Our next stop is Akhaltsikhe, a town that according to two people who I inquired about rides said that staying 3 nights there was a terrible idea. We didn’t listen.
A church on our way to Borjomi. Our driver was rather grumpy. This was by far the largest concentration of tourists that we have seen. The is Borjomi, the town with the same name as the water. This was the original spring and the water came out nice and warm.. It also had a nice sulfer twinge, if you are into that sort of thing. The bottles were hand blown through the 1950s.I found this tree/vine interesting. No witty comments. We did some walking in the Borjomi park. There was a gondola, but we passed. More time for lunch which had a very good honey cake.This was our destination. The town of Akhaltsikhe. This is the castle which was rebuilt in 2011 and is now a tourist destination. Most tourists spend 90 minutes at the castle or spend one night on their tour. We stayed 3 nights here, they built a hotel into the castle when they rebuilt it. We got a room upgrade so our room is the second and third floor of the building you see right ahead the with wooden covered balcony’s on the third floor. Katy enjoyed the heated floors in the bathroom ($110/night)We saw this toy store coming into town. After the car ride we walked here and each kiddo was allowed to pick out a toy that cost less than $7. We now own more cheap Chinese junk.The kids favorite playground in town. Right next to the police station. It was the pirate ship playground. Only 1 slide was a little brokenThis gem of a jacket we purchased in Azerbaijan, but it has a built in costume/snow protection hood. It is chillier here, but not this cold.This is Vardzia, one of the main reasons we are in this area. It is the ruins of a cave city that was destroyed in an earth quake. There was minimal signage, and you could wander most places.There was a tunnel systemKaty loved the great footingArcher actually loved the footingWe bought a souvenir from this shop, it was cheaper than at the base Katy coming out of the exit tunnel. The exit was not labeled at all and after 2.5+ hours we were looking for it. It was grape harvest day, and a group of gentleman were picking the grapes at VardziaThe restaurant where we ate lunch gave the kids some of the grapes that were just picked. They were super yummy. The seeds weren’t huge and will help provide some fiber to keep Rose regular (which she needs)The ruins of a castle on our back from Vardzia (1.5 hours drive). I explored it while the kiddos and Katy explored a nearby playground. Katy was historicaled out. There was a street dog that Archer thought was fluffy so he named him “sluffy”This was our grumpy driver behind a vehicle filled with hay in every possible spot. We went to get some bread pastries for dinner. That was a bakery we bought from. The oven is a buried clay oven called a tone. This was a 4+ person operation. I saw a beer store. They had 6 taps. The pricing is per liter with 5=$1.75 with a 2 liter minimum. The only thing else they sold were “beer snacks” like nuts, dried fish, sausage, and cheese.Views of Akhaltsikhe from one of the many towers we climbed up. The castle was a conglomerate of styles and religions over the years. I wasn’t able to find true before pictures. They had a museum that we went through quickly that was one of the nicest small history museums I have been to. The lighting on each exhibit was what made it. We found a treasure chest that was unlocked… No comment. Archer has collected many keys. He is now trying to unlock all doors he comes across. He has concluded he needs more keys. Cannonballs the Russians fired at the castle when they attempted to take it over. First time they failed, second time they succeeded.Georgia has really good fall colors. There is a bush that turns a really great red color that is in the mountains, and this vine like plant that is more of a deep red. Archer literally is trying his keys in every lock that we come across. The door may look old, but the masterlock isn’t. The real question is will Armenia have as many $0.37 vending machines. They are Archer’s favorite. This carousel might have been the roughest one so far, it didn’t even go up and might have been made in someone’s garage. Bye Georgia
Far Flung Forays 