Georgia, land of churches, wine and Stalin

Georgia is a land of old Orthodox Christian churches and monasteries (Georgia having been the second country in the world, after Armenia, to adopt Christianity as its official state religion - in the year 326), so our tour took us to several.  Even for places like the Ananuri Fortress in the above photo, it is the church that catches the eye.  Inside many of them are murals, some badly damaged in the past by those seeing them as idolatry, and with time taking its toll, but even those in relatively poor condition were impressive.

A different strand of the country's history is one that most no longer celebrate - the birth of Josef Stalin.  Apparently though the older residents of Gori, his birthplace, are still proud of his achievements and the city boasts various memorials including a Stalin statue and museum - and Tshirts such as this one on sale.  I suppose in some ways it would have been a cool souvenir, but not one I could see myself  actually wearing!

Rather more wearable, but sadly one I didn't have time to buy, bore the message, "KGB: still watching you", this from the KGB: Still Watching You bar in Tblisi.

Tblisi is a great city, with very impressive architecture (both old and new) and a plethora of cafes, bars, jazz clubs, etc.  Somewhere I would happily go for a chilled long weekend.  But of course I was on a tour so we rushed from sight to sight - not a problem as there was so much to see - but another few days there to just relax and enjoy the ambience would have been welcomed!  Not to forget also the Georgian wines, of which we got to try a few at a couple of wine-tastings.  This is the older part of Tblisi, and nearby
a small selection of the architecture in the newer part.