Impressions about Georgia. Tbilisi - the city of love and friendship Contrasts and amazing architecture

Let's start with the fact that I ended up in Tbilisi by chance and, unfortunately, not for long. However, even a couple of days in the capital of Georgia was amazing - after all, this is our first trip together with Valieva. So we tried to cram as much as possible into this short period of time. And it seems we succeeded.

I arrived late at night, so the first thing we did was go to bed. We lived in an apartment near the city center. There was a gate that opened with difficulty and a green light in the bedroom, like in the Slytherin common room.

In the morning, as soon as we opened our eyes, we immediately went for a walk.

The first thing that catches your eye in the city center is the abundance of Russian text. Almost everyone here speaks Russian – and to say that it is discouraging is an understatement. Yes, this is a former Soviet republic, but in comparison with Azerbaijan, the difference is colossal. The second thing that not only catches your eye, but actually knocks you off your feet, is the huge amount of wine: in shops, restaurants and wine bars.

This was the first trip for which I had not prepared, so we explored the charming old streets and wide avenues at random. The tourist center has a lot of souvenir shops, carpet shops and restaurants serving Georgian cuisine - which is not too surprising. Boutique hotels, hostels and apartment buildings of the old city are hidden in the alleys.

The walls are a separate attraction:

Real beauty can be found in the alleys: it’s like a millionaire in Vladivostok, like the vintage city of Porto in Portugal... Charmingly dilapidated houses, artistically crumbling jokes and doors, each of which you want to photograph.

A separate attraction is the balconies: from the hypnotizing patterns of wrought iron grilles to tall structures with wooden carvings.

And the doors, of course. If I had a couple more days in Tbilisi, my entire camera roll would literally be filled with them.

And a few more side streets:

Quite quickly we reached Rustaveli Avenue, the main artery of the city, where most of the city’s significant buildings are located: parliament, the National Gallery, theaters and cinemas, shops, hotels...

Near the Rustaveli cinema and several theaters there is a local analogue of the “Walk of Fame”. By the way, films here are shown in Russian and Georgian.

On the avenue there is also the Kashveti Temple or Kashveti Cathedral of St. George. despite its apparent “antiquity,” it was built in the 20th century. However, even he perfectly demonstrates the peculiarity of all Georgian churches: they are compact, laconic and indecently similar to each other. This unity has its own charm - the “sameness” of the churches makes them together a unique feature of Georgia.

Freedom Square is another attraction that you will meet along the way. Its main feature is that it does not feel like a square at all. If it were not for the monumental monument to Freedom with St. George slaying the dragon, then it could even be mistaken for a transport ring.

A couple of times we went down into the underground passages - here everything is expected: good old Chinese stalls with Chinese goods. If you think about it and remember how far the Celestial Empire is from here, then such a scale is truly terrifying:/

On the other side of the avenue there are book stalls, souvenirs and paintings by street artists:

In general, when walking around the city, you always pay attention to the details: there are so many of them that you don’t want to waste time trying to fit them into the frame. There are details of buildings in different architectural styles (Art Deco is surprisingly common), and paintings, and moments from street life, and just some little things that catch your eye and never let go. It's very easy to fall in love with Tbilisi at first sight.

Tbilisi is a wonderful, cozy city. Even in the bitter winter, right on New Year’s Eve, it was pleasant to visit here. The capital of Georgia does not seem very big, but more than a million people live here. At the same time, you can easily move around the city center on foot, thus covering most of the attractions.

Like any old European city, a river flows in the middle of Tbilisi, called the Kura. During the reign of Saakashvili (2004 - 2013), many modern facilities were built along it, which changed the appearance of the city. In general, in Tbilisi there is a feeling that everything is divided into two parts - and now it is not clear when they will finish it...

For example, here is the Palace of the President of Georgia. The building was completed in 2009, it was built by Italian architect Michele De Lucchi. A glass palace in a classical style rises above the left bank of the Kura River, and is brightly illuminated at night. Many criticized “Misha” for building this luxurious building for himself.

