Don Curry and Street Life

Before starting a journey, Don Curry always makes an exact plan. He filters out the sights he is really interested in (usually too many) from all the available ones and then puts them in a meaningful order to visit. However, his years of experience have shown that the sum of the highlights does not necessarily make a highlight trip. Because these outstanding sights can already be comfortably viewed from all possible angles on Google Maps or Wikipedia from home. The real surprise of a journey often lies exactly between the highlights. Here Don Curry can still feel like a real explorer...

However, the first discovery of the day should be his vehicle for the coming weeks. Yesterday, Platon from 'PARents.ge', the car rental company chosen by Don Curry, had already contacted him. Shortly after 9:00 a.m., a large black Nissan XTerra drove up the narrow alley towards the hotel. Platon took a lot of time to introduce Don Curry to the features of the vehicle. He also promised to be available 24 hours a day on WhatsApp for questions and problem solving. Don Curry initially had one request: Platon should please turn the bulky car in the direction of travel so that Don Curry would not have to test his reverse driving skills under extremely cramped conditions right from the start.

After the introduction, Don Curry treated himself to a light breakfast at the buffet, which was very sparsely stocked today. Presumably, there were few other guests at the moment besides him. Then he asked where to find the pool that he had not yet discovered. The receptionist was visibly startled and said quite directly: 'Your time has expired! You can no longer use the pool.' But Don Curry quickly reassured the concerned hotel employee by showing him the camera and climbed numerous steps to marvel not so much at the small pool, but at the wonderful view over Tbilisi with the tower of Bethlehem Church in the foreground.

Then he left the hospitable place to trust his mobile from now on. He briefly considered calling it 'Beast', but then decided on the concise 'Xerra', which captured the wildness and the relatively loud roar of the engine quite well.

Xerra started without any problems and was easy to maneuver through the streets of Tbilisi. The first stop along the way should be a Carrefour supermarket to stock up on drinks for the coming days. As always, Don Curry checked the selection for unusual specimens of the 'Softdrink' species and found a soda with tarragon flavor. He had to take that with him. It seemed unusual to him that a fee had to be paid for parking at the supermarket, but it amounted to only €0.60.

After reaching the city limits of Tbilisi, the traffic situation changed drastically. The dense congestion suddenly gave way to smooth progress. But it became lively on the streets in a different way. Cowherds liked to lead their herds along the asphalt roads. The further Tbilisi was left behind, the more the number of herds without herders increased, and these animals had developed a special passion: as soon as a car appeared, they trotted slowly towards the middle of the road. That was certainly their daily thrill, their excitement in the ordinary monotony of their existence. Don Curry can well imagine that in the evening the cows lie down side by side, chewing the cud, and whisper to each other how many fast cars they braked today. Don Curry also grants cows their own sense of humor.

Gradually, the streets came alive in a different way. Don Curry saw dogs almost always at the roadside, some sheep appeared, and in some villages, individual pigs wallowed in puddles. In addition, there were interesting representatives of the bird world: Don Curry recognized crested larks and several hoopoes. And when turtles leisurely crossed the roads, Don Curry couldn't stop marveling. He even stopped for one, which also paused bewildered; otherwise, it would probably have become a victim of the two oncoming motorhomes on the opposite lane.

As the first sight along the way, Don Curry headed for the Cathedral of Ninotsminda. However, this mighty fortified church from the 6th century had not survived the times quite as well. Only the mighty apses resisted decay. Instead, sturdy defensive walls from later centuries and the carefully designed flower beds of the existing convent created a very special atmosphere.

There was even more atmosphere at Don Curry's next destination, the cave monastery of David Gareja, located directly on the border with Azerbaijan. But therein lies the big problem with this monastery. While the well-inhabited main monastery is always accessible, the historically significant satellite monasteries are only reachable by walking over Azerbaijani territory for a while. What used to be tolerated during Soviet times and for many years afterwards has now become a political issue. Although Georgia offered other land for exchange, the Azerbaijani government insists on its right of sovereignty at this location and prohibits any crossing of the border. But from the Azerbaijani side as well, access to the satellite monasteries is not allowed. So they remain inaccessible to visitors. Georgian border guards also warned Don Curry not to go any further. The entire area around the monasteries is known to be extremely snake-infested, Don Curry had read. However, he also knows that travel guides like to dramatize to make certain destinations appear even more interesting. But hardly had Don Curry climbed the steep path to the satellite monastery when a 1.5-meter-long white-copper-colored snake crossed his path, briefly assessing whether he might be a good lunch snack, but quickly disappeared when Don Curry pointed the camera at it. So she will never know how photogenic she actually is. A few meters further, a turtle did not escape Don Curry's exposure skills as quickly.

