Добрый день! У нас было неделя отпуска. Мы с тремя друзьями решили ехать в Грузию и Азербайджан. Our desire to do so stemmed from the fervor with which Russian authors have written about the Caucasus, from the peculiar relation Russia shares with the different countries of the region, from the fascination we had for Caucasian traditions, and finally from all the delicious meals we had in Caucasian restaurants (we wanted to experience the real thing!). I will go a bit more in the detail about all these points later. On the 27th October, we took a train to Moscow. Four hours later, we reached 'CIVILISATION'! Facing the square around which 3 train stations are located, I felt the same mix of confusion, anxiety, and excitement as when I visited Edinburgh in December of my first year after almost 4 months of walking around St Andrews' 3-street center. That night, we just walked around the red square and had пельмени in the most highly-rated restaurant on tripadvisor: relatively cheap, comfortable, quick, convenient and DELICIOUS. I definitely recommend you eat at Лепим и варим. The following day, we took a plane to Tbilisi, Georgia. My friends were long through border control when the controller finally let me go. I don't know if it's the passport with two different alphabets on it that confused him, the European countries' stamps without apparent Schengen visa on the passport, or the funny looking BRP card that he kept turning and turning, and banging on the desk...But well, that was a funny first encounter with Georgia, a country I ended up LOVING. GEORGIA Georgia is a relatively small country of a population of nearly 4 million. By the force of nature, its a country where cultures mix. The official language is Georgian, but Russian remains a very important language which is used on a daily basis in the cities. Among the city youngsters, however, English seems to take precedent. That has mainly to do with the active effort of the Western-leaning government to replace Russian by English in the education system. Religionwise, Georgia is a Christian orthodox country, the special status of the orthodox church being recognised by the constitution of the country. The two main religious minorities are Muslims (10.7% as for 2014) and Armenian Apostolic (2.9%). Georgia is located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the south by Turkey and Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. It entertains interesting relations with its neighbours. It was invaded by Russia in 1801 less than 20 years after signing the treaty of Georgievsk providing for the protection of the Georgian territory and the defence of its independence. Georgia later took independence in 1918 after the Bolshevik revolution before getting "integrated" into the USSR, to finally gain independence in 1991 when their constitution was approved by the high instances of the Soviet Union. The rancour they hold against the Soviet time appear very clearly through the extremely confrontational Soviet Occupation Museum. Later, Georgia sought to lean towards a more European style of economic and social structure. This, simply-speaking, led Russia to enter in a five-days war with them in 2008 over the autonomy of two of their regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which Russia recognises as sovereign states. So you will understand that this relation is a bit tense. Regardless, Georgians are such decent and respectful people, and Russians constitute such a big part of the tourism in Georgia (about 40%) that you won't feel much tension and won't hear much about it while talking to Georgians (although my friend says that she noticed a change of attitude when she spoke English instead of Russian in shops or restaurants). The relation it entertains with its other neighbour, Armenia, is that of reliance and dependence. Under the border blockades imposed against Armenia by Turkey and Azerbaijan due to the ongoing Nagornoa-Karabakh-conflict (disputed territory which Georgia recognizes as part of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity), Georgia offers Armenia its only land connection with Europe and access to its Black Sea ports. About 70% of Armernia’s imports enter via Georgia mainly from Russia. Finally, Azerbaijan and Georgia have a peaceful, simple and cordial relationship, both former Soviet republics, both moving towards a more western economic and social system. Additionally, Azeris constitute the largest ethnic minority in Georgia. TBILISI Tbisili itself is a very interesting city. It is the capital and largest city in Georgia, but only compromises a population of 1.5 million. It lies on bank of the Kura river, beautiful river which flows from Turkey to Georgia, then to Azerbaijan before entering the Caspian sea. The city was founded in 5th century by Vakhtang I Gorgasali. Previously the capital was Mtskheta, now a small town about 30 minutes away from Tbilisi. However, to respond to threats of invasion and counter the natural defenselessness of the city, the capital was moved to Tbilisi, a city surrounded with mountains and strategically