The happenings of Tuesday January 21, 2025 until Wednesday January 22, 2025 in transit from Caesarea, Israel to Tbilisi, Georgia
The night before we were scheduled to leave Israel for India, my father the ophthalmologist ran impromptu eye checks on all of our children before they had to go to sleep. My father informed us that Amichai was seeing 20/450 and needed glasses. Multiple thoughts raced through my mind:
Oh no. This is not good.
Was he this blind in Tanzania? Did he even see anything while we were on safari?
Are we that neglectful? Probably.
How on earth will we find glasses while traveling?
That last thought was answered the next day. My mother found a pair of old glasses that had belonged to my Aunt Chaya (z”l). They were almost a perfect match for Amichai’s current eyesight, and my father pronounced them “fine enough” for the remainder of our travels. Thank you, Aunt Chaya!
With that issue resolved, we turned our attention to packing up, which meant the boys had as much screen time as they wanted until we finished. As much as we didn’t have a ton to pack, our stuff had exploded into numerous rooms all over my parents’ house. I recognize now just how amazingly patient and kind they were to have tolerated us and our belongings all over their house for as long as they did. Packing was an exercise in categorizing: items to stay in Israel until our return in May, items to send home to America, and items to take with us. Although we are traveling with only 150kg total worth of belongings (as Chaim proudly tells everyone who crosses our path), he and I also feel we could have traveled with even less. It felt good to lighten our load.
Finished, we ordered pizza for the boys knowing this would probably be the last pizza we had for a while. Then, we hung out with Poppop and Grandma taking turns playing Contract Gin (a family card game) and playing outside. Unfortunately, while playing outside, Amichai and Eitan knees’ crashed into each other and Amichai ended up on the ground writhing in pain. Thankfully, an hour of icing and sleeping in the sun cured him enough to be able to walk again. Finally, our car was packed up and our departure time was approaching. It was time to leave. The air was a mix of a excitement, sadness, anticipation, and anxiety. Matanel captured the moment best when he turned to us and said, “I’m excited to go, but sad to leave.”
Our drive to the airport and car return went as smoothly as possible. We found out our flight was delayed just as we entered the main area of the airport. Uh oh. We were on a self-transfer flight through Tbilisi, Georgia that was scheduled to depart at 12:00AM. If our first flight didn’t land with enough time to transfer to our second flight in Tbilisi we would be staying the night. Not something we wanted to do given how cold it was in Tbilisi. On the upside, the boys enjoyed a shwarma and kosher McDonald’s dinner before we took off.
Knowing there was a chance we’d miss our connecting flight before we even left Israel gave Chaim and me time to think flexibly and come up with a backup plan. Instead of managing a stressful situation that could have easily frazzled us, we had a plan in place before we landed. Of course, that didn’t mean we didn’t try to get off the plane as quickly as possible to at least attempt making our flight. Theoretically, we arrived with plenty of time to make our next flight. In reality, the Tbilisi airport had already closed their international connections and transfer wing. The kind woman at the information desk tried getting Indigo to hold the flight for us, but to no avail. The next possible flight wasn’t until the following night at midnight. We no choice but to go through customs and enter The Republic of Georgia. The next possible flight wasn’t until 12:00AM the next night.
By the time we finished speaking with the Indigo desk representatives to put us on the next flight to Delhi, it was approaching midnight Tbilisi time. It was below 32°F in Tbilisi. A temperature for which we were woefully underprepared. Our heavy winter clothes (aka a heavy sweater and hat for each of us) were in Israel. Tbilisi was freezing. We were freezing. Thankfully, we found a hotel within a short walking distance and made our way there quickly. Chaim and I marveled at our little troopers, traipsing in the dark with their bags. By the time we were checked in and ready to sleep, it was 2:00AM Tbilisi time (midnight Israel time.)
Though the Republic of Georgia had come highly recommended from a friend back home, it hadn’t really fit into our travel plans. After a late wake up, we decided to take advantage of our day in Tbilisi. Armed with as many layers as possible (I was personally wearing three pants, including long-underwear, four tops, including long underwear, and two pairs of socks), we left to explore Old Tbilisi.
