Konrad and Alexandra (pdf) - Rolf Gross

"Konrad, come and join us, it must be your first Caucasian picnic."
The servants had laid out an opulent lunch al fresco. With a simple gesture Alexandra’s
father invited the caretaker.
Everyone sat or lay around the tablecloth on which the servants had arranged Georgian
delicacies among bottles of wine and Borzhomi mineral water. They had brought glasses for
the wine. One of the servants lit a fire and roasted shashlik on sharpened sticks cut from the
local trees. Dadiani served a fine red wine, and toasts in Georgian, French, and German added
a graceful touch.
Afterwards Alexandra and her brothers took Konrad to an old watchtower. They
scrambled up the crumbling stairs. Quietly the three had agreed to let Konrad reach the
topmost parapet first. A stunning view surprised him: the road to Kazbegi, a few villages amid
fields and green meadows in the foreground. At the horizon stretched the entire snow-covered
range of the Eastern Caucasus from Daghestan to Ossetia, with mighty Mt. Kazbeg in its
center. Alexandra, full of pride and happiness about the successful surprise, stood next to him
and pointed at all the peaks by name.
Towards the west they looked down into the rolling country of the Kura valley. In the
triangle at the confluence of the two rivers huddled the houses of Mtskheta around the royal
cathedral and far in the distance they could barely make out the houses and towers of Tiflis, its
fort and the Metekhi cathedral. Vineyards covered the valleys and dense, deciduous woods the
slopes, creating a serene, pastoral scene of exceptional beauty.
View of Djvari and Mtskheta from Zedazeni (RWFG)
Alexandra was glowing with excitement. She appeared more beautiful than ever to
Konrad. Had he felt free to do so he would have kissed her.
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