The heroine of the famous book “Eat, Pray, Love” traveled half the world to get gastronomic pleasure, gain spiritual enlightenment and understand high feelings. We claim that she wasted so much effort and time: everything a person needs to be happy is in Georgia!
Eat
National Georgian cuisine has long won thousands of hearts around the world: names such as khachapuri, chakhokhbili, kharcho and chicken tabaka are known even to people who have never been to Georgia. But the real taste of these and many other dishes can only be learned by visiting this sunny country, as well as taking part in a real Georgian feast. There is a saying in Georgia that during a feast, time stops, and the hours spent in the company of guests do not count against life. That is why the feasts are so long and wordy, and the hosts are incredibly generous. The main thing at the table is love and family; there is no room for disputes and contradictions. Toasts are pronounced long and ornate, but always with deep meaning and seasoned with stories from the toastmaster’s personal experience. By the way, it is not customary to pay the toastmaster, because this is not a job, but a real calling; friends or relatives are invited to lead the feast, but anyone can take the floor.
Georgian cuisine is spicy and hot, and its taste is perfectly complemented by the unleavened but surprisingly tasty Georgian shoti bread, which is baked in special round brick ovens. They say that bread comes out especially tasty, soft and crispy if you sing while baking it. In Georgia, you should definitely try khinkali and kebabs, the main thing is not to forget that both of these dishes are usually eaten with your hands, even in a restaurant. It’s worth bringing juicy fresh churchkhella as a delicious souvenir.
Wine occupies a special place in the gastronomic culture of Georgia. During archaeological excavations in Georgia, wine jugs and stone presses were found that were used several thousand years BC! Nowadays, Georgian wine is supplied to 40 countries around the world, and in their homeland not a single meal is complete without a grape drink. It is believed that different types of wine not only have different tastes, but also different characters, which can only be understood after the third glass. And the drinking devices themselves in Georgia are very different: jugs, special glasses and scoops, horns of different sizes decorated with silver, there is even a half-liter ceramic vessel in the shape of a baby’s cradle, from which it is customary to drink for the birth of a child. Each toast certainly ends with a friendly exclamation of “Gaumarjos!”, which is translated as a wish of health to all those present.
The first toast is usually drunk to the bottom, and it is always “for God!”
Pray
The majority of the population of Georgia is Orthodox. Christianity came to the country at the beginning of the 4th century, that is, much earlier than the Baptism of Rus’. The Most Holy Theotokos is considered the patroness of Georgia, and many churches and monasteries have been preserved since medieval times. But the main thing is that your affiliation with any religion does not matter, Georgia is simply a country where you can feel divine protection, become closer to nature, to the world and to people.
In Georgian myths and legends, Jesus and the Virgin Mary easily coexist with giants, demigods and other characters borrowed from Greek mythology. God in Georgia is cheerful, kind, and supportive, especially towards Georgians. According to legend, the Georgian people were late for God’s distribution of lands because they had a feast and raised toasts to His glory. God was very touched by this, and he gave the Georgians a piece of heaven, saved for himself.
The main holy place and the heart of the spiritual life of Georgia is considered its first capital – the city of Mtskheta. The legend, if stated briefly, says that one native of this city, Elioz, happened to be in Jerusalem after the death of Christ, where he managed to redeem the tunic of Jesus. Elioz brought the chiton to his hometown and showed it to his sister, and she squeezed it in her palms and died of happiness; they could not open her palms, so they buried her along with the cloth. A cedar tree grew at the site of the grave, which was cut down to build a church, but the holy log was floating in the air and did not want to get back into place. Saint Nino lowered the log with prayer, and the erected church was named Svetitskhoveli, which means “Life-Giving Pillar.”
This story clearly demonstrates the essence of Georgian spirituality – a long narrative, like a traditional national toast, a little confusing, but which makes your soul feel warm and joyful. Every temple and shrine has stories of this kind, so excursion tours will make an indelible impression even on people far from religion!
But even more than stories about God and saints, Georgians love stories about love.
There are many legends about love, and one of the most romantic forms the basis of the novel “Ali and Nino” by an Azerbaijani author who wrote under the pseudonym Kurban Said. The actions of the novel mostly take place in the Caucasus: in Azerbaijan and Georgia, and the story itself tells about the love of a man and a woman, for which neither different cultures and religions, nor people, nor distances can become an obstacle. Inspired by this touching story, Georgian sculptor Tamara Kvesitadze designed the dynamic sculpture “Ali and Nino” in 2007, which was installed in Batumi in 2010 after its presentation at the Vienna Biennale. The sculpture represents the figures of a man and a woman moving towards each other and merging into a single whole.
You can go to Georgia for love together, or you can go alone. In the first case, fresh air and hot wine will undoubtedly warm up your feelings, but if you happen to visit Georgia without your significant other, you will be pleasantly surprised to feel like you are in the circle of a loving family from the first minutes.
