Breakfast at David's house
Today I'm going to Kakheti with David! Our long-held dream since 2022 of going to Kakheti together and drinking wine was finally about to come true.
In the morning we took our time eating at David's house: something like a spinach ohitashi dish, dark bread, rice, boiled egg, and sautéed chicken. It felt very Georgian and was delicious.
To Kakheti by minivan
After breakfast we took a taxi to the metro station.
We headed by metro to the place where the minivans were. Since there was about an hour until departure, we went to a nearby cafe. I asked, "Which tea do you recommend?" and actively struck up conversations. There were a lot of Americans around.
After arriving in Kakheti, we walked to the lodging. We surprised his relatives, so the uncle and aunt were shocked.
I felt how nice it is to have family connections like that.
Exploring the town and lunch
Right away we decided to explore the town! For David this was like his backyard, but for me it was uncharted territory. Every building was truly beautiful, the air was so good, and the town surrounded by mountains was really soothing.
For lunch, we decided to go to a nearby restaurant!
Here I ate khinkali for the first time in about four years! It had really been a long time, and back in 2022 David and I had promised that next time we'd go to Kakheti together and drink wine—so the moment had finally come.
But he apparently doesn't like drinking wine in the daytime, so in the end I ordered wine by myself, and we ate khinkali together with a salad of cucumber, tomato, and sunflower oil.
I ate this salad many times throughout the trip, but the salad at this restaurant was the best.
I also ate khinkali for the first time in a long while, savoring each one. It was incredibly delicious.
The 23 km city wall and the orange sunset
We walked around the town of Sighnaghi. There's supposedly a 23 km city wall—second only to the Great Wall. We walked a part of it, and it was very cold.
But the scenery was very beautiful and there were many planes flying. The sky felt very open and I think you could see hundreds of kilometers. The gradient from orange to blue in the sunset was beautiful.
Winery and orange wine
We walked to a winery. An older man explained everything carefully and it was very informative. I learned a lot about Georgian orange wine.
Later I heard that this man once proposed marriage to David's mother when they were young (haha). The world feels both vast and small—or maybe it's the kind of thing that happens in a sparsely populated country like Georgia.
We did a tasting, and the sparkling wine was the best. But it was expensive.
Superavi wine at a relative's house
We had a meal at David's relative's house.
They served khinkali, eggplant salad, bread, kebab, and all sorts of other dishes. The Superavi wine we drank there was sweet and the best. The uncle told me, in Russian, about his life and what he does.
I think it's amazing how casually they talk to people they've just met, and that that's just normal there. I thought if I behaved that confidently, life would become more interesting.
Comfortable silence
My first trip to Kakheti. It was a lot of fun. Since this is David's mother's hometown, I experienced many things as I traveled.
Day one of traveling with David. We didn't talk a lot, but perhaps because we already understand each other, we often spent time together without saying anything, valuing each other's time.
But I felt that's exactly how we're creating a comfortable space for each other.
