After a very poor, miserable breakfast at the Hotel Alazani valley, we left Telavi at 8:30am for our drive to Georgia’s capital city, Tbilisi. We took the scenic route, crossing the Gombori Range on a twisting road, proceeding through Gombori town, and reaching Tbilisi at a little after 11:00am. We were immediately impressed by this beautifully situated city with its mix of classical architecture and futuristic buildings that all seemed to harmonise brilliantly within the surrounding snow-capped mountain ranges.
Our first stop was the Museum of Modern Art, a surprising and disappointing choice when our time in Tbilisi was to be so limited. Di and I made the decision to spend the one hour allocated to this visit by walking from the Museum along Shota Rustaveli Avenue to Liberty Square and back, getting some beautifully illuminated photos of the classical Soviet era buildings on the way. We certainly felt we made the right decision despite the Museum’s claim to “showcase an intriguing mix of local and international contemporary works”.
We then drove into Tbilisi’s old city centre to enjoy an excellent lunch at Chashnagiri Restaurant in Kote Afkhazi Street, superbly situated amidst old streets, several of which featured some quite spectacular and unambiguous anti-Russian graffiti.
Lunch was followed by a 4.5-kilometre walk of three hours exploring the old city area of Tbilisi. We began by taking a cable car to the Mother of Georgia statue and admiring the clear but overcast views of the city, returning to Europe Square, walking past the Berlin Wall memorial to Metekhi Church where a wedding had just finished. We looked through the church, then took in the views from the lookout point at the Statue of King Vakhtang Gorgasali, before walking across Metekhi Bridge, past the Tbilisi Antique Archaeological Museum (in a former monastery), past the bath houses and through the canyon to Leghvtakhevi Waterfall, back again through the gorge to the Soviet era plaque on Bath House No.5. From there, we followed a winding path to the Bridge of Peace, which we crossed half way before returning, passing the weird clock tower that contains the world’s smallest clock to finish our walk at Nikoloz Baratashvili Avenue.
After this solid walk, we drove to our accommodation, the very pleasant Hotel Twenties, located off Louis Pasteur Street. This proved to be a lovely, contemporary hotel, with a good bathroom, comfortable beds, and an overall clean and modern atmosphere.
Dinner was not included in the program for this evening, so Di and I shopped at the nearby Carrefour on Davit Aghmashenebeli Avenue opposite the Jansug Kakhidze Tbilisi Centre for Music and Culture where I had attended the Georgian polyphonic concert by the Rustavi Ensemble during my previous visit on 12th September 2018 .
