{"id":247,"date":"2012-06-01T08:43:00","date_gmt":"2012-06-01T08:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ouritalianfarmhouse.com\/ourstory\/?p=247"},"modified":"2026-03-02T17:36:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T17:36:34","slug":"manglisi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ouritalianfarmhouse.com\/ourstory\/2012\/06\/01\/manglisi\/","title":{"rendered":"Manglisi"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the dual interests of a) seeing as many places in Georgia as possible before we leave and b) getting more familiar with our vehicle (now christened Dora the Explorer) before beginning our long drive to Italy, we decided on a Sunday drive to Manglisi, west of Tbilisi.\u00a0 The sunny morning was not yet too warm as we bumped along the gravelled road above Vake Park, down to Chavchavadze Avenue and out the Baghebi Highway.\u00a0 In just a few minutes we were climbing fast toward Tskhneti, a summer resort in the hills, past old Georgian dachas and new holiday villas behind stucco walls.\u00a0 Turning off to the west, we passed through rolling green countryside and small villages, still climbing steadily but more gradually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Somewhere just west of Orbeti it occurred\nto me to glance at the fuel gauge, which read half full.  Good enough for a short jaunt, surely,\nbut in deference to my chronic PTSD (pre-traumatic stress disorder), Jim agreed\nto stop and gas up at the next filling station.  We were through the next town, Didi Toneti, before we knew\nit, having seen no place to buy gas; still, the gauge stood at half full, so\nwe\u2019d be fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the urban attitudes we adopted while living in Washington, DC was a serene disregard for the gas gauge of our Toyota Corolla.\u00a0 We so rarely drove the car more than once a week, and then just to the supermarket and back, that six weeks could elapse before we needed to fill the tank, at any one of the many convenient gas stations in the city.\u00a0 Tbilisi is a similar urban environment, and we use our Explorer much as we did the Corolla\u2014for short hops around town, rarely more than once a week.\u00a0 Significant and important differences do exist, however, and they ought not to be ignored: the Ford is not a fuel-efficient Toyota; gas stations are not so common in rural Georgia as they are in the greater DC region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we began our climb into Manglisi, I took another glance at the fuel gauge, now near E for empty.\u00a0 I remarked on this, remembering suddenly the idiosyncratic tendency of Dora\u2019s fuel gauge to jump from half-full to empty in seconds.\u00a0 Probably some trick of a float in the fuel tank or a minor malfunction of some computer nano-chip.\u00a0 No matter the cause or the inconvenient timing of my sudden recollection, we were about to run out of gas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Topping the first rise into Manglisi\nvillage, we passed a small, deserted-looking frame building painted the pale\ngreen of mint ice cream.  A little\nportico sheltered twin windows, tightly shut with blinds drawn, and cast a\npatch of deep shade just large enough for a single car.  An old sedan sat parked in this shade,\nand then a man slammed shut the trunk, got into the car and drove slowly\naway.  I noticed all this in the\nfew seconds as we drove past; I also noticed tall green-painted letters atop\nthe portico: PETROL  DIESEL.  We continued up the road into the\nvillage, and I looked back at the little house.  It seemed deserted. \nThe lettering on the other side of the portico was in Georgian, and I\ndidn\u2019t make the effort to sound out the words.  We drove on, arriving at a T intersection where we faced a\ndouble storefront with a grocery on the right and a newsstand\/tobacconist on\nthe left.  Three women were walking\naway from the grocery; I called to them and asked for the nearest petrol\nstation.  One woman waved her hand\nvaguely back down the hill, the way we had come.  Jim turned the car and down we went, thinking perhaps we\u2019d\nmissed the turning for the village center.  We turned right and drove just far enough to see we were now\nheading out of town, reversed again and drove back toward the little green building.  Having <\/a>nothing\nto lose at this point, we pulled into the shade of the portico.  Instantly one of the windows slid up\nand a man looked out at us. \n\u201cPetrol?\u201d we asked.  \u201cDa,\npetrol,\u201d he replied.  \u201cReally??\u201d we\nasked again.  \u201cDa, da,\u201d he said\nagain, smiling now at our amazed relief. \nIn seconds he was outdoors, opening the Explorer\u2019s gas cap, calling out\nto an unseen assistant.  A younger\nman appeared around the corner of the little building, carrying a tall, metal gas\ncan.  He placed it on the ground\nand went back for a second can, while our benefactor produced a funnel and\ndeftly poured fuel from the can into our tank.  After draining both cans, he replaced the gas cap and,\nwiping his hands on a rag, asked where we came from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We exchanged information and compliments on our national affiliations: \u201cAmerica good!\u00a0 America strong!\u201d \u201cSakartvelo lamazi aris!\u00a0 Kartveli dzalian k\u2019etili arian!\u201d\u00a0 (Georgia is beautiful! Georgians are very kind!).\u00a0 We thanked the men repeatedly, paid close to one hundred dollars for the gas, and drove away smiling and waving.\u00a0 We were definitely getting to know our vehicle; now we could enjoy the rest of our day in Manglisi. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the dual interests of a) seeing as many places in Georgia as possible before we leave and b) getting more familiar with our vehicle (now christened Dora the Explorer) before beginning our long drive to Italy, we decided on a Sunday drive to Manglisi, west of Tbilisi.\u00a0 The sunny morning was not yet too
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