In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Reward.”
Soviet Medals…rewards for valour…
In the Soviet Union medals were a form of reward for soldiers, for teachers, for writers…..
Month: February 2015
Untitled #7
Untitled #7
Another visit to Drybridge Market
One of my favourite haunts in Tbilisi is Drybridge Market, a fleamarket with a plethora of curios. I initially went to look for Diecast models (more details in my diecast blog: Drybridge Market (diecasts) ) to add to my collection and that is still one of the principal attractions for me. I also find it is a good place for taking photos particularly when the sun is shining.
Technofix Motorcycle (German manufacture), asking price $200…or was it 200 lari? (Way beyond my means)
Drybridge Market is the most interesting market in Tbilisi. You’ll find all kinds of knick-knacks and charming miscellanea from art, accordions, samovars and electrical gadgets to china, glass and silver being sold off by impoverished old folk.
coins, medals, old cameras…
In addition to diecast cars, I also look through some of the badges related to cars. I have a few now. I saw some interesting badges related to early Soviet Spaceflight, pins of Vostok 3 and Yuri Gargarin, the first man in space. I might get some another time, they were only one or two lari each.
Yuri Gargarin pins
Vostok-3
An SS Helmet from World War II
Sometimes there are pieces related to the wars, like this SS Helmet, asking price: an eye watering $300, but I was assured by the seller that it wasn’t his “last price”. There is a lot of Soviet War Memorabilia, as you might expect in the former Soviet Union: uniforms, medals, gas masks etc
old mobile phones
I wonder if any of those old phones work…
Backgammon or Nardi boards
Backgammon (Nardi) is a very popular game in Georgia. You often see old men in Georgia playing on park benches.
a game of backgammon
amber, coins, badges and medals
I was most interested in amber since reading A Visible Darkness about the amber trade in the Baltic in the early nineteenth century. I was told amber is 1.5 lari for a gramme…I bought a very small piece for 2.5 lari (about $1.20).
toy lorry made in the Lada Factory
The photo of this lorry attracted a lot of interest when I posted it on a Facebook Group “Eastern Bloc cars” because it is made in the Lada Factory…the Lada Logo is clearly seen on the side of the cab. I was interested in a different lorry, a 1:43 Soviet Made Kamaz Milk (Moloko) Tanker with tipping cab, which cost me 40 lari.
My “haul”
I came away with a couple of dozen pictures, a Moloko Tanker, a Matchbox Chevrolet Silverado, a small grain of amber and a badge rewarding careful drivers (total expenditure 49.50 lari about $23).
I visit the market two or three times each month.
Untitled #6
Untitled #6
Weekly Photo Challenge: Rule of Thirds II (nature in the concrete jungle)
Rule of thirds: nature in the city
A photo produced in response to the photo challenge, I must try to take some more images using the rule of thirds, it is a challenge, to look differently and think about composition.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Rule of Thirds
In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Rule of Thirds.”
Pancake Day: Shrove Tuesday
Today is Shrove Tuesday popularly known as Pancake Day in England. I decided to celebrate in Georgia, the way we used to when I was growing in England. So I got some flour and lemons and checked Delia’s Recipe and with the assistance of my six-year-old granddaughter Ana, we set to work.
some of the ingredients
We used a bowl instead of the blender. We didn’t measure anything. I put what I thought was sufficient flour in a bowl made a small well in the middle and Ana cracked the first egg, most of it ended in the bowl…we fished the shell out and I cracked the second egg. I then whisked while Ana slowly added milk and water. I heated some butter in a pan and put in four spoonfuls of the batter.
one side cooked…now for the fun part…
Preparing to toss the pancake, are you ready with the camera, Ana?
We have lift off…
…that moment, when one lands on the floor…luckily it was only one in a batch of ten…
Ana prepares the lemon…yes, that is rather a large knife for a six year old…
In Georgia, pancakes are usually served as a savoury dish (blini). In England we traditionally serve pancakes with lemon juice and sugar or sometimes my mother would serve them with cooked apple and cinnamon.
too much lemon…
the finished article
Very nice they were too, we might make a repeat performance on Thursday but with Nutella and banana. Lent begins next week in Georgia following the Orthodox Calendar.
Untitled #5
Untitled #5
Weekly Photo Challenge: Symmetry II
Once again I am inspired by the escalator descending to the metro platforms.
Metro Escalator
Weekly Photo Challenge: Symmetry
In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Symmetry.”
Symmetry
Dry Bridge over the Mtkvari River in Tbilisi. The bridge is roughly 160 years old, and it was designed by the Italian, Giovanni Scudieri. The best fleamarket in Tbilisi can be found on the bridge and surroundings: Drybridge Market
jim holroyd 365 