Tbilisi & Svaneti, Georgia, July-August 2010

Tony the amateur handyman wiring lights in his & Lali's new apartment! Didn't know I had it in me! But necessity is the mother of Give it a Go

Centre - a new icon for Kvirikoba

Bottom - Lali at Pari

Tbilisi, Georgia

Do CDs really have that rainbow sheen you've seen in photos, or is it an illusion? No trick of the light here, as direct images show (though you can't prove easily that the effect is part of the photo, I suppose). Just playing with my camera in October.

Wedding photos, 7 (last)

The restaurant we chose for the reception was by the wholehearted recommendation of our friend whose son and daughter had both married there last year.  Great food in abundance for 200 guests, great service, reasonable prices, great programme organised by our friends, all had a wonderful time.

All pics by Nino Narozauli, see

www.udabno.blogspot.com (and don't worry if you can't read or display Georgian)

From the top:

Candles and Svan watchtower at our table

My parents, who had come from across the world with my sister Gill

A pair of dolls representing Lali and me, pinned to the backs of our chairs, nicely mimicking our feelings of delighted exhaustion by the time it was all over

Cutting the cake (decorated specially for us by Hannah Gintz:  yum!) just before our departure

The End for now, as the happy couple are Whereabouts Unknown on honeymoon... But more general photos from me to follow, of course!

Wedding photos, 6

All pics by Nino Narozauli, see

www.udabno.blogspot.com (and don't worry if you can't read or display Georgian)

From the top:

Katy, l, visiting from the UK with husband Paul, and Nino, our hard-working photographer in the single shot shich she didn't take of more than 500 (using my Canon EOS digital camera)

Little Mate (Georgian for Matthew, the "e" is pronounced)

Pyoung singing up a storm in traditional Korean dress

Mari, l, of the Sukhishvili Georgian National Dance Company and partner Beka dancing up a storm (I never tire of Georgian dance, spectacular stuff though hard to photograph; my favourite technique is to blur it to show the motion)

More pics to follow daily!

Wedding Photos, 5

All pics by Nino Narozauli, see

www.udabno.blogspot.com (and don't worry if you can't read or display Georgian)

From the top:

My favourite shot of the whole wedding, from the waltz - beautiful photo, Nino, I'll do a more edited version for you as well

Table and arch

Waltzing with my parents to the most romantic song of my life so far, to which I had seen them dancing as a child - Glen Miller's Moonlight Serenade

Sitting at our table

More pics to follow daily!

Wedding photos, 4

All pics by Nino Narozauli, see

www.udabno.blogspot.com (and don't worry if you can't read or display Georgian)

From the top:

Anticipation...

Leaving the Museum

Car

In the car, going to the reception

More pics to follow daily!

Wedding photos, 3

We had chosen the outdoor Ethnographoc Museum near Turtle Lake for the more formal photos - lots of beautiful old wooden houses to choose from, carved balconies, &c.  Arriving, we discovered that the 23rd was a free entry day for the public!  Nice little gift.  We stuck with the balcony of the very first house, quick and easy.

All pics by Nino Narozauli, see

www.udabno.blogspot.com (and don't worry if you can't read or display Georgian)

From the top:

Flowers

Witnesses

Family from both sides

Us

More pics to follow daily!

Wedding pics now going up, check www.geosynchronicity.blogspot.com daily!

Wedding photos, 2

All pics by Nino Narozauli, see

www.udabno.blogspot.com (and don't worry if you can't read or display Georgian)

From the top:

Putting Lali's ring on

Merab leading us around the altar three times, swinging that incense censer

View of the whole church interior

Coming back down the aisle

More pics to follow daily!

Wedding pictures, 1

The weather was beautiful, not too hot, no rain (until we were safely in our hotel that evening).  The bride had had a back tooth out the day before, though, as it had been bothering her a lot up to then - my idea, but thank God she didn't blame me!  So she had a swollen jaw and quite a lot of post-extraction pain, but rallied amazingly and enjoyed herself immensely, as did I.

All pics by Nino Narozauli, see

www.udabno.blogspot.com  for her blog (and don't worry if you can't read or display Georgian)

From the top:

She waiting to enter the church

Witnesses carrying the crowns and rings

The minister's son, Esaia (Isaiah), in traditional Tbilisi costume, leading me to the altar

Lali's father leading her to me...

More pics to follow daily!

Tbilisi, Georgia

Greetings to you in country number 105, Zimbabwe!  I know who you are...

She & I (top) near where we plan to have our wedding photos taken on Saturday, she middle with flowers, & bottom, a detail of spring blossoms

Tbilisi, Georgia

Some more stencilled, sprayed on items of graffiti on Tbilisi walls.  An art form which intrigues me as it develops

Tbilisi, Georgia

I know, blog posting a bit erratic lately.  But hey, I've got 9 days to go before my wedding, so I think that's a reasonable excuse, what with all the organising going on.

Top:  She

Middle:  the 100 kolga.ge photos on 3 floors at Karvasla Museum for a few days - tonight's the night of decision at their 3rd location, TBC Banks main branch, which 5 will win 1000 lari each?

Bottom:  scene from the Museum stairway which caught her eye as we walked around

Mtatsminda Park, Tbilisi, Georgia

2 shots by N H Paik of me and my kolga print blowup on Friday May 8.  Nice job!  The 100 winners were a real treat to see together.

Jart Dealer, Tbilisi, Georgia

"Jart" in Georgian (well, "jarti", to be exact, as most nouns have an "i" added) means scrap metal.  This yard was full to bursting with it - there's even a complete car in there, its roof visible.  What do they do with it all?!  I HOPE they sell it off occasionally.  The other meaning I know of for the word is in Greg Bear's sci fi novels Eon, Eternity and Legacy, concerning a fearsomely alien race seemingly hostile to all others; this was their name, the Jarts.

"Death of Innocence", Tbilisi, Georgia

This strange scene met my eyes near the flat where I was staying in Tbilisi this March-April.  Hanging up to dry?  (They were there for days.) Victims or captured soldiers in some children's game?  It struck me hard, and I had to go back for pictures more than once