more favourable. The city has many faces. The architecture in the city is itself a mixture of local Georgian and Byzantine, Neoclassical, Art Nouveau, Beaux-Arts, Middle Eastern, and Soviet Stalinist architectural styles. The Paliashvili Opera and Ballet Theatre on Avenue Rustaveli, for example, is constructed in a Moorish style with a yellow façade with deep orange strips, high stained-glass windows, and intricate mosaics. The buildings along the Marjanishvili Street are all very European. This part of the city is called the German quarter. Some parts of the city look a little dilapidated, which makes sense given the bombings it suffered in 2008. Regardless, It’s a very bright and lively city. In the evening, people, especially young people, can be seeing around the center in groups chatting and just having fun in general. The metro is one of a kind. It only has 3 lines and most stations are only on one line. Links are rare and you reach the platforms as soon as you come down of the escalator. The metro is always busy, packed. The main avenue is named Rustaveli. Most museums, the parliament, administrative buildings, luxurious hotels and the Opera and Ballet Theatre are located on it. The avenue leads to the Liberty square, in the middle of which stands a giant golden statue representing Saint Georgi, Georgia’s patron saint. Before Georgia’s independence from the USSR, the statue of Lenin stood on that same place, but politics prompted this readjustment. The Old Town is not far from the square. There you will find nice Georgian restaurants, shops and just a particular vibe. There are two funiculars in the city, one leading to the Narikala fortress, the other to the panorama view and to our complete surprise to a really odd amusement park. We only managed to go to one of them. Unfortunately, we found it in repair. We then had to take a taxi up and a Marshrukta down (which, in Georgia, are all yellow and actually seem to be in better state than the ones in Russia). The Marjanishvili street is just gorgeous. One end of the street is a pedestrian zone with many cafés and restaurants. The other is full of Turkish, Arab and South Asian restaurants, which was quite surprising for me. We had food in a restaurant called Barbarestan, which specialises in 19th century cuisine if I remember well. We were the last to leave the restaurants that night, so we got offered a dessert each. It was very nice. That quarter is also particularly important for us, because we spent a morning walking up and down the streets looking for a friend, who went to mass and was supposed to meet us by the Bulgarian Embassy (so random). The only problem was that the Bulgarian embassy was relocated about 5 years ago, a fact we learnt on the day while wandering on the courtyard of a business center where, according to our map, the embassy was supposed to be. ONE BONUS POINT FOR TBILISI We were quite surprised when walking around Tbilisi at the number of stray dogs. Naturally, we felt quite bad for them, and started to pay a bit more attention at the ownerless dogs wandering around. We realised that they all had a tag on one of their ear. Later, the guide on one of our excursions explained to us that in Georgia the issue of stray dogs was so alarming that the government decided to take all the stray dogs, treat them of any decease or injury, vaccinate them, tag them and release them back in the quarter they were found in. They are regularly fed and looked after. MTSKHETA We decided to go visit Mtskheta, the country's former capital. A man had the patience and kindness to help us find our way through the chaotic Didube bus station and all the way to the Marshrutka we were supposed to take. Mtskheta is a lovely little town registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and considered the birthplace of Christianity in Georgia. The town is known for its three monasteries: Svetitskhoveli, Samtavro, and Jvari. The first two are directly in the center, whereas Jvari is located about 15 minutes away overlooking the town from the top of the rocky mountaintop at the confluence of the Mtkvari and Aragvi rivers. We didn’t manage to visit the Svetitskhoveli cathedral, but here are some pictures of the other two sites. We got to try Churchkhela: a traditional Georgian candle shaped candy, which consists in grapes or nuts threaded onto a string, dipped in thickened grape juice, fruit juice or honey and dried in the shape of a sausage. KAZBEGI The mountain town of Stepantsminda, previously named after the Mountain Kazbek, is located about 10km south of the border with Russia. We went there to see the Gergerti Trinity Church, but we also got to visit Ananuri, a castle complex on the Aragvi River. It was very interesting to say the details in the construction of fortress: the small holes through which rifles could aim at invaders, the entrance on the back of the tower purposefully elevated in case of avalanche, etc. Gergeti was built in the 14th century in order to safekeep precious relics, including Saint Nino’s Cross, during the times of danger. The invaders would never think that an exposed small and austere cupola-church elevated 2170 meters above the ground, just under Mount Kazbek, would even be worth taking. On the way up I had a lovely conversation with the minivan driver, a young Georgian man, who spoke a decent Russian and claimed that Georgian was the best in the world. Despite my love for Moroccan food, I could barely argue with him. FOOD Food is definitely the thing I enjoyed the most about Georgia. Here are my favourite Georgian dishes. 