Day 4 (July 14, 2022): More Tbilisi

Unlike yesterday, when we got up at 1:30PM, today we got up at 9!  Progress!  The Marriott breakfast was simply excellent - we regretted having slept through it yesterday.

It was 11:30AM when we finally set off today.  Although it was still hot — a high of 35C — there was a breeze today that made things much more bearable.

We covered landmarks on both sides of the river today, did a river cruise, and spent time in the relative cool of the heights above the city.

Bolt - a ride service similar to Uber - is everywhere in Tbilisi, offering quick, cheap rides in minutes.  Especially in Covid times, Bolt makes getting around safer and faster.  

Our second full day in Tbilisi was simply wonderful.  We feel very at ease and at home here!

Public Service Hall, designed by an Italian, was built in 2011.  Its roof consists of 11 giant ‘petals’.  It is the largest of a dozen public service halls built around Georgia to provide citizens with access to government services.  This hall provides over 400 such services.

As a public servant myself, I was amazed at the beehive of activity inside, and the way in which client services have been organized in an incredibly efficient way.  As we entered the building, some women tried to sell us a fake address.  I assume you require an address to apply for government services, and perhaps some people needing services do not have an address.

The fountain in Dedaena Park is popular with kids on a hot July day.

This memorial monument in Dedaena Park depicts a child rising to the sky with a bell above his head.  In 1978, the Soviet Union decided to revoke the status of Georgian as one of the minor state languages and to replace it with Russian.  The Georgian people protested so fiercely that the Soviets retracted their decision.  This monument is to the mother tongue and it commemorates this significant event for Georgia.

Artists and craftspeople display their works in Dedaena Park via an incredible infrastructure designed to accommodate them.

Monument to the artist and sculptor, Merab Merabishvili.

Holy Trinity Cathedral was built between 1995 and 2004.  The main cathedral of the Church of Georgia, it is the third largest Eastern Orthodox cathedral in the world.  

The incredibly high ceilings of the Holy Trinity Cathedral.  Eastern Orthodox churches do not have seats or pews;  worshippers stand for the entire service.

Large panel of icons in the Holy Trinity Cathedral.

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Statue of King Vakhtang Gorgasali overlooks Old Town from next to the Metekhi St. Virgin Church.

 

Walls of the Queen Darejan Palace, with Holy Trinity Cathedral’s golden roof in the background.

Metekhi St. Virgin Church on the eastern bank of the Mtkvari River was built between 1278 and 1289 under the reign of King Demetrius II of Georgia.  Oral tradition, however, dates it back to the sixth century.


The priest arrived while we were there, to say a mid-day mass.  He was followed into the church by a throng of women, who clearly revered him.

Just after 2PM, we decided to take a cruise of the Mtkvari River, which went up river into modern Tbilisi, and down river to Old Town.  We had the boat to ourselves for half the tour, and then picked up a family from Saudi Arabia.  I can’t recall 45 minutes in recent times that I’ve felt so carefree and relaxed.  We loved every minute of it!


We loved these figures on the Nikoloz Baratashvii Bridge, all of which looked like river divers.  Brilliant!

A view of Metekhi St. Virgin Church and the statue of King Vakhtang Gargasali as seen from our river cruise.  The small chapel in the bottom left is the location where Saint Abo, patron saint of Tbilisi, was tortured in the eighth century.

These houses, sporting the ornate wooden balconies Tbilisi is famous for, cling to the top of the cliffs of the Mtkvari River.

Two weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, Georgia submitted an application for membership to the European Union.  In this traffic circle, the flags of Georgia and the EU fly side by side, as a sign of support for that membership application.

 

On the eastern side of the river, another amazing street of chic cafes can be found.  Named Agmashenebeli Avenue, it runs several blocks from Saarbrucken Square 

Along trendy Agmashenebeli Avenue, this incredible mosaic adorns a commercial building.  Notice the person in the bottom centre of the photo for an indication of the mosaic’s size.

It’s a dog’s world!  This pooch was sound asleep in the middle of the sidewalk on Agmashenebeli Avenue.

Testing the public transit network is a favourite activity of ours in any city, but especially in cities of the former Soviet Union.  Cheap public transportation for the masses was considered almost a right in Soviet times.  All over the former Soviet empire, metro systems were dug deep underground (likely to protect the masses in the event of nuclear war).  No metros on Earth go down as deep as these.  And Tbilisi’s 23-station metro network is typical of those the Soviets produced.


A train on the efficient Tbilisi Metro.

We passed these three Georgian figurines at a craft market on Rustaveli Street yesterday and were happy to see them again today!

Nowhere have we seen civic street number signs as detailed as here!  Each contains a profound saying.  This one, for example, at 52 Rustaveli Street, says, “If the listener be a worthy man, in few words he offers a long discourse.” 


Our day ended with a trek up to Mtatsminda Park, a huge area overlooking the city that opened in the 1930s.  The recently reconstructed funicular took us up to the mountain, which has an elevation of 727 metres.  The funicular was originally opened in 1905.

Some views of Tbilisi and the Caucasus Mountains from Mtatsminda Park:

We had another amazing Georgian dinner at one of the restaurants at the top of the mountain.  Honey cake, apple pie, Americano coffee and Georgian citrus tea topped it all off.

Neither of us likes heights.  So what got into us to ride this 80-metre tall Ferris wheel, we have no idea.  A Ferris wheel at sea level is bad enough.  A Ferris wheel at 727 meters above sea level was downright scary.

ARGHHHHH!!!


It certainly isn’t a pretty sight, but the TV Tower atop Mtatsminda Park can be seen from all over Tbilisi.

The TV Tower at night - easier on the eyes!  The building to the left is where we ate dinner.