They say that during the last presidential elections in 2013, one of the pre-election promises of Saakashvili’s opponents was under no circumstances to live in this pretentious palace in case of victory.

Misha lost the election, and the new president immediately began building a “more modest” residence. In the meantime, temporarily of course, I still moved into this glass temple on the river bank. As you know, there is nothing as permanent as everything temporary. The new housing has been ready for a long time, but the president is in no hurry to move from Misha’s palace. He probably really liked the view from there.

Right below the slope on which the Presidential Palace stands, directly on the banks of the Kura River, today there is a modern Rike Park. In Soviet times there was a huge asphalt wasteland here. sdze , who grew up in these parts, told me that teenagers came to this wasteland to take driving lessons; there was a haven for bad drivers. Under Misha, this place was dug up and a large modern park was made, with a bunch of different public infrastructure. Venues, benches, art objects, greenery. In summer there are fountains and even a climbing wall!

The most central object near Rike Park is the glass Peace Bridge. People call it Prokolka, it is pedestrian and leads directly to the old city. There is not a single person in Tbilisi who is indifferent to the bridge - they either love it or hate it. A circle of European stars is stuck on its roof. In general, this symbolism is often found in the city, reflecting the desire of Georgians to Europe. Many believe that joining the European Union is only a matter of time.

The bridge is illuminated very beautifully at night. Invisible LEDs are mounted in its railings, which light up and go out in vertical stripes at different frequencies. It turns out to be a kind of living barcode.

Another prominent innovation in Rike Park is the modern building of the Theater and Exhibition Hall, designed by another Italian, Massimiliano Fuksas. From a distance it looks like a huge mirror binocular (for example, in the title photo of the post).

Unfortunately, this is one of those things that we didn’t have time to finish under Misha. In 2013, it was completed on the outside, but nothing was done on the inside. Now it has been completely empty for more than two years.

Broken panels appear. I hope it fell accidentally and wasn’t done by hooligans. It's a shame that such an unusual building is falling into disrepair. A few more years, and it will hardly be possible to do anything with it.

By the way, Rike Park begins right next to this church. The last thing they did here under Misha was to launch a cable car up to the fortress on Narikala Hill.

The ticket costs the same as for any public transport - one lari (40 cents) each way. (True, you also need to buy an electronic card, it costs an additional two lari, but you can take one for everyone.)

The cable car carries passengers right over the rooftops of the old city.

You arrive right at the old fortress. She is of course very beautiful.

And in general, from above there is a beautiful view of the whole of central Tbilisi. This is where I took the title photo for this post. And here, not far away, stands Mother Georgia - a healthy statue personifying the Georgian Motherland. However, under the USSR they liked to place big ladies everywhere in order to develop local patriotism.

Mother Georgia was erected under Khrushchev, in 1958, when Tbilisi celebrated its 1500th anniversary (the city was founded in the 450s AD).

In that part of the old city where Misha managed to fix everything, many different jokes were built for tourists. Here, for example, is a sculpture of a man at the old horse-drawn station. The figure is made in a purely Georgian style: a man is comically tall, thin, with a big nose and a mustache.

The horse-drawn tram itself stands nearby. She’s not going to go anywhere; they sell coffee here now.

Just like in Istanbul, near the Galata Tower, there is also the Lavazza cafe in the old tram. ().

There are many places in Tbilisi that sell coffee, but I never had a chance to drink a good one.

Let's go see how they live in non-tourist areas. Here's street trading for the locals. This is a grocery store:

And here they sell kvass. Put your socks back on.

Street parking. Although, apparently, he has been resting here for a long time. The car looks American.

But someone decided not to put away their sale of read books at night, and then it started snowing at night.

I wonder if this will ruin the books, or if I can just brush off the snow in the morning?..

There are many high cliffs along the Kura River; the city rises to the steep banks in steps. In winter, gigantic forests of icicles appear in such places. Or rather an icicle. It’s very beautiful, but it’s probably unsafe.

What will happen in the spring when they start to fall off? How does the city deal with this?

Georgians smoke everywhere. In all bars and cafes. In all restaurants and cars. For pregnant women. Even in airport terminals. I haven't been to such a smoking country for a long time.