15-HOUR OVERNIGHT TRAIN JOURNEY: TBILISI - BAKU How many people can say they spent the night of Halloween in a small four-bed train cabin, crossing the border between Georgia and Azerbaijan, surrounded by the faint but still perceptible smell of yeast and urine and the far-reaching sound of Russian rap? I guess not that many. Maybe for an understandable reason...Regardless of the dirty bathroom, irritable train assistant and clueless border control, which I am sure never encountered a Moroccan passport judging by their disbelief and the nature and amount of their questions (“Morocco? Marocco? Monaco?!"), I definitely don’t regret those 15 hours spent in that old train without internet, cafeteria, and notion of privacy. We reached Baku around 10 am. We had to send an outline of our WIYA dissertation, so we had lunch and stayed at the hostel the whole afternoon to make the last changes. Although Azerbaijan is also a country of the Caucasus with similar folklore, traditional wear and shared culinary taste, it differs in many ways from Georgia. Around 98% of the population is Muslim, the majority Shiite, but the constitution of the country does not declare an official religion and all major political forces in the country are secularist.There aren’t that many mosques in the capital, and it is relatively rare to see a woman wearing a hijab. Azerbaijan shares an 11-km long border with Turkey. The official language is Azeri turkish. Many Turkish and Azerbaijani dishes and traditions are similar and the Caucasian country is one of six independent Turkic states. Azerbaijan’s relation with Russia are much more pacific and close than those of Georgia. Azerbaijan was in fact one of the founding members of the Commonwealth of Independent states and has never expressed the desire to join Nato or the EU. On the other hand, Azerbaijan has a particularly strained relation with its western neighbour, Armenia, with which its entertain no diplomatic relations. This situation is largely due to the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. To cut it short, this territory is de jure part of Azerbaijan, despite being de facto controlled by a self-declared Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. This situation stems from the Soviet era where the territory, mainly Armenian-populated, was made an autonomous oblast. In 1988, the Armenians of the oblast demanded to be transferred from Soviet Azerbaijan to Soviet Armenia allegedly for safety reason (they were worried of upcoming discrimination). That led to a war, which ended in 1994. Nowadays, you can’t avoid being questioned about previous travels upon entering the Azerbaijani territory and you will surely encounter this particular question when applying for an Azerbaijani passport: “Have you ever traveled to Armenia? Have you ever entered the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh with an Armenian visa?”. When questioned about the situation and the potential military escalation of the crisis, our guide responded: “They (Armenians) have a population of 3 million. We have an army of 3 million solders.” I didn't quite know how to react to that... Azerbaijan is mainly known for its oil. It’s one of the birthplaces of the oil industry and produces nearly 900,000 barrels of oil per day, which compared to Saudi Arabia (nearly 10 Million barrels per day) isn’t that consequent, but in the context of the region and with its limited population (9.7 million) this production is definitely not negligible. You can definitely feel the effect of petroleum and the affluence when entering the city of Baku. Here are two pictures of underground crossings. I’ll let you guess which one is Tbilisi and which one is Baku. Here are the places which you should definitely visit if you're in Baku. State Museum of Azerbaijan Carpet and Applied Art This museum is the first museum dedicated purely to carpets in the world. It was established in 1967 and is now separated in three different floors: traditional weaving technics and patterns, regional centres of production and differences in their weaving styles, and modern reinterpretations. Wandering around the museum and witnessing the diversity in patterns, colours, usage, and even theme of the Azerbaijani carpets was a joy. The display went from simple wattled mat (Chatan) to extremely rich examples of weaved Socialist Realist art pieces. You can see below the Museum (constructed in the form of a folded carpet) and three of the carpets which I found to be particularly interesting. A funicular leads to the top of a hill where you will find these shiny stairs and a stunning panorama. Walking