A LONG WEEKEND IN GEORGIA

A few weeks ago, Nick and I jetted off to Georgia (the country, not the state of America!) at the invitation of Design Hotels. I was very excited — a trip to Georgia doesn’t come around that often, and I hadn’t been anywhere near this part of the world before. On a personal note, Georgia was a place my dad had worked and always talked about fondly. I’d always been sad that I’d never taken up the opportunity to visit while he was there, so I was delighted to go and see Georgia for myself and experience first hand some of the things I’d heard about.

Design Hotels had asked me to deliver a keynote address titled “Ayurveda - The Modern Relevance of Ancient Wisdom” to over 300 owners and managers of some of the most stylish independent and boutique hotels from around the world: Design Hotels. The talk took place in the breathtaking Georgian National Opera in the country’s capital, Tbilisi, probably the grandest stage I have ever talked on. In the rehearsal, when no one was watching I cheekily tried to reenact some of the Nutcracker ballet steps I had learned as an 8-year-old! In my talk, I shared why the new health rules are actually the old ones and how the ancient wisdom of the East, and more specifically Ayurveda, can be seamlessly brought into the hotel experience to give a holistic approach to every aspect of the customer’s hotel journey, creating hotels that become a haven and complete wellness ecosystem to allow guests to thrive — so much more than just a bed for the night. I was joined by other fantastic speakers on environment, science and new research on human behaviour and understanding Gen Z. The conference was topped off with performances from the Georgian National Ballet and singer Hatis Noit. It was a truly fantastic day — even though our luggage had failed to arrive! Fortunately in a stroke of bleary-eyed genius, I had slipped a red jumpsuit into my carry-on as I walked out the door at 5 a.m. on Wednesday, which I wore on stage, barefoot t (the Vivos that I’d travelled over in were not a stylish match this time around…), and as it turned out from the comments afterwards, it was just the thing for this occasion!

That evening was spent deep in fascinating  conversation with people from all over the world from Zanzibar to Nicaragua, Mexico to the Maldives, all over an incredible Georgian feast on the rooftop of the Stamba Hotel (one of the Design Hotels) overlooking Tbilisi. Then it was up early the next day for the 3-hour windy drive into the stunning Caucasus mountains to the former Soviet workers’ holiday village of Kazbegi, for a weekend wellness retreat where I introduced Ayurveda again, but this time through food! The scenery was stunning and our driver made a stop at an epic viewing point (partly on account of the winding roads!) where we tried some local delicacies, marvelled at the mountain range unfolding and were awestruck as Golden Eagles flew a few metres above our heads as we took the obligatory selfie from a precarious rocky outcrop overlooking the valley.

Upon arrival, Nick and I headed straight into the kitchens to work with the head chef and his team to prep for our big breakfast event the next morning. The guests arrived around 7 p.m. on Friday evening and were served a welcome drink, followed by an incredible dinner showcasing sustainable cooking by the fantastic Kamilla Seidler (known as the Dane of the Andes). Dancing followed for some, but for us it was off to bed, so we would be on top form for Saturday’s happenings.

The next day started with a beautiful yoga movement and sound session. We snuck out early to head to the kitchen and took the reins to feed 160 hotel hungry owners (not nerve-wracking at all) with a beautiful breakfast based on Ayurvedic philosophy and food, serving Ayurveda classic dishes whilst also incorporating traditional Georgian ingredients and seasonal produce. Looking to create an environment of connection and hoping everyone would be more limber from their yoga, I had (to the hotel’s shock) asked that the guests be seated on the floor on cushions, rugs and pillows, eating from low level table. Everyone really embraced the idea and the hotel created a beautiful serene scene, and I then guided everyone through a silent (or not so silent!) breakfast starting with the classic stewed apples and some rosemary tea, later followed by a choice of either veg-packed puda pancake with akuri scramble and tomato chutney or fermented buckwheat pancakes with stewed chai plums and walnut cream (a very Georgian Ayurvedic brekkie since buckwheat, plums and walnuts are everywhere here!). We finished with Golden Milk and chai as we chatted about our relationships with coffee and when and how we eat. It was lovely to see so many people tuck in with hands (i.e sans cutlery) at my suggestion. Fingers crossed a more holistic approach to wellbeing is coming to a hotel near you soon!!

Later, we trekked up into the mountains surrounding Kazbegi to the 14th century-built Gergeti Trinity Church (2,000 metres above sea level, sitting beneath Mount Elbrus (the highest mountain in Europe), to listen to a mass led by Mama Serafime and his choir, sung in ancient Aramaic. Serafime is the only priest in the world to use the language! Words cannot describe the serenity and beauty of those 45 minutes. We all left feeling truly blessed to have experienced such a rare thing in a place of such history and setting of such beauty. The afternoon was filled with great talks and then that evening the hotel chefs shared a celebration of Georgian local cuisine and Georgian wine… and my new favourite music act, Island Man — hailing from Istanbul, got everyone up on the dancefloor.

The following morning Nick and I headed up into the mountains again to get a huge nature upload.Nick decided he wanted to run up a mountain to take some pictures — I left him to it (!) but wondering back through the idyllic forest to find the hotel did have me slightly worried about bears popping out (I’m such an urbanite). And just like that it was time to head back to Tbilisi. Fortunately our luggage had shown up by then, so I could change my clothes in time to arrive refreshed back to the capital where we spent a last day. We asked around and someone mentioned a large flea market, so off we went treasure hunting and managed to jump onto a bit of a tour of the city. We got to explore and learn — what an amazing city, beautiful crumbling ruins steeped in history with a new creative culture, of art music, food and fashion. Thank you, Georgia and Design Hotels. We will be back!!! Oh, and yes, the flea market was everything I imagined... but Nick wouldn’t let me bring home any of the fabulous rugs. Humph.