In the heart of the old town are the famous sulfur baths. There is a legend that the whole city got its name from the hot springs on top of which these baths are located - the word “tbili” in Georgian means “warm”. These baths are distinguished by their characteristic domed roofs made of brick.

There are several separate baths here in one place. They were built at different times, from the 17th to the 19th centuries. At the dawn of the Soviet era, the government took over management of the baths.

Unfortunately, this is the second time I haven’t been able to take a steam bath in them. But you can walk from above, on the roofs.

You can even look into some of the pipes on top of the domes. From there you can see down into the pools inside the baths.

In the evening, people come to take a steam bath; steam rises from the tops of the domes, catching the evening light from the street. And in the background is a beautifully illuminated fortress and church on Narikala Hill.

Right behind the baths, excavate ancient buildings. Here a stream flows between the fortified banks.

If you walk along the stream upstream, you will find yourself in a beautiful gorge. At the top, on top of the steep walls, there are houses (the mosque is located there).

And at the very end of the gorge a waterfall roars. It’s great, there’s such beauty a two-minute walk from the center of the old town.

A wonderful place, it is very pleasant to walk here in the evening.

Have you noticed how beautiful the lanterns are here? They give off a warm yellow light. At first glance, it may seem that cleverly curved incandescent elements are working, but this is not so. It’s just that a light bulb from above illuminates the entire lantern so that it glows this orange.

These are perhaps the most beautiful lanterns I have ever seen.

Most of the tourists seen in Tbilisi spoke Russian. Some groups had very bright and visible yellow-blue Ukrainian ribbons. They were probably worried that they would not be mistaken for Russians, apparently expecting that Russians were not treated very well here. In fact, Russian tourists are loved in Tbilisi and are always welcome.

Moreover, one episode happened to us that showed me that Russian culture has not disappeared from Tbilili. It was at a karaoke bar, where my friends and I came on the last evening. I admit, we were a little worried that we would order Russian-language songs and they would look at us askance. And at first, it seemed like, besides our table, everyone was asking for either English-language pop music or something Georgian.

But the evening continued, gradually other tables began to join, who would order “Let them run clumsily...”, some by Timati, some by Meladze. Tonya and I were standing on the street, going out to get some fresh air, when the first chords of the song “Grass near the House” came from the hall. And then one of the managers of the establishment rushed past us from the kitchen. He was by no means a thin guy, and I was very surprised at his agility. Running past us he exclaimed:

"Vaime! This is my favorite song!"

From August 31 to September 13 I was in Georgia. Visited many towns and places - Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Kumistavi, Gergeti, Batumi, Gelati, Sarpi, Borjomi, Aspindza, Akhaltsikhe, Vardzia, Anauri, Khertvisi, Stepantsminda, Mtskheta and Sarp (Turkey)

What did I definitely like? These are, of course, mountains. And in particular - the mountains in the vicinity of the Georgian military road (this is the road connecting Russia and Georgia). The beauty there is extraordinary! I saw Kazbek, its peak covered in snow. I liked the city of Tbilisi. I wouldn’t want to live there (more on that below) but the city is beautiful, unusual buildings, hilly terrain and therefore many beautiful views. I liked the medieval city in the rock of Vardzia. I liked the remake in Akhaltsikhe - Rabat Fortress. I liked the food. I liked the wine, lemonades and mineral water. I liked all the changes that Saakashvili brought to Georgia (I’ll tell you below). I liked the Prometheus Cave in the vicinity of Kutaisi. I liked the Zhinvali reservoir (pictured). I liked the waterfall in Tbilisi.

What didn't you like?

Beggars and beggars. In Tbilisi, every 40 meters there are grannies and other beggars, begging (sometimes for quite a long time and persistently), gypsies, including children, are walking around, babbling about “give me some bread,” everything in Russian. But when talking with the gypsies, I realized that they do not understand what they are being told, they have a broken record. You sit in a cafe and people come up and beg. The owners of the cafe chase them away, but it is useless. In the vicinity of the old city, 3 times I came across a gypsy man pushing a child in a stroller around these streets and loudly asking for bread. In the evening, women stand at the exits of supermarkets with outstretched hands. This is all terrible. I have never seen anything like this in any country.

