We replicated the trip I'd taken earlier with Sandy, Marie, and Eberle, including a taste of the hot chocolate, lunch at the Mexican restaurant, a stop in the old church, and a visit to the Pheasant's Tears winery.
Each brought a fresh perspective.
At St. George church, there was no wedding in progress, so we got to investigate the interior at our leisure.
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| Sighnaghi, Georgia. Accoutrements of an active church. St. George. |
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| Sighnaghi, Georgia. Matrimonial crowns, St. George Church. |
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| Sighnaghi, Georgia. St. George Church. |
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| Sighnaghi, Georgia. These look like Ethiopian figures. |
At the Mexican restaurant, the view was still spectacular, and Kate bought a CD from the owner, who is a member of a group that sings traditional chants. He learned about Mexican food when he spent a year in California teaching monks Georgian chant (versus, say, Gregorian chant).
The restaurant owner is the man in the green shirt, in the middle, standing.
After a satisfying lunch, we walked down and then up to Pheasant's Tears winery, where I hoped we'd see John Wurdeman, one of the owners. (He is Nely's hero.) We didn't succeed in that regard, but we enjoyed some wine and had a look-see in the cellar, or maroni.
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| Sighnaghi - Pheasant's Tears wine maroni |
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| Sighnaghi - Pheasant's Tears wine maroni |
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| Sighnaghi - Pheasant's Tears wine maroni |
Outside, we looked at the traditional qvevri, which is what gets buried in the ground, filled with the wine makings.
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| Sighnaghi - Pheasant's Tears wine qvevri |
We were entranced by the jewel-tone color of our wines.
On the way out, we saw a beautiful cake and bouquet of flowers, intended for a wedding party later. I'm reminded of my aunt June's response to an invitation to indulge in a sweet: "No, thank you, the visual feast is enough."
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| Sighnaghi - Pheasant's Tears cake and flowers |
On the way to our departing marshrutka, I stopped in a shop that seemed to specialize in decrepit food items.Cheese hardening and curling as one watched. I liked the fish hanging.
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| Sighnaghi - Fish hanging |
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