Tbilisi, Day 4.
Could you buy me a Georgian bed cover? Or a tablecloth? It’s 7 in the morning of my last day in Tbilisi, hours before my flight, and my mother suddenly wants me to get her some linen.
Ever the dutiful daughter, I reply, Sure, I need to go into town anyway.
And run into town I do, discovering new paths along the way – the navy skirt I have elected to wear today is perfect for dashing through intersections and flitting down staircases and walking through empty underpasses.
I find something I think my mother will like, ornate tasseled silk in red and gold, have enough time to stop on the bridge and take photos for a pleasant Kurdish couple, and walk briskly all the way home, all the way up those steep little streets.
Back at the guesthouse, I chat with two newly arrived guests, gulp down lunch with my Muscovite neighbors who are enjoying the sunshine on the terrace, finish my sparkling rosé and hug my fantastic host Naira goodbye. She bundles me into their (right-hand drive!) van driven by her nice husband (an engineer in Moscow during the Soviet era), who gives me a proper Georgian farewell at the airport.
“A guest is a gift from God” is a famous Georgian saying, and I have felt the warmth and sincerity of my hosts’ welcome throughout.
After that it is the usual duty-free stop and uneventful flight back to the sandbox. The holiday is definitely over when it’s 30+ degrees again. 😦
At Qatari customs, my luggage set off the alarm and I was redirected to an officer.
You know how you’re not doing anything illegal and certainly not carrying anything contraband, and yet you still feel like you have to make an effort to look innocent?
Do you have a glass bottle in your bag? the officer asked politely.
OOOPS. Yes, I replied, thinking of lemonade and the Romanovs and the gassy taste of Borjomi spring water all at once.
Is it alcohol?
Oh no, I protested, it’s water! From a spring. In Georgia. It’s supposed to have healing properties. Wow, that sounded dumb. I can show it to you if you want…?
He shakes his head and waves me away.
*****
Running off to the Caucasus on a whim is maybe just a notch above making the GoT pilgrimage to Dubrovnik on a whim, and I am all the better for it.
Expanded my horizons again, stepped outside my permeable comfort zone again. Got lost again, had a marvelous adventure all by myself again. Felt all at home in a completely foreign community again.
Definitely doing this again.
Where to next?
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