At last, two days in, we have been reunited with our suitcases, chargers and technology which had been languishing in Munich where we transferred flights on Monday, so I am finally able to report that we give Tbilisi full marks and Lufthansa nul points!
Tbilisi is much bigger than we were expecting, with multi-lane, fast roads contrasting with the steep, pot-holed backstreets, ostentatious hotels and flashy malls competing with falling-down — sometimes fallen down – charming nineteenth century merchant houses.
We’ve been struck by the extra-special guttering unable to resist pointing out to each other the evermore eccentric arrangements:
Tbilisi is known for its ‘Italian squares’ – found going down dingy passages which open onto courtyards surrounded by houses with glassed-in balconies and then infilled with all sorts of higgledy-piggledy arrangements – and washing:
The streets are punctuated with anti-Russian graffiti and lots of Ukranian flags – apparantly there are an enormous number of Ukranians now in Tbilisi:
More cheerfully, a local artist seems to have painted half the city with his/her charming images, so here are some to enjoy:
Oh dear, not an auspicious beginning, what with delayed baggage and crumbling houses. I must say I’m struggling to see the “squares” as particularly Italianate. No doubt you will find what there is to love (beyond eccentric drain pipes) and report it here for all of us to enjoy. Bon voyage my loves!
Ken
Well, I agree that the Italian squares are some distance from,say, Modena or the lovely Genoa. There’s a good reason why they’re called Italian but I’ve forgotten it. Triblisi is a gripping city – amazing mix of crumble and mall – and completely enjoyable ( particularly now we have our luggage)… big hugs, dear K!
Great graffiti! Glad you were reunited with your luggage.
Much love Claire
Not nearly as glad as we are! Next step was scouring the streets for Georgian lingerie.. .
Bloody Lufthansa! They partner with Air Canada. Not sure which is worse. But anyway, Tbilisi looks really interesting. When you say ‘bigger than expected’ not sure what you did expect.
Well clearly something smaller! Georgia not a big place population wise. No surprise about Air Canada and Lufthansa – made for each other. Triblisi though really interesting and enjoyable and food/ wine excellent..
Sad to hear about the bill their parliament passed yesterday rolling back LGBTQ+ rights. Have you seen any counter protests/outcry about it I wonder?
Not seen anything – suspect a huge gap between young people, particularly in Triblisi, and Georgia’s politicians..
To save Sue’s blushes – auto-correct kept correcting Tbilisi to Tribal and Triblisi! And sorry to give the wrong impression – but I was captivated by the ramshackleness of (some of) the city – rather less entranced by the flashy stuff. Will try harder!
Temporary loss of luggage must have been a tad stressful. Glad to hear you are reunited.
I think the courtyards remind me of Turkey rather than anything I’ve seen in Italy. Looking forward to the scenery and takes of food and wine. Have fun xx
Completely agree re courtyards, think it’s a caravanserai thing. Have taken pictures of some great cheese pies – an entire food blog will follow in due course ( cheese course – you could make a joke somewhere there…).
Being reunited with luggage must have been the first joy, soon to be followed by the delights of Tlibilsi. I love the contrasts and particularly the colours.
Yes, wasn’t at all liberating to be separated from stuff that had taken hours to pack and was both clean and essential! Ah well, Tbilisi a great treat and well worth the visit ( we’re back there a couple of more times this trip).
@goshaart is a dark-haired young woman ‘making Tbilisi brighter every day’. Childless cat lady? You can find her on Instagram.
Definitely a CCL – cats all over the city in different painterly guises, including a set of flying cats that I thought were very fetching…
The squares reminded me of looking down the back streets of Naples, tenements with balconies and washing and a closed off atmosphere which made you stay on the main road. I was lost at the time. Perhaps the Italianate reference, Sue?
Yes, definitely a Neapolitan vibe to some of these strange cobbled together courtyards- the spiral staircases and Soviet additions particularly bewildering..
Glad to hear you are re-united with your smalls and have no need to trawl the streets for ‘Georgian lingerie’ – although lingerie is probably altogether too grand a word for what would have been available. Tbilisi looks deliciously down-at-heel and the street art is fantastic – interesting that the words are in English.
Well, in the end M and Nikhil went back to the airport to find the suitcases and liberate them from a very big pile of stuff being held to ransom. Tbilisi a great city and well worth a visit ( but always travel with a backpack of essentials..)
I’ve appeared as anonymous on 18 Sept, not sure why other than I did it from my phone! It’s Cate btw!
Hi Cate! Yes, I’d guessed it was you! Sxxx