Uplistsikhe, Georgia

I don't think I can completely convey how much effort it took to get this shot. Mom was pointing out every donkey and cart along the way, but would not say she wanted a picture until it was too late to stop. Finally, we just pulled over the next time we saw one so that Mom would not have to ask...

First view of Uplistsikhe

Peek-a-Boo!

Uplistsikhe is a 2,000 year old trading center that used to be part of the Silk Road.

Only Shauri was paying attention to me

Trying out being a pharmacist instead of a nurse

I don't know what the deal with the hole in the ground was

Shauri was showing me her incredible modeling skills

This is a favorite painting of Mary and the Christ Child. Long story short is the faces are dark because the painting miraculously bled when it was shot after originally being painted forever ago (6th century?) and the blood oxidized to leave their faces darker.

We look soooooo much alike

The two love-birds...still "naturals"

George Washington's head...in Georgia

A big cat's head

Prayer rags tied to trees were found. No rhyme or reason to their placement that I could detect.

The craters are where wine vats would have been placed

The Orthodox Church was built on top of a pagan temple a few centuries after the trading post began.

We stopped at another church that the US Foreign Service Office was reviewing for possible funding for protecting/restoring the building.

We ate dinner at a restaurant that nestled on the edge of the cliff over the river through Tbilisi. These are views from the restaurant.