georgia: tbilisi

Tbilisi is the capital of Georgia. According to various sources online, the metro area population is 1.5 million people, and the Kura river runs though the city. The old name is Tiflis, and the current name is usually mispronounced. (I said it wrong, and am still trying to teach my mouth how to say the name properly.)

I deliberately timed my arrival to Tbilisi so that I would arrive in daylight. The marshrutka ride from Kutaisi was easy, but nearly four hours long. I was expecting closer to three hours, so I was a bit antsy for the last bit of the ride. The marshrutka dropped me off at a bus station on one end of the city; nowhere near where I wanted to be.

I thought about walking to my hostel, and if the ride had only been three hours, I definitely would've. Since I thought the walk would be long, I opted for a taxi. I'm sure I overpaid, but I was able to communicate with the driver in Russian, which I really enjoyed. Plus, it gave me the chance to get an idea of how the city is laid out. 

One of the reasons I wanted to arrive in daylight is because of several comments I'd read about my hostel in terms of finding it. It was difficult to find, and not listed on either of the travel apps I use. There was no sign, it was behind a couple other buildings, and behind a gate. 

I checked into my hostel, rested a bit, then went out walking a bit. By this point the sun was setting, and I could see the city lit up. Lovely. All the lights (most of them anywho,) were a golden yellow, and I could see a lot while walking along the river running through the city. 

I found a pedestrian bridge across the river, lit up in white and blue. Fun to walk across and try to take photos. 

I was on the opposite side of the river from the presidential palace (I think) and I realized I could see the super moon right next to it. HUGE MOON, though I couldn't capture it very well with my camera. Absolutely lovely. 

On my way through the old city area, I walked past a steak restaurant I'd thought I would visit the next night. I looked at the menu, it sounded good, so I figured why wait?!? It was quite good. Good food, beautifully presented, free wifi, a nice atmosphere. 

The next morning I got locked in my room!!! Eeek! I banged on the door and one of the hostel workers let me out. When I said it wasn't good to be locked into my room, she said it had happened before, that the lock was old. Um, really?!? That's not a good thing to brush off. 

Anywho, I got going, and made my way up a hill on one side of the river. I stopped into a couple churches along the way, they were lovely. I wanted to take photos, but I didn't see anyone else doing so. At the same time, I didn't see a sign telling me not to do so. Why is it that sometimes I'm all about sneaking a photo, and other times I am a scaredy cat? 

One of the churches I visited was more Russian, and the interior was being redone. The door was open, but I felt really awkward as I stepped in, (with a headscarf on, it was an Orthodox Church,) and came face to face with about 8 people sitting around chatting, drinking tea/coffee and chatting.

They looked at me, seeming to wonder what I was doing there. The sanctuary was small, and I couldn't see much because of the scaffolding, so I wasn't in there for long. 

At the top of the hill I got to see a tall, silver computer lady. The statue is on the edge of the cliff/hill, so it's not possible to get a frontside photo while hiking up, argh. When you get to the top, there are a few stands set up, selling knock knacks and souvenirs. People try to take photos, but the back side of the statue doesn't seem very aesthetically appealing to me. I tried for a profile photo, but I don't know how well that worked. 

The statue is called Kartvlis Deda, and is a representation of the Georgian national character. She has a bowl of wine to greet those who come as friends, and a sword to greet those who come as enemies. It was erected on the 1500th anniversary of the founding of the city. 

Instead of going back down the hill the way I came, I followed a path from the statue to my next sight: a fortress (or what remains of a fortress) called Narikala. The fortress is also on the top of the hill. You can see where the walls are being built back up, which I didn't much like, though I suppose this is done quite often these days. I wonder how far this will go.

Right now, there is no entrance fee, and not a lot of area to explore. There is only one building still standing within the walls that is still standing, a church. It's pretty. 

This time I asked if I could take a photo, the lady said yes. I took a few, and tried not to be obnoxious. (I didn't want her to regret saying yes.) after my photos, I simply stood and took in the atmosphere. Though small, it really did feel warm and welcoming. As I was getting ready to leave, a man who came in started picking at my pants and told me that women are not supposed to be wearing pants in the church. I don't know if this is his opinion, or if women are really not supposed to be in pants in this church. I didn't see skirts to borrow, so if that is a rule, and they decided to enforce it, I suppose quite a few foreigners would be denied entry. Hmmm...

I left the fortress on the opposite side from which I entered, and made my way down the hill, back toward the city center. On the way down, I passed a mosque. I think it was close to prayer time, so I didn't enter. 

I wound through smaller streets to Freedom Square, in the middle of the old town area. In the middle of the square is a 'typical' statue of a man on a horse. This one was a bit higher than normal, as it was on top of a tall column. Also, it was covered in gold. Definitely more eye catching than I'm used to seeing with man on a horse statues. This one represents St George slaying the dragon. 

As it was so close to the holidays, I could see the beginnings of a Christmas tree being set up. It looked to be a tree of lights, rather than a green tree. 

I followed a main street out of the square, called rustaveli street. It stretches on for quite a while, and has wide sidewalks on both sides. On either side I saw government buildings, several museums, some artsy statues, and a Coffee Bean!!!! 

I know I've mentioned my love of this brand before, and will continue to do so every time I have the chance. I immediately crossed the street, went in, and ordered a large chai latte. They make it with real tea (not just flavored syrup,) and vanilla flavor; I'm in heaven every time I get the chance to have this drink. YUM. 

