It’s funny how sometimes you know straight away how you feel about a place. It happened with Baku, although perhaps it wasn’t as bad as my first impressions might have suggested, and it happened in Tbilisi – I knew straight away that I would like this place. I don’t know what it was that gave me that impression, perhaps it was just the first sunny weather in a while, but the city had a nice vibe to it.
I arrived in the evening, so didn’t do much other than find some dinner, so the next day was the first proper day for exploring. I had a good explore too, walking over 20000 steps! There were lots of things to explore – parks, little winding roads lined with rickety old houses, churches, a cable car up to the “Mother of Georgia”, and the sulphur baths district. Unfortunately the weather was not at all like the sunny day it had been when I arrived, and the wind and rain took away a little of the enjoyment of exploring the city. Still, it was nice to be out and about with lots of new things to see. My visit also happened to align with Tbilisoba, the annual city festival, so there were market stalls and decorations being put up around the city. When the weekend came around, there were food stalls, live music, outdoor cinema screenings, and all sorts of other events to explore all over the place.
Apart from the usual city wander, I actually had a pretty busy time in Tbilisi!
First, I attended a Georgian cooking class, where we made what are probably Georgia’s two most famous dishes: khinkali and khachapuri.
Khinkali are essentially dumplings, and are traditionally eaten by hand by holding on to the “knot” at the top and eating around it, leaving the knot uneaten. Khachapuri are like little bread boats filled with fresh cheese, then once they are baked you stir an egg yolk and a knob of butter into the cheese. It was fun learning to fold each of them, and I think I did quite well, really!
I also visited the sulphur baths, a very typical Tbilisi activity. The city name, Tbilisi, actually comes from the word for “warm”, in reference to the sulphuric hot springs that the city it built upon. I ummed and ahhed over whether I should go, but eventually decided that it’s an experience I might regret not having, so I did it. You start off by showering, then have two baths to move between, a hot one and a cold one. After a while a lady came and got me to lay down on a slab of marble while she scrubbed me all over, and then she soaped me too, which made being on the marble slab very slippery! Our interaction ended with her pouring alternating buckets of hot and cold water over me, and then I returned to the baths for the remainder of my hour. It was a good experience, and I’m glad I decided to do it, even if I did smell of sulphur until my next shower!
I took a day tour out of Tbilisi that visited Mtsheta (the previous capital of Georgia), Gori (Stalin’s hometown, where he is still very much a celebrated man), and Uplistsikhe (an archeological site of a town cut into the rock). It was nice to get out of the city and to see a bit more of the countryside. Our focus while in Mtsheta was visiting a couple of churches – one in the middle of the town, and the other on a hill across the river. Both were very impressive. In Gori our main stop was the Stalin museum, which was an interesting couple of hours. The museum is situated right by the house where he was born – the rest of the neighbourhood has been torn down, but his house is not part of the museum grounds. At Uplistsikhe, of course, we spend an hour at the archeological site, climbing up to the various rooms cut into the rock.
Finally, possibly the highlight of Tbilisi, was the ballet – I went and saw Don Quixote!
The Tbilisi Ballet and Opera House is somewhat of an attraction in itself, which was a plus, but really I went for the ballet – I thought it would be cool to experience it in another country, and it was! The sets were fun, there was a live orchestra, and it was something different to do on a Sunday afternoon.
On Sunday evening I took the night train from Tbilisi to Yerevan. It was a long ride, initially scheduled to take ten hours and actually taking thirteen, but it was pretty comfortable, and full of interesting people. I chatted with people from Japan, China, the UK, and Spain, and I couldn’t communicate with the Georgian women opposite me, but they shared their snacks with me which was kind. I’ll be back in Georgia soon, after this quick side trip into Armenia. I am looking forward to seeing more of the country!
emilyonearth 
Leave a reply to Robyn C Cancel reply