Lack of pedestrian infrastructure. The sidewalks are busy with everything but pedestrians. On them are cars, goods from neighboring shops, and a large number of stall owners and their friends are sitting on stools and chairs. It's impossible to get through. I saw bicycle paths only in Batumi, but in Tbilisi the use of bicycles is impossible due to the strong elevation difference. The few underground passages are destroyed by tags and always smell of urine.

Terrible enforcement of traffic rules. Arriving in Moscow, I breathed a sigh of relief! On a zebra crossing without traffic lights, NOBODY will give way to you! Crossing the street is very dangerous. And drivers violate all existing prohibitions (we often drove there in cars) - they don’t fasten their seat belt, if they see a patrol ahead, they casually throw on the belt but then immediately take it off. They talk on the phone, although they assured us that this is what they charge the heaviest fines for. They cross a solid median, drive at a speed of 110 on a mountain serpentine road, overtake dangerously and even drink while driving (I saw it myself).

Smoking in a cafe. You can smoke in the cafe. We chose establishments with open street verandas - it’s easier there. Europe has not yet reached Georgia in this regard.)

Where have I been?

The capital and the most normal city. Of course, with the shortcomings that I described above. Beautiful. In the center you can say it’s European, but if you step away a little, the roads don’t even have asphalt and the courtyards are terrible. Many temples, various monuments, cafes. But there are very few supermarkets. A ride on a minibus costs 50 tetri (14 rubles). On the metro - the same amount, but you also need to buy a card on which this money is placed for 2 lari (56 rubles). The same card is also valid on the cable car. The view from above is very beautiful. This card does not work on the funicular; there is a different system from Mtatsminda Park, which also allows access to all the attractions there. In the park itself there is a Ferris wheel installed on the very edge of the mountain, the views are superb.

There are a huge number of taxis in Tbilisi! Incredible! A taxi is a car of any color with checkers on top. These are mostly old Mercedes, and right-hand drive cars are often found. I talked to people, found out that cars are bought in Japan or the USA, travel in a container by sea to Poti, clear customs, and all together it costs from 3 to 5 thousand dollars! I have seen our square Zhigulis, but rarely. In rural areas I often saw Zila trucks with such a recognizable front.

I lived in Tbilisi in the Vake district, for some reason considered prestigious, although I didn’t see anything special there. Not far from Vake there is a zoo, which was recently flooded and which was going to open on September 13 - the day of my departure.

Graffiti in Tbilisi is represented mainly by stencils (the main author is Dr.Love) and kereks from Lamb. There are almost no murals. Many buildings are tagged. In Vake Park I found works by the French, whose works I later saw in Batumi. All these are traces of the 2013 festival.

I visited many places in Tbilisi, it was interesting to walk around it, unlike Batumi. The waterfall near the sulfur baths was my favorite! And you wouldn’t guess that such a place could be in the city center. A narrowing high gorge and at the end a waterfall.

From Tbilisi we drove along the Georgian military road towards Russia. Extraordinary beauty. The Zhinvali reservoir is very beautiful, and closer to the north there are stunning mountains. Along the way we stopped at different places, including at the highest point of this road (2395m). We landed in Stepantsminda (until 2007 - Kazbegi), transferred to an SUV and along the most terrible road climbed the mountain where the Gergeti Temple is located. Kazbek is visible from there. There is unreal beauty there! This is probably my favorite place in all of Georgia.

Also from Tbilisi we went to Borjomi (some kind of Karlovy Vary), to the ancient city in the rocks - Vardzia (super, worth a visit, you can climb some passages there, very scary) and to Akhaltsikhe, where under Saakashvili the Rabat Fortress was restored almost from scratch - an excellent tourist attraction where you can climb absolutely all the supposedly ancient towers and do long photo sessions, since there are very few people there.