I continued walking, and eventually got to a convenient place to turn around. I crossed the street, and started walking back, exploring some of the smaller side streets. One of those side streets led me to another church being renovated; though I could see scaffolding and such inside I also realized I couldn't see any workers. So who knows. 

I crossed the river on the bridge is seen the night before, it was windy, and not as aesthetically appealing during the day. 

On the other side, I used the maps on the track apps to make my way up that hill. There were also signs pointing to several sights, I also used them to help get me to one of the major sights of the city. Trinity Cathedral, called Sameba Cathedral in Georgian. 

The cathedral is visible from a number of different places around the city, and is in heaps of photos of the city. It's not particularly intricate, but your eye is drawn in the direction of the cathedral. Maybe it is because the cathedral is on a hill, who knows. 

As I arrived on the grounds of the cathedral, I saw a group of high school looking kids walk out, dressed in some sort of traditional clothing. The kids, with the cathedral in the background seemed like such a fantastic photo. I need photo editing software, argh. 

I walked into the church, and was definitely underwhelmed. There wasn't nearly as much decoration as I expected, considering how important it is. There was a service going on, but there were heaps of people moving about, I definitely wasn't the only visitor. I watched for a few minutes, then quietly left. 

It turned out I had originally entered the church grounds through a side entrance. I spotted the main entrance, and walked that way. It's actually a gate, a pretty big one. The gate is built into a small building of sorts. 

I spotted stairs, and hoped they would take me to the top of this small building, which looked to offer a good view of the cathedral. The stairs took me where I wanted to go, though they weren't well lit the whole way. It turned out there was a small altar/room on top of this building. I could see in, but I could see another service going on, and this room was so small (though it did have a mini iconostasis) that I didn't feel comfortable going in during the service. 

I took a few photos of the cathedral, and made my way back down the dark stairs. 

I was going to head back down the hill, but realized the sun was starting to go down, and the sky was showing the beginning of a beautiful sunset. I loved the sky. Pink and blue, and just plain pretty. I went back to the small building at the gate, climbed back up the stairs, and took heaps of photos of the cathedral as the sky darkened, and the lights came on. Awesome. 

Eventually I did leave the area, and found another set of streets to get down the hill. I passed the presidential palace, but it didn't look like it was open for tours. Granted, it was at night, but I didn't see signs posting any sort of open hours. Oh well. 

I crossed a different bridge, and figured out how to get back to the same restaurant is visited the night before. I had totally different food, and loved it again. Yay! 

That night I didn't lock my door. Actually, I didn't completely close the door, since I was terrified it would lock me in again.

The next morning I was up at a reasonable hour, wound my way through the old city area, and had another large chai latte from Coffee Bean. YUM. Maybe not the healthiest way to start the day, but I didn't care. Maybe it's a good thing I don't have Coffee Bean around me every day?

One of the big buildings on Rustaveli Street is the Children's Palace. The building itself isn't architecturally noteworthy, but it has a history I found noteworthy. On 26 May 1918 Georgia declared its independence in the building.  Needless to say, that didn't last long, but I still found it noteworthy. 

I again used the maps of travel apps to get to another church. This time it wasn't the church that was the main focus of my visit. My main focus was instead on the cemetery, which is called the pantheon. A number of famous Georgian people are buried there, each with a very different and very unique gravestone. I saw a bunch of grapes, several busts, and many more.

The church itself was quite small, but still very nice.

I followed different streets back down the hill, and back to Rustaveli Street, then walked along the street for quite a while. Eventually I got to the so called Heroes Square, which is actually a giant traffic circle with a pillar in the middle. A big traffic circle!! 

On another side of this traffic circle I went up a hill, and saw the circus building. A typical Soviet circus building. I don't know how often there is a show, but I passed heaps of vendors, so the shows must be regular. 

I went down this hill, all the way to the river. My walk was away from the city center, along the river. I walked and walked and walked, strong winds most of the way. 

Finally I got to where I wanted to go: the Bank of Georgia. The official building is definitely unique. It looks like someone played with build-a-blocks. Or took giant trailers and put them at 90 degree angles on top of each other. Definitely not traditional, and still surprisingly boring, though that probably doesn't make sense. How long did it take to build and how many people work in this building?

I took my photos, then turned around and went all the way back to the old city center. Not a short walk, and very straight, but I enjoyed it anywho. (Generally, as long as it isn't raining, I love walking.) I passed through two small parks on my way back to Freedom Square; one of them had a few statues I liked, the other was filled with paintings and other items sold by vendors. 

Back on Rustaveli I went back to Coffee Bean for another large chai latte. (I really do take advantage when I have the opportunity!) 

At the start of Rustaveli, just off Freedom

Square is the national museum. I like history museums, but the part that interested me most was just one part of this museum. The exhibit of Soviet occupation. There were a lot of documents issued by the soviet government, photos of Georgian dissidents, statistics and facts, etc... 

It's only one room, but it's a part of history that continues to fascinate me. I didn't know much about what happened in Georgia (and I still don't really know much about Georgian history,) but I was somewhat saddened to learn how the Georgian royal family essentially was disappeared (they were killed and/or deported,) during this time. The occupation wasn't good to Georgians, nearly a million were killed or deported. Awful. 

The next morning I was up super early. I guess most people would still call it the middle of the night. A taxi took me to the airport, and I again concluded that an advantage of early early flights is the total lack of traffic on the way to the airport. 

Not too many hours later, I landed in Kyiv.