Tbilisi

After a pretty chaotic trip with a crazy Mashrutka from Mestia, we arrived in one piece in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. We were quite anxious to discover the city, especially after a week in the nature and the mountains.

Tbilisi is big and small at the same time. It is easy to get around, to go groceries shopping or to eat at any time. We used all kind of public transportation, buses, metro, cable car or funicular. We even went to watch the latest XMen movie, in 3D. We rented a flat, which turned out to be as big as our own in Switzerland and for a very convenient price. Everything was so easy that we are now almost convinced that it will be difficult finding such a nice place in the next 10 months again.

During our stay, we took a walking tour given by Anna. During the tour, we learned quite a few fun facts about Georgia that you will not find in a regular guide book:

• If you happen to be too drunk to drive, the police encourages you to call them. They will pick you up and bring you back home safely.
• In 2009, the country was suffering of a drop of its population. To improve the birth rate, the Georgian Patriarch (Georgian equivalent of the Pope) offered to become the godfather of all third born child.
• If you do not remember how a particular Georgian guy is named, just call him Giorgi. You have one chance over four to be right! We did experiment it: the car renter, the flat renter and the guide from Batumi were all called Giorgi. The same happens for women with Nino. The reason for that is to be found in the religion: Giorgi and Nino are the most iconic Saints of Georgia.

we did specifically enjoy:

• The brand new Thai take away located in front of Rustaveli metro station.
• A very nice evening talking about motorbikes and travels with Sofie and Jo currently on their way to Mongolia by motorbike
• The dry bridge flea market, a must to see old artefacts from the Soviet period (with various portraits of Staline)
• The market stalls in Didube, we had our cheapest (although delicious) lunch there. One pizza, one spinach kachaphuri and one chocolate cake for about 2.50 dollars.

Accommodation

• Airbnb flat on Rustaveli Avenue. It felt quite good to have a place on our own for a week.

Restaurants

• Home made pastas and salads by Magali (almost every evening since we had a kitchen).
• Pervak restaurant where we ended up at 11pm, desperate for food. It was a pretty good choice.

best kept secret tip

Take part of a Tbilisi Free Walking Tour led by Anna. It is the best way to start your stay in the city.