Based on the media coverage that Georgia has recieved in the past few months, most people imagine the country as a heap of smoldering rubble. It is true that Russia has been bullying the small nation around, but luckily the military clashes have been isolated in two breakaway regions, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which are located in the north of the country. The rest of the nation is unscathed and going about their business as normal. In fact, I have found Tbilisi to be a fairly calm and quiet capital city.
Not only is Tbilisi calm, it is located in an incredibly beautiful setting; mountains surround the city and the Mtkvari River (how is that for a consonant cluster?) runs through the center. There are ancient churches of all kinds (Armenian, Georgian, Zorastrian, Muslim) scattered throughout the city. There is a little bit of a Soviet feel in the outskirts of the city, but the center does not appear to be Soviet at all, but much older. Despite the ubiquitous historical monuments, the city is very cosmopolitan and is Westernizing at a very rapid pace.
I scored big with my couchsurfing arrangment - I have a huge apartment with a balcony overlooking a main street all to myself! My host has moved out but still has the place for the remainder of the month, so until tomorrow morning it is all mine. It has been good to catch up on some sleep after a week of traveling. My night train from Batumi to Tbilisi involved a four year old with access to unlimited Fanta, candy bars and chewing gum. Needless to say, it was not a quiet night and I didn't get much sleep. 
I spent the day touring the city and taking pictures of the main landmarks. Unfortunately, I am an unskilled and unenthusiastic photographer with a sub-standard digital camera. Thus, my pictures make Georgia look grey and dull. I assure you that everything I have photographed looked twice as good in person. Now that you are excited to see my pictures, here they are.
Tomorrow I head East on a mini-bus for Gremi Village in the Kakheti region to join the Temi-Community for a month of grape harvesting. The village is fairly remote, so I don't know if I will have any internet access, so there may be an extended lapse in my postings. Hopefully there will be a nearby internet terminal so that I can get at least a weekly information fix and stay in touch.
3 comments:
Wow Crazy! You are staying right where I lived for the first half of my trip. I was just a bit behind there in those crazy alleys. I used to walk through the wall there, down the steps and catch the bus in front of your place to go to school. Perfect location to see Tbilisi! Aww I miss it. Eat some mandarinis and drink some wine for me...saperavi or mukuzani, if much prefered.
GAUMARJOS!
Stop worring about the pics dude the are great! Just board as hell in my hotel room catching up on the blog, and wow ive missed alot. Ive had some pretty good hospitality in my travels, but that is insane. You must have made one good impression. With all the bus rides I hope you have at least a 60gig ipod, with an battery booster!
As far as silex goes it was 8-10" in Fred's house, and about 2' in Jesse's. They both had insurance and are going to make out pretty good. Fred has even desighned a plan to collect other peoples shit and put it in his house, his insurance covered CONTENTS.
Can not say enough how happy I am for you and how great everything has been so far. Keep up the great stories and exceptional pictures.
610Hey Lukin, hope all is well with you on your adventure. I shared your blog address with the world history teacher in Warrenton. He is really enjoying keeping up with your travels as alot of these places he teaches about from years ago. Take care and be safe!
Hugs
Your Hawk Point Friends
Mike and Kim
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