn. 

Finally, we made it to the restaurant for our own supra and our Georgian guide, who had kept us entertained, in the rain and cold all afternoon, acted as Tamada. The food looked wonderful and tasted oh so good. 

The appitizers - first of about 6 courses of food. 

Tarragon flavored lemonade. No, really - it's lemonade!!!

Georgian food is on FIRE!!!! LOL

That's all for now. Tomorrow is mostly meetings and a visit to one of the public schools in town. I'll write more and get caught up later.