Despite the unreachable artistic highlights, Don Curry was extremely satisfied. Monks always have a special affinity for pronounced natural beauty. When they found a monastery in solitude, it should be at least a beautiful solitude. Already on the long journey to the monastery, Don Curry marveled at the almost treeless hilly grassland that seemed to stretch endlessly. Perhaps the westernmost extension of the Central Asian steppe areas? At the David Gareja Monastery itself, rocky formations of brightly striped layers of rock dominated, giving the whole place an almost unreal character. As if a surrealist like Dalí had been commissioned by the monks to create a landscape. And when a lonely horse sought a place in the foreground of this visually stunning scenery, it almost threatened to become kitschy. But sometimes the world is truly unbearably beautiful!

Georgia's most famous artist, Niko Pirosmani, wanted to capture exactly this simply beautiful world. He was so unsuccessful that he literally starved to death and was buried in a pauper's grave somewhere. Today, he is the only painter in the country to have achieved a certain level of international fame. Even Picasso is said to have been fascinated by his works. Yesterday, Don Curry admired some of his works in the National Gallery in Tbilisi, and today he visited his hometown of Mirzaani. For the entrance fee of €0.30, he not only received a beautifully designed ticket but also a personal guided tour. Unfortunately, the imposing museum built during the Soviet era is currently under restoration, the young Georgian woman explained regretfully, but he could still visit the birthplace. She regretted even more that Don Curry did not understand Russian properly, so she could only offer him a few English words as explanations. Don Curry didn't find this tragic because the birthplace itself consisted of only one room with sparse furnishings. This is where people slept, cooked, and lived - the whole extended family together. At least now Don Curry could understand why Pirosmani was drawn to Tbilisi at a young age.

Since time had advanced a bit, he decided to forego the long detour to the Holy Trinity Church in Gurjaani and headed directly to Sighnaghi. Xerra had to show real performance because the picturesque town is located high up on a ridge that can only be reached via numerous switchbacks. Almost the entire old town of Sighnaghi is still surrounded by city walls, and uneven cobblestones lie between the old houses. But tourism had long since taken over this medieval beauty: the old town is almost exclusively home to restaurants, guesthouses, and souvenir shops; the former authenticity fell victim to unlimited commercialization. Nevertheless, the stroll through the old streets and the wide views to the mountain range of the Caucasus delighted Don Curry very much.

He only made a brief visit to the Bodbe Monastery. The magnificent new church attracted all the attention, while the old church from the 9th century literally lay in the shade of the surrounding trees. However, it had exceptionally well-preserved frescoes from the Middle Ages and seemed almost completely painted. Unfortunately, the local nuns were particularly vigilant and admonished Don Curry after the first photo he took - presumably secretly.

Only 3 kilometers from the monastery, his accommodation for the night is located: the Lost Ridge Inn, an exciting mix of hotel, restaurant, CraftBeer brewery, and horse ranch. Accordingly, a very mixed crowd had gathered, as Don Curry would only notice later. First, he checked into his room, which had a large veranda, and rested a bit from his first day of driving.

The restaurant, as the hotel manager informed him, is located 100 meters away on the ranch property. Don Curry enjoyed the short walk and found the 'Ranch Café' with almost all the tables already full. People dined outside in front of the café on a beautiful meadow under trees. Numerous horse enthusiasts made up the majority of the guests, as well as small groups who had booked a multi-day excursion from Tbilisi and were now supposed to stay here overnight. Don Curry was handed a handwritten menu. Of the 15 options, only one contained meat: 'Roasted Chicken' - everything else was typical of the very vegetarian-friendly Georgian traditional cuisine. Since Don Curry had no time for lunch, he ordered the chicken, roasted potatoes, and beetroot salad with tkemali, and of course, the hotel-brewed CraftBeer. To make the decision easier, the waiter suggested the tasting set - all four varieties in small tasting glasses. Good idea!

The kitchen served not culinary experiments but real Georgian home cooking. The three large roasted chicken pieces came in a spicy garlic milk sauce; the small potatoes were roasted whole and refined with dill and lots of butter; you could find the beetroot like this in Germany too. Both the potatoes and the beetroot were accompanied by tkemali, the typical Georgian sauce made from sour pickled wild plums. But while Don Curry didn't taste the almost corrosive acidity of the tkemali at the hotel yesterday, he was very convinced by the sauce offered here, which was probably homemade, with its delicately fruity spiciness. It provided a welcome addition especially to the potatoes.

More than satisfied, Don Curry returned to his hotel on the road. Here, he realized, he was enriching the street life himself - alongside all the turtles, birds, dogs, pigs, and cows. And indeed, the cars slowed down and gave way to him as well...