I didn't like the city. A typical resort town with stalls, shawarma and beach entertainment. That's not mine. I was frankly bored there. The only joy was the remaining graffiti from the 2013 street art festival, when French writers came to Batumi. The city is also enlivened by various glass high-rise buildings built during the time of Saakashvili. Without them it would be completely creepy. There are very few supermarkets. I liked the long (2.5 km) cable car, the views from the top are very good.

One day I boarded a bus, paid 80 tetri (23 rubles), drove to the town of Sarpi (14 km) and crossed the Turkish border. On the other side the town is called Sarp. There is nothing there except a couple of cafes. You can't even buy a magnet. The nearest city of Trabzon is still more than two hours away. I walked half a kilometer along the highway along the Black Sea, looked at the heaps of uncollected garbage left by truckers and stomped back to Georgia. At the border checkpoint there are crowds of locals with some pieces of paper instead of passports. There are few Russian citizens. I had never been to Turkey before and didn’t even plan to, but since the opportunity presented itself, I received a stamp in my passport. This is my 17th country. I'm not going to Turkey anymore.)

Kutaisi. I was passing through and the city seemed terrible. Cows roam among the high-rise buildings. But near Kutaisi there is the village of Kumistavi, where Saakashvili opened the Prometheus Cave in 2011. This is a cool place, we walked 1.5 kilometers underground, then they took us a couple of hundred meters underground on a boat (they gave us helmets and life jackets). I’m not spoiled by such sights and I liked it.) It’s a pity you can’t take pictures there with a flash, but without a flash it’s a little dark. I have already been to Georgia (now the territory of Abkhazia) in a cave - in New Athos 35 years ago, it also made an impression.

I tried the following Georgian dishes:
- Khachapuri. Sold wherever possible. I liked the Imeretian one the most - just a flatbread with cheese. And there is also Adjarian - they also add an egg.
- Chakhokhbili. Small chicken pieces in sauce. Delicious.
- Shashlik. You can't chew it.
- Kebab. I discovered kebab in lavash. But it is not edible everywhere. I found a cafe where it was very tasty and went there three times.)
- Churchkhela. Sweetness on a string of grape juice. You can have a snack.
- Kharcho. I haven't tried it, but others have liked it. This is soup.
- Khinkali. Did not like! In a large bag of dumplings there is tasteless meat and something like soup.

I also tasted wine in Georgia. We bought a bottle almost every evening (there were five of us, so it wasn’t enough for everyone) Here is my rating:
1. Saperavi (homemade, red, dry) - super!
2. Alazani Valley (red, semi-sweet) - very good!
3. Khvanchkara (red, semi-sweet) - very good!
4. Saperavi (red, dry) - very good!
5. Kindzmarauli (red, semi-sweet) - so-so
6. Twishy (white, semi-sweet) - sucks
Well, I tried the local vodka - Chacha - a rare suck. Taste of grapes.

I also tried various mineral waters, which are sold in huge quantities in Georgia! Moreover, Borjomi is not the best (in my opinion). The most delicious is Nabeghlavi. This is something like Narzan or Arkhyz. Another similar one is Mitarbi. I drank this water in huge quantities because it was hot. There is also Likani, but this is a complete copy of Borjomi, because their sources are nearby. A liter of Nabehlavi costs from 90 tetri to 1 lari (28 rubles) in a supermarket. In tourist places it can cost more than 1.5 lari.

I really liked the local lemonades! Especially Natakhtari and Zandukeli. Many types, delicious. I saw Natakhtari on sale today in Moscow.

Interesting observations:

The flags of Georgia and the European Union hang on government institutions (the Adjarian flag is added to Batumi)

Almost everyone knows Russian. True, in 2 weeks I found two people who don’t know Russian.) There are inscriptions in Russian everywhere. Even on the Georgian-Turkish border, 4 languages ​​are used - Georgian, Turkish, English and Russian. So Tbilisi, after visiting Minsk, is the most Russian-speaking city.) Tel Aviv is probably in third place.)

