Earthlooping at Tbilisi Fortress
Back into civilization after Svaneti. 4 days in the Georgian capital to find out that it is quite an interesting town, a mixture between Soviet and European city with a cute Old Town but being slowly spoiled by modern "chill out" cafés.
Arriving to Tbilisi's main railway station after some days lost in the mountains was like being back to civilization. The train station is big and bustling. First thing we did was to try to book a train ticket to Yerevan, but unfortunately there were not tickets for the day we wanted to go there, so we decided to go and find the hostel we had booked and go to Yerevan by marshutka.
We took the efficient Tbilisi metro and in a short time we were at the Green Stairs Hostel, a kind of run-down place but with a friendly owner who gave us a map of the city and told us the most interesting places to visit and to eat. The place was quite shitty, not to mention the toilet, absolutely disgusting, but cheap and with wifi so we stayed in.
The Sunday Soviet Market
Being tired and late, we just went for some food and a beer to a nearby restaurant and later to have a sulphur bath which was really close to the hostel. This sulphur baths are typical from Tbilisi and for a cheap price you get a room for yourself with a bath where to relax and have your sulphur bath. The only downside is that you get out from the place stinkig like rotten egg, but it's ok.
Next morning it was Saturday, so we headed to the Dry Bridge Market, an authentic Soviet Market where people are selling all kinds of stuff on the street, even on top of cars' trunks! You can find absolutely everything there, even Soviet passports of some poor people that probably died or lost them. We spent a couple of hours there and then we went to sightsee a bit the new town.
Next morning it was Saturday, so we headed to the Dry Bridge Market, an authentic Soviet Market where people are selling all kinds of stuff on the street, even on top of cars' trunks! You can find absolutely everything there, even Soviet passports of some poor people that probably died or lost them. We spent a couple of hours there and then we went to sightsee a bit the new town.
All kinds of items being sold at the Dry Bridge Market
The impression it gives is that Tbilisi wants to be an European capital. They are renovating a lot in the city and right now it looks half European half Soviet but they have an issue with traffic: to cross the street is a nightmare because you cannot find almost any pedestrian crossing, so you find yourself jumping over fences and stuff. Anyway, we somehow survived and made it to the Peace Bridge, a futuristic glass-made bridge over the river worth a visit.
After the bridge time to take the funicular and go up to the fortress for some cool views over the city. You can use all the public transportations in Tbilisi using one top-up card, so it is really cheap and useful.
After the bridge time to take the funicular and go up to the fortress for some cool views over the city. You can use all the public transportations in Tbilisi using one top-up card, so it is really cheap and useful.
We didn't enter the fortress but walked around it admiring the views. Once down in town again, a visit to the nearby Church where a wedding was going on and to check the nearby touristry sulphur baths. They are nice from the outside, with cool domes you can climb but if you go inside and ask for prices you feel being ripped-off, so we were happy we took our bath the previous day in a real bath next to home.
Some traditional Georgian meal and a short walk around the old city as it was getting dark, so we decided to finish the day at a winehouse. We were told about Georgian wines, oferred glasses of different kind of wines and finally we sat down for a cheap and good bottle of red wine before going back to the hostel.
Some traditional Georgian meal and a short walk around the old city as it was getting dark, so we decided to finish the day at a winehouse. We were told about Georgian wines, oferred glasses of different kind of wines and finally we sat down for a cheap and good bottle of red wine before going back to the hostel.
Old Town square
Sunday morning was devoted to visit the old town, but on the way we stopped by the Sumela Cathedral, right next to the Presidential Palace. This Cathedral is the best example on how to waste money stupidly. Tbilisi has plenty of religious buildings where people can go and pray, but the government probably though that was not enough and decided to build a monstruosity only a few years ago. The Cathedral is huge, really huge. You cannot imagine how many millions of laris they have spent there. And, at the front door there are people begging, don't you think it would have been wiser to build a place for these people instead of a luxurious cathedral for people to pray in? Please, I don't think praying and going to this cathedral gives you food. Anyway, as it was Sunday, the Cathedral was full of people and we watched a bit of the mass. Afterwards, time to explore the Old town, so off we went.
Sunday mass at Sumela Cathedral
Tbilisi's old town is actually a rather small old town, not comparable to European beautiful old towns, but still it is worth a visit. We just wandered around, coming accross an amazing leaning clocktower, some tiny and cute bakeries and plenty of modern bars, too many for my taste.
Later on we decided to go to the TV Antenna Park, which is an amusement park on the top of a hill whose TV Antenna is visible from practically all Tbilisi. To get there you have to take a cable car and once in the park you find some not really interesting rides. The only cool thing is the rollercoaster and the Ferris Wheel, the latter being especially cool. It's a massive Ferris Wheel that for a ridiculous price you can get on and enjoy for about 20 minutes. From up there you see almost all Tbilisi, cool!
Later on we decided to go to the TV Antenna Park, which is an amusement park on the top of a hill whose TV Antenna is visible from practically all Tbilisi. To get there you have to take a cable car and once in the park you find some not really interesting rides. The only cool thing is the rollercoaster and the Ferris Wheel, the latter being especially cool. It's a massive Ferris Wheel that for a ridiculous price you can get on and enjoy for about 20 minutes. From up there you see almost all Tbilisi, cool!
View of Tbilisi from the Ferris Wheel
As it was getting dark, after the park, back to the hotel, as a 6-hour marshrutka was waiting for us next morning to take us to our next destination: Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. And so we did, although we went to sleep a bit later than expected after some minor incident in our room: a light bulb literally exploded so the bed got full of glasses. Change the bed linen, clean everythig, check no glasses are left and go to sleep.
Next morning metro to the main bus station being all the way from the metro to the station accompanied by a street dog (in case we were missing our friends the street dogs from Mestia), jump on the marshrutka and get ready to hit the road!
For more info check our Tbilisi Guide and also our Tbilisi Pictures Gallery!
Next morning metro to the main bus station being all the way from the metro to the station accompanied by a street dog (in case we were missing our friends the street dogs from Mestia), jump on the marshrutka and get ready to hit the road!
For more info check our Tbilisi Guide and also our Tbilisi Pictures Gallery!
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