past the stairs, we encountered a blood-freezing memorial. The faces of tens of men, among them children, were hung over tombstone slabs all indicating the same exact date: 20 January 1991. On that day, the Black January, between 133 and 137 Azerbaijani civilians died, 800 were injured and 5 went missing. This happened after the General Secretary Soviet Communist Party Mikhail Gorbachev declared state emergency in Baku in order to thwart efforts by the Azerbaijani independence movement to overthrow the Soviet Azerbaijani government and allegedly to stop the violence against the Armenian population in the country. This memorial is to show respect and keep in mind the victims of that violent crackdown. The flame towers are the trademark of Baku. Other than that, they are just hotels and offices. Old Town We wanted to feel the soul of Azerbaijan behind the affluence, the European and Soviet style buildings, and modern glass skyscrapers. So we tried visiting the Old Town. Unfortunately, the Old town in Baku was quite deserted, very different from all the Eastern Old Towns I visited in my life (starting from the many ones I visited in Morocco). The main monuments in the old town are the Maiden Tower and the Shirvanshahs’ Palace, both of which are inscribed under the UNESCO World Heritage List. The tower is believed to be a Zoroastrian Fire Temple. The palace was constructed in the 15th century by the Shirvanshah. Azerbaijan was called the kingdom of Shirvan until the 16th century and Shirvanshah was naturally the title of the ruler of the kingdom. Everything changed when we left Baku for a day. We went on a day excursion to the northwestern city of Sheki and saw another side of the country: lively, friendly, but witty people speaking loudly and lightheartedly. On the way to Sheki we stopped at a couple of points. SHAMAKHI Shamakhi is the former capital of Azerbaijan. It is located in the most seismic area of the Caucasus and was hit by powerful earthquakes, one of which occurred in 1191 and was so destructive that the capital of Shirvan was transferred to Baku. There is even an Azerbaijani saying referring to this. If you meet a friend after a long absence, you could greet him with the following: "Where have you been? You disappeared like Shamakhi." Shamakhi is now famous to its mosque. The Juma Mosque was constructed in 743 and is the oldest in the Caucasus. It was damaged multiple times and was last reconstructed in 2015. We later stopped to have tea in the forest and really got to experience Azerbaijani tea culture. It seems that there is an Azerbaijani tradition of dipping a cube of sugar in tea before drinking it. In the past, the kings would do it to check for poison. If the sugar turned green, then the tea was poisoned. If not, it was safe to drink. We were served tea from a samovar (a Russian heated metal container traditionally used to heat and boil water), which was quite funny. You could definitely sense the vestiges of the Soviet era. SHEKI We had lunch in a Karavansaray, a historical complex dating from the 18th century where traders used to stay and trade. Sheki is located on the Silk road, so it was quite impressive to be able to visit and eat in the very place where silk trade took place. CHURCH OF KISH This Church is the first constructed in the Caucasus and dates from the 1st century. Then we finally arrived to Sheki Khan’s Palace, a small summer residence of Hussein-khan Mushtad (18th-century sovereign). It was constructed in 1761-1762. The two-storied building’s facade is painted with anecdotal drawings displaying scenes of hunting and war. The interior of the building is stunning. All the windows are decorated with shebeke: a multi-colored glass, mounted with the help of wooden elements and fixed to one another without the use of glue and nails. The rich mosaic of the palace was very similar to Moroccan mosaic, which delighted me. We weren’t allowed to use our phones inside the building, so I had to upload pictures found online for you to see. This visit was supposed to be the highlight of the day. But to be honest, the highlight has to be the car breaking down at around 10pm in the middle of the mountains, 2 and a half hour away from Baku...We stopped and had tea in a small café. There was a dumbfounded Azerbaijani family in there. A cat was running around as two Russian boys from our group were cruelly chasing it. My friend got a sudden and sharp stomachache. The situation was unreal. I still can’t believe it to be honest. We got back to Baku past midnight. We were supposed to be back around 9pm… FOOD Baku is filled with foreign restaurants, so we didn’t get to eat as many traditional dishes as we wanted. Here are the ones I tried. We also had very good sauces, pickled berries, honey-covered nuts, and a number of side dishes and beverages involving pomegranate. All in all, I enjoyed discovering it.
I very much enjoyed visiting these two very particular countries, and I would definitely go back. Мне очень понравилось путешествовать по этим красивым странам, и надеюсь что, вам интересно было читать о Кавказе! Всё, пока!