I talked to several Georgians. Everyone remembers Mikheil Saakashvili with warmth, like under him they built this, did that, but now they are doing nothing. They praise him for the non-corrupt police (we were all warned to bribe police officers), for the fantastic simplification of bureaucratic procedures. Many interesting objects appeared under Saakashvili. For example, in Tbilisi there is a whole Rike Park with elegant glass buildings, the Peace Bridge and the Reagan monument.) And this year the lari has fallen significantly, now they give 2.37 lari per dollar, and six months ago - 1.7.

People treat Russian tourists very well, they don’t talk about politics, they are friendly. In some cafes you can see Ukrainian flags.

In general, it was a good trip, in some places it was beautiful, but often it was boring and uninteresting (for example, in Batumi). I will gradually post photos.

All we had to do was get to him.

In Tbilisi, in addition to taxis, there are buses and metro. There is a metro station next to the railway station and right next to it there is a bank branch with an ATM, where we withdrew local money. The area near the station is not the most pleasant, both in terms of convenience and personalities.

To travel on the metro, tourists need to buy a reloadable travel card at the metro ticket office. The cost of the card is 2 GEL, and one trip costs 0.5 GEL. You can top up your card at the metro ticket office. By the way, before leaving, you can return this card and you will be refunded its cost, as well as the amount that is left on it. To do this, you need to present the receipt that you will be given upon purchase, and an identification document. As for the metro itself, in Tbilisi it is very busy and does not look as neat as in Moscow or St. Petersburg.

To get to our rented apartment we had to go to the center, to the old city area.
The center of Tbilisi is simply wonderful and interesting, there are many beautiful buildings, everything is neat, the roads are made of paving stones in some places, there are many trees, small parks and greenery, it is clear that the city is well-groomed and not poor. The first day we decided to just walk around the city, look at the people, buildings and everything that caught our eye.

What I liked about Tbilisi were the various sculptures and art objects that are found in completely unexpected places. Like these, for example.

The bicycle is an art object, it is huge

By the way, one of our fears did not come true. For some reason we thought that few people in Georgia speak Russian, let alone young people. As it turned out, there was nothing of the kind; everyone we encountered during our trip spoke excellent Russian, including the young people.

In total, during a day of walking around Tbilisi, we managed to visit the Dry Bridge flea market area, take a walk at the foot of Mount Mtatsminda, and admire the paintings of local artists.

We went to the Rose Park, although we didn’t find any roses there :)

We admired the wide avenues, old and new buildings, churches.

Walk along the pedestrian street Shardeni with many cafes and restaurants where local bohemia and not poor foreign tourists gather. See Europe Square and the Bridge of Peace at night, walk along it and appreciate its beauty. And also look at it, which lights up so beautifully at night.

Since we lived not far from Liberty Square, we went to see it too.

One day is absolutely not enough to see all the sights of Tbilisi. Therefore, in the next two days we visited places that on the first day we only admired from afar. And first of all.

Services we use on our independent travels:

Search and purchase of air tickets
Aviasales is number 1 for us among all search engines, we only use it because it is convenient and reliable, without any pitfalls.
One Two Trip! - an amazingly convenient search engine in which you can find and purchase not only air tickets, but also railway tickets. In addition, it is also easy to book a hotel or hotel there. By clicking on our link you will receive an additional 500 rubles discount on the purchase of an air ticket!

Search and book accommodation

  1. - a world-famous search engine where you can find and book accommodation from guesthouses to luxury villas. Have used it many times and highly recommend it.
  2. Hotellook is a service for searching and booking accommodation from the creators of Aviasales.
  3. Airbnb - booking and renting apartments, rooms, houses from local residents. Tested on ourselves, everything is honest, we recommend. By booking using our link, you will receive a bonus of 2100 rubles, which you can use when paying for housing. To do this, you will need to create your AirBnB account.
Car rental
- an excellent alternative to traveling on intercity buses and trains across Russia. Prices are most often lower than public transport, and comfort is significantly higher.

Service aggregator for car rentals from local rental companies. You choose a car as if at a local rental, but through the service, booking with a bank card, from which only 15% of the cost is charged. The guarantor is MyRentacar. You can choose not only the car class, but also a specific car, down to the body color and radio type. But most importantly, the prices on this service are the same as if you went to your local rental company yourself!

 

It might be useful to read: