The disappearing beauty of Tbilisi
Tbilisi conquered us with the charm of the steep streets of the old city, rickety houses with carved wooden balconies and yards hung with linen, tasty and plentiful food after which it is just right to unfasten the belt, walls with many painted cats, which, coming to life, jump out from under their feet with a loud “meow” and happy to consume sausages reserved especially for them.
The festive mood of the New Year’s city was in the air, sparkling with bright lights of garlands on Rustaveli Avenue, flowing through the fingers of street musicians and flowing with the talk of the crowd that filled the New Year’s fairs.
At the moment when the clock struck twelve, the whole of Tbilisi was drowned in the colorful colors of multi-colored fireworks, which took off and exploded in the air almost over every courtyard of this city.
Georgian street art deserves special mention. Pedestrian crossings immersing you in a new reality, paintings the height of a four-story building, black cats running across your path along the wall, and girls walking a stranger on a leash create a special atmosphere and it seems that even though this phenomenon is a little over 20 years old, these creations of street artists, like local and many foreign ones are already inseparable from the city and it is not possible to imagine Tbilisi without street art
The courtyards of Tbilisi are a separate attraction of this city. Old rickety buildings with wooden balconies, a small courtyard across which the laundry of the residents of neighboring apartments is dried, small details that betray the old age of these apartments and spaces in which completely different people coexist for a long time. Many courtyards are visible from the streets, but even more of this underside of the city is hidden behind the facades of buildings familiar to us, one has only to go through any ajar carved door along a short dark corridor …
Sulfur baths quarter, a must-see place in Tbilisi. It is built on sulfur springs and if you look closely at the river that separates the two banks, you can see thin streams of sulfuric water flowing out of the baths and leaving behind a greenish-yellow sediment. To come here and not go to the Chreli Abano baths for an hour is a crime against hedonism. Hot water from natural sulfur springs, which has a healing effect, immediately relaxes the whole body and plunges into a languid bliss in which you always want to stay …
What to do in Tbilisi in a couple of days?
- Ride the tram to the park on the mountain. Departs every 20 minutes, the best seats are in the lower carriage by the rear window 😉
- Visit the Chreli Abano sulfur baths. You can book and pay in advance on the website, which is very convenient.
- Live in an old Tbilisi apartment in the center and try not to wake up your neighbors at night with creaking floorboards. Look for options on airbnb, in the old city area.
- Walk around the old city, look into every courtyard and don’t forget to feed the cats.
- Go to the opera and touch the old days.
