Tbilisi Old Town

Off we went on the first morning to walk around the Old Town area of Tbilisi.  Like many Old Town areas it is in the process of gentrification. Real estate here is pricey as the city grows and grows and the sprawl has created huge traffic delays. The country of Georgia is roughly the size of North Carolina but the infrastructure is such that it literally takes days to cross the country and hours and hours to get to the remote mountainous regions near the Russian border.  But that is information we did not get until later in the trip.  This morning we were on foot for the four plus miles (per Phil's step tracker) we walked... We stopped for lunch at a lovely restaurant with wonderful dishes.  The place was located in the basement of the Writer's House Museum and is called Cafe Littera.  The evening meal was preceded by a stop for our first extended wine tasting at Vino Underground and then we were off to our evening meal and first "Georgian Table" (feast with much drinking and toasting!)

So on with some photos- by the way the public art in Tbilisi is excellent and ubiquitous.  And there was public art in many of the smaller places we visited as well.

no it's not a roller coaster- it is some kind of art installation that has multiple flags flying from it's skeletal structure  (meaning was not explained LOL)

the architecture was reminiscent of Turkey (nearby neighbor on the Black Sea and to the south and west of the country - a map to remind us of where we are-

Other things seem European- this is undoubtedly due to the fact that it was crossroads between Europe and Asia for centuries -

while on the trip I read the Michael Chabon book "Gentlemen of the Road" which is an ancient tale of two less than reputable men who live by their wits in the region we were now traveling in- a fun thing....

Georgia has its own alphabet but most signs had Latin/Roman letters as well-

I found the alphabet lovely and artistic but less easy to follow than say Cyrillic...

more sights along the way- we stopped at churches and baths and a bakery ...

many cafes with outdoor tables

and wine bars everywhere!

a very old church-

and another church-

back on the street-

 art for sale along some of the walled lanes-

the old baths area -

inside a modernized bath - still used - times for men and women vary-

a local treat nuts dipped repeatedly in grape juice that becomes more like fruit leather - then these are sliced and eaten as a "candy" treat - we saw them everywhere and they always had them at the breakfast buffets-

will end this at this point as the post has gotten long and we are still hours before lunch - LOL.. part two of Old Town and day one of touring will follow - stay tuned!