Ludwigshafen Calling

Yeah. That is quite a mouthful. The signs just say "Lu", but I thought Lu Calling would just confuse people: Do I know a Lu? Who is Lu?. In any case, Jason and I made it out of Georgia and are back in Germany. Or as Jason calls it: Die Heimland-- mostly because the beer and brats are plentiful and Elizabeth and Thomas have a push-button grind-and-brew coffee miracle in the kitchen. Our only snag... well... basically we ran breathless through the airport in Prague after Schengen and security balancing our shoes, belts, and laptops, trying to make our plane (5 minutes to spare!). There was a pile up of Russians ahead of us at Schengen; they even turned one guy back- no entry!

Oh- and a tree fell on the ICE train tracks from Frankfurt to Mannheim, so we took a chug chug regional (an hour and some change, rather than 30 minutes! oh- the agony!). Elizabeth and Thomas took pity on us, though, and picked us up in Mannheim.

A stop for lunch in Freinsheim

Today we biked to Freinsheim, where Thomas has a house (it is being sold) and Bad Durkheim. The sun was unusually plentiful, so we are all sunburned. Weather is calling for continued sunny skies and (gulp!) 90 degrees! We should see Germans bursting into flames over the next few days... or perhaps just more of Germans than we want to.

Waiting for lunch- Jason drank beer, which was almost scandalous in the Rhein Wine valley! (Okay, I might've had mineral water...)  

We walked around the old walls of the city
some.

The town was founded by the
Romans...

Bad Durkheim- the Salt Cure

Thomas wandered off... I think he was aiming for that sign that says "Bier Garten"

We swung down an extra spur so we could take a picture with the "Spargelman"  (behind us)
Spargel translation: asparagus

Signaghi

Ani, her brother, and two friends hauled us out to Signaghi, through the wine region yesterday. the wine regions rests in a wide river valley between several mountain ranges. Ironically, we did not stop at a single vineyard. We took a mess of pictures-- the countryside was just spectacular:

Roadside stop for bread and cheese

Bread kiln

resulting flatbread

Wheels of cheese to go with 

The walled city of Signaghi

Students organizing themselves for a photo

City street

View from inside the city walls

"Lean out a bit!" (a view from the church at the top)

Flowers and ramparts

Georgian gas- all of the pipes were external, running along city streets and over driveways

back garden

rooftop chimneys

streets

City center

Souvenir hawkers waiting for our descent

Tourist walk that-away

Jason on the wall- you can see it extending around the city on the left

Students on the wall

Tower view

Okay- not recommended. Ani and her friends climbed up on the crenelated top of the tower

Students on the tower

We stopped at a mountain lake resort for 'lunch' at about 4. 

Okay- I may have discovered the swings, while waiting for dinner

After dinner- (L-R) Ani, Teo, Maka, and Ani's brother whose name escapes me...

The resort had bikes to rent and a path around the lake

They rented a paddle boat

We tried to get a picture of the vineyards with the mountains beyond... didn't work. 

We stopped at a gas station on the way back- this was the assortment of cars for sale across the street

View from the gas station. Yeah- wow. 

The Caucuses

Jason and I took off to go to the Ethnographic museum stretched over 20 hectares up on the mountain, our mountain, on this side of the city. We had read that you could go to Vake Park and trudge up there in about twenty minutes, thus making it a two-for. So, we took a bus to the park and struck out into the park's center.

Soviet era memorial to WWII- with graffiti

"Eternal" flame from the WWII memorial

No signs, though. We just randomly stumbled down roads, striking out in the general direction we thought the museum lay. We ended up on a winding vertical road, but figured we were on the right path because a steady stream of taxis was heading up there. It was cheap to get in- about $1 a piece. Sadly, the place was kind of in ruins with overgrown paths leading to ramshackle structures that were closed. We found 3 buildings that were open. It needs a bit of a cash infusion.

Peasant home at the Ethnographic museum

Yesterday we hauled up to the caucuses; we were in Mskheta-Mtianeti, the region next to South Ossetia. Ani arranged a driver for us, who as Jason described, was the least talkative taxi driver in all of Georgia. He drove like Thomas, all bat-of-hell, goal-focused and don't-get-in-my-way, up this winding mountain pass (the old Russian military highway to Vladikavkaz) occasionally slamming on his breaks for cows, pigs and sheep in the road... and sometimes all three led by a shepherd on horseback. We missed about a million pictures as villages flew by in a blur of colors. He was clearly pushing the Kia sedan we were in to the edge of its specs.

Once we got way north, we ran into construction, which meant our single lane road suddenly turned to mud and was shared by chinese dump trucks and volvo backhoes.

I wish I could have gotten some video of the mad scrambling that ensued- cars going and coming, swarming over all sides of the road seeking the lesser of the car consuming pot-holes and, then, with inches to spare, they reorganized to pass, although not always on the "correct" side. We went through tunnels without lights and finally arrived in the town of Stepantsminda, where the Gergeti Trinity Monastery is located. A Niva 4x4 pulled up alongside and offered us a lift to the monastery on the mountain. I had wanted to hike it. We were told it was about an hour walk, but gaging the distance from where we stood, it looked like at least two in each direction. And it was raining. So, we paid Niva man his exhorbitant 50 lari price tag (about 30 USD). And Man was it worth it! Not because of the trail or the rain, but because being hauled up the side of the mountain in the Niva 4x4 was insane! (and as Jason and I agreed, worth every penny) I don't think another vehicle could've handled the narrow, muddy, washed out roads (that we shared with other Niva's racing up and down the mountain). Jason physically clung to various parts of his seat and the car, but when he reached for his seatbelt, "ne nado! ne nado!" was shouted over the growl of the engine and the constant ping and scrape of rocks: You don't need it! he assured Jason that no cops were around. We leaned at precarious 45 degree angles and backed up around switchbacks to let others pass, and on a couple of occasions I'm not sure what happened because I just closed my eyes.

Neva Ride

Gergeti Trinity Monastery

View from the monastery- such as it was

Niva 4x4's scrambling back down the mountain to Stepantsminda

On our trip back, if I was able, I yelled a pre-emptive stop request to our driver.

Church clinging to the edge of a mountain

I still didn't get any of the centuries old towers that lined the pass at 20 to 30 miled intervals (we always turned at the wrong time) nor did I get the burned out "Univermag" (store) from the Soviet era, abandoned on the roadside. The weather cleared as the valley widened. The impossibility of the region was quite striking; we had no doubt why the Turks, the Russians, the Soviets, and the Russians again found the region unruly and unconquerable. It was a jumble of mountains and hidden villages up narrow passes. We hit up one last fortress, maybe the start of the towers that line the pass, before we left the high mountains and returned to Tbilisi.

Ananuri

Jason outside the walls

NOTE: The students told us yesterday, on our trip out to the wine region, that the road we were on was featured on the "Worlds Most Dangerous Roads"program... ack.