The heroine of the famous book “Eat, Pray, Love” traveled on the floor of the world to get gastronomic pleasure, gain spiritual enlightenment and understand a high feeling. We claim that she in vain spent so much effort and time: everything that a person needs for happiness is in Georgia!
I want to go to Georgia!
Eat
National Georgian cuisine has long won thousands of hearts around the world: names such as Khachapuri, chakhokhili, Kharcho and Tabaca chicken are known even to people who have never been to Georgia. But the real taste of these and many other dishes can be found only by visiting this sunny country, as well as, as well as to take part in the real Georgian feast. In Georgia, there is a saying that during the feast time stops, and the clock spent in the company of guests does not go against life. That is why the feasts are so long and verbose, and the owners are incredibly generous. The main thing at the table is love and family, there is no place for disputes and contradictions. Toasts are pronounced long and ornate, but always with deep meaning and seasoned with stories from the personal experience of the toastmaster. By the way, it is not customary to pay Tamade, because it is not a job, but a real calling, friends or relatives are invited to lead a feast, but anyone can take a word.
Georgian dishes are spicy and spicy, and their taste is ideally shaded with fresh, but surprisingly tasty Georgian bread Shoti, which is baked in special round brick furnaces. They say that the bread comes out especially tasty, soft and crispy if you sing during its baking. In Georgia, you must definitely try khinkali and barbecue, the main thing is not to forget that both of these dishes are customary, even in a restaurant. As a delicious souvenir, it is worth bringing juicy fresh churchellla.
Wine occupies a special place in the gastronomic culture of Georgia. During archaeological excavations in Georgia, jugs for wine and stone presses were found, which were used several thousand years before our era! Nowadays, Georgian wine is supplied to 40 countries of the world, and in their homeland not a single meal can do without a grape drink. It is believed that different varieties of wine have not just a different taste, but also a different character, which can only be understood after the third glass. Yes, and the drinking devices themselves in Georgia are very different: jugs, special cups and scoops decorated with silver horns of different sizes, there is even a half-liter ceramic vessel in the form of a baby cradle, from which it is customary to drink for the birth of a child. Each toast certainly ends with the friendly exclamation of “Gaumardzhos!”, Which translates as a wish for health to all the audience.
The first toast is customary to drink to the bottom, and he is always “for God!”
Pray
The majority of the population of Georgia are Orthodox. Christianity came to the country at the beginning of the 4th century, that is, much earlier than the baptism of Rus’. The Blessed Virgin Mary is considered the patroness of Georgia, and many temples and monasteries have been preserved since medieval times. But the main thing is that your belonging to any denomination does not matter, just Georgia is the country where you can feel divine patronage, become closer to nature, to the world and to people.
In Georgian myths and legends, Jesus and Virgo Maria easily coexist with giants, demigods and other characters borrowed from Greek mythology. God in Georgia is cheerful, kind, and favorable, especially to Georgians. According to legend, the Georgian people were late for the distribution of land by God, because they arranged a feast and raised toasts for its glory. This was very touched by God, and he gave the Georgians a piece of paradise, reserved for himself.
The main holy place and heart of the spiritual life of Georgia is its first capital – the city of Mtskheta. The legend, if you put it briefly, says that one native of this city of Eliosa happened to be in Jerusalem after the death of Christ, where he managed to redeem Jiton Jesus. Eliosis brought Hiton to his hometown and showed his sister, and she squeezed him in her hands and died with happiness, her palms could not, so they buried her along with the fabric. In the place of the grave, a cedar grew up, which was cut to build a church, but only a holy log soared in the air and did not want to fall into place. Saint Nino lowered the log with prayer, and the erected church was called Svetitskkholyvi, which means “Life -giving pillar.”
This story clearly demonstrates the essence of Georgian spirituality – a long, as a traditional national toast, a narrative, a little confusing, but from which it becomes warm and joyful in the soul. Every temple and shrine have such stories, so excursion tours will make an indelible impression even on persons that are far from religion!
But even more than stories about God and saints, Georgians love stories about love.
Love
“Love is in the Air” is about Georgia. The surprise of foreigners to the local cordiality and hospitality surprises in turn the Georgians themselves. After all, each guest is accepted here as a family of a family who is known and loved for a long time. Love for a mother is considered a saint in Georgia, so the biggest insult for any man is a disrespect for a woman who gave him a life. But romantic love is no less revered. So, on April 15, Georgia celebrates the Day of Love. This holiday was adopted by parliament at the end of the last century as an alternative to the European Day of Lovers, but the ardent Georgian youth began to celebrate both.
The most romantic city in Georgia is Batumi. Everything has everything to love here: the unhurried rhythm of the life of the sea resort, picturesque sunsets, very gently formed by the touching sculptural compositions of the embankment. Some cities say that you can leave your heart there, in Batumi, on the contrary, there is a feeling that this city gives you a piece of its own.
Many legends are complicated about love and one of the most romantic formed the basis of the novel “Ali and Nino” by the Azerbaijani author, who wrote under the pseudonym Kurban Said. The actions of the novel for the most part unfolded in the Caucasus: in Azerbaijan and Georgia, and the story itself tells about the love of a man and a woman, an obstacle for which neither cultures and religions, nor people, nor distances can become. Inspired by this touching story, the Georgian sculptor Tamara Kevytadze designed in 2007 the dynamic sculpture “Ali and Nino”, which was installed in Batumi in 2010 after the presentation at the Biennal Vienna. The sculpture is the figures of a man and women who move towards each other and merge into a single whole.
For love, you can go to Georgia together, or one can one. In the first case, fresh air and hot wine will no doubt warm your feelings, but if you get to visit Georgia without a second half, you will be pleasantly surprised, from the first minutes you feel in a circle of a loving family.