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What is student life like in Russia? Student life in Russian is very different to that in the UK. Students have more classes, less time for extracurriculum activities. Societies and sport clubs don't seem to be that popular and are not nearly as diverse. Students will usually suggest going for a walk instead of having coffee or tea in a café. Also students don't go out as much. In the UK, a lot of students go to pubs or night clubs on Fridays and Saturdays, and sometimes on Wednesdays too, but it's definitely not as usual here. How are living costs and standards of living compared to Scotland? It's much cheaper to live in Russia, especially in Yaroslavl (Moscow might end up being as expensive as a number of big cities in the UK but it's an exception in Russia). A bus ticket costs 23 roubles. Restaurants offer "Business lunchs" where you can end up paying only 190 roubles (about £2.5) for a soup, a small pizza and tea/coffee/juice. You can go to the teatre or the philharmonic or 500 roubles and actually watch something of quality. The problem is that Russian salaries are significantly smaller, so the living standards are actually lower. What is the most challenging aspect of living in Russia? I think at the beginning it was the language barrier and the difficulty of making friends with Russians (we couldn't really find any opportunity to socialize) but now I would say it's definitely the culture clash. People tend to be harsher, tougher here. Plus, people in Yaroslavl are known to be quite rude, which doesn't make it any easier. Of course, some people are really nice but others, especially in shops are not exactly pleasant. People stare a lot in the streets. Some people have no shame and don't mind saying very inappropriate things (homophobic, racist or sexist). What do you do for fun in Russia? I like to go on walks with friends (now it's a bit too cold for that but well...). The city is beautiful, especially at night. We used to go bowling with our language group every Sunday. We also went to a couple of karaoke bars. Every Saturday, a friend and I watch a Russian movie together. I also go regularly to the gym or go for runs (it's getting too cold for that now). What is your favourite Russian food? I like mushroom soup, пельмени (russian dumplings) and плов (rice with minced beef, carrots and spices). But my favourite dish here is more of a Georgian dish. I absolutely love Харчо, which is a dish consisting of beef, rice, cherry plum purée and chopped English walnut. There are a lot of Georgian restaurants in Yaroslavl and they are definitely my favourite places to eat. Where do people tend to go in Yaroslavl? A mall, Aura, recently opened in Yaroslavl. It has a variety of shops, a relatively big food section, a bowling and an arcade. It's quite popular and it's always full of people on weekends. People sometimes just meet at a friend's, sometimes in bars (the Cocktail Bar on the main pedestrian street is open 24/7 and seems to be very popular). Karaoke is also quite popular here, and not only for young people. There are a number of cinemas, which are quite cheap. People seem to visit the theatre or the philharmonic quite often or at least try to. People of all ages go to hockey matches, which are fun. Finally, when the weather is good, people just walk. They love walking and talking. The embankment is really pretty and the city in general is beautiful so it's a complete pleasure to just walk around with a friend and talk. Older people often visit their cottage house during weekends and more often during the summer. To quote a number of people, going to the datcha is 'Russia's national sport'. Where were you born and raised? How does that compare with life in Russia? I was born and raised in Casablanca, Morocco. Life is very different in Russia. I felt much less of a culture shock when I moved to the UK. People are much nicer, polite and patient in Morocco, but in Russia like in Morocco people live together, they interact very openly. People care more about what goes on around them and about other people. The weather is very different in Casablanca where temperatures are never extreme. Russians are just used to the cold, but they still cover a lot. The children are always covered in layers of clothes, always with a hat and gloves on, and that applies even when the temperature is not that cold (5 to 7 degrees). Public transport is very good here, you can reach any part of the city with multiple buses and links between cities, towns and even villages in the region are frequent. You don't really need a car at all. People can even reach their datcha by bus. You can sometimes see about 5 buses stop at the same time at a bus stop. That is not so much the case in Morocco. Also I find life here fascinating. Everything is new for me. Even the simplest notions I have about life are completely destroyed on a daily basis and there are some specific unexpected norms here:
I hope this was informative. Let me know if you have other questions. Пока! |
AuthorThird year student at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. Studies Russian, German and International Relations. Loves traveling. Loves languages. Loves to share. Hence, this BLOG! Archives
January 2018
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