Old Tbilisi is beautiful and quaint. We started in Mediani Bazaar, an underground market which is now a remnant of the old bartering market from the times of the silk road. The small area we saw was but a fraction of what the bazaar used to be. Inside were trinkest and antiques. Certainly a great place for a collector to visit. However, it offered no warmth, leading us to leave earlier than perhaps we would have had it been warmer. We found our way to a restaurant area. A few yards away from a Dunkin’ Donuts was a kosher restaurant. We were elated to find out that there are multiple Kosher restaurants, a wine shop, and a beautiful shul in the area. We planned to return for dinner.
We braved the cold to cross the Bridge of Peace. As we walked, we noticed numerous stray dogs all with ear tags. They were all very calm, mostly asleep, but it seemed a bit strange to see so many stray dogs milling about. We noted that it was similar to all of the stray cats we saw in Athens with clipped ears. They belonged to no one, yet everyone took care of these animals. At the end of the bridge stood three men with peacocks. The boys were all very excited. Before we even knew what was happening, one of the guys put a peacock on one of the boy’s arms and telling us to take pictures. In short, we got conned into paying for pictures with peacocks who didn’t look as healthy as one would hope. It was a good lesson for the boys before we got to India: When a stranger holding an animal invites you to pet or hold said animal, assume you will be expected to pay for the experience.
Afterward, we wound our way through Rike Park toward the cable car. Along the way we chanced upon a nameless museum. Literally, we have no idea what the museum is called, only that it has a small wax museum exhibit, a dead butterfly and insects exhibit, and a mirror maze. The boys begged to go inside; we obliged. They took their time going through the butterfly and insect exhibit, marveling at the scorpions and other alien looking creatures pinned inside their case. The wax museum had so random figures like Sadam Hussein, Angelina Jolie, Madonna in her 60s, Kim Jong Un, and Tom Cruise. Based on the previous two exhibits, we were not expecting much from the mirror maze. It turned out to be the best mirror maze we’ve ever visited. The boys were cracking up, having a hilarious time trying to get through. They kept bumping into walls, each other, and getting turned around. Since we were the only people in the museum, they must have gone through more than five times each.
From the museum we took the heated cable car up to see the “Mother of Georgians” – a gargantuan statue overlooking Tbilisi from Sololaki Hill. It was hard to exit the cable car. The heat was a lovely break from the bitter cold. Nonetheless, we explored Sololaki Hill and marveled at the 20m tall statue with her cup of wine in one hand and sword in the other. Unfortunately, one can really only appreciate her backside from Sololaki Hill. The view from the hill was stunning. I couldn’t help thinking about how gorgeous this country must be. It is an area I would love to explore during a warmer season or with the right gear for colder weather. We returned to Rike Park where the boys appreciated playing on the playground and sculptures, such as a gigantic piano that we had to climb up several feet to pretend to play, before returning to the kosher restaurant we passed earlier.
Unfortunately, the restaurant was closed for a private party – it would have been nice of them to tell us this when we inquired earlier that day if they’d be open for dinner. Fortunately, there was another kosher restaurants a few minutes walk away. We stopped at the shul/syngagogue and peeked in. There was a small women’s shiur/class in session that we didn’t want to interrupt. From what we could see, the shul is beautifully kept, with lovely blue walls laden with what looked like gold tinted decorations and writing. It would have been nice to daven/pray there. Perhaps another time.
We walked along Jerusalem Street to the second kosher restaurant, aptly named Jerusalem Kosher Restaurant, where we had the opportunity to try traditional Georgian cuisine such as Khalkhani. Essentially, they are dumplings with mini-burgers inside. One is supposed to eat them by hand. As soon as I picked one up, the burger slid right out of my dumpling. Sufficed to say, I stuck with a fork after that and enjoyed them thoroughly.
At 6:00PM we returned to our hotel so Chaim could do some work and the boys could do some schoolwork. Grateful for our day in Tbilisi and impressed with the boys’ ability to be explorers and go with the flow, we left for the airport excited for warmer weather.
