How many things can you do in one day in Tiblisi?

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Day 3 Georgia. Monday 12th Sept.

How many things can you do in one day in Tiblisi?



So the first plan today was to go to the Magti shop to get a SIM card. This would be great for finding our way round, finding places of interest and vegan cafes and stuff. I took a picture of the Google maps directions and was all ready to set off when….

……Claire happened…..

‘So I thought we’d start off at the fortress then go this church then….oh yeah, the SIM cards….we can do that after…’ You may remember that the fortress is high up but Claire assured me that she’d found a short route and I’m convinced she said it wasn’t too steep.

We stood at the bottom and she was lost but decided that we should walk up some very steep streets…..and stairs obviously….and they were all dead ends…. Arthritic knees aren’t fond of steep inclines or declines but Claire wanted to put mine through their paces. And she did.

Back at a different point at the bottom we saw another sign pointing to the fortress and climbed about a million more steep stairs which finally took us to the top. Then we walked down some stairs on the side until finally, half way back down, we found the entrance to the fortress. Which had a steep entrance slope to climb to try and finish me off. There was a modern church there which was quite impressive but the fortress wasn’t worth two replacement knees.

Claire decided to go climbing furthrt up the fortress and came back filthy as she’d had to scramble up some places. Apparently she would have been in trouble with my Mum if she’d taken me up there so it can’t have been good! And apparently it wasn’t worth the effort!

Back down the very steep slop. Oh deep joy.

Thankfully I was then allowed something to eat. Which was nice. The place was quite expensive as it overlooked the square but the food was good. We both had Asian dishes and Claire had some sushi too.

Next stop, the Magti shop to get SIM cards as I managed to get Claire to leave the church until later. It was a bit of a walk but eventually we found it and took a ticket. There was quite a wait but eventually we had a 30 day unlimited internet card each which cost about £13. More expensive than home but instantly useful as we could see what the buildings were that we were walking past.

The parliament building was just down the road with one protestor in front demanding freedom for someone. He was like a quiet Steve Bray. There are lots of interesting buildings here both old and new with plenty of varied shops, statues, monuments etc to keep you from getting bored. There are far too many cats and art with cats in which makes getting around quite slow as SOMEONE has to photograph and/ or stroke them all. There are stray dogs too, all of which appear to be chipped, who look generally healthy and not violent. Not that I go anywhere near them of course.

We then walked back to Europe Square to take an open-top bus tour. You can’t get more touristy than that! The saleswoman talked us into adding a boat trip, which we were going to do anyway, and we were soon about £55 poorer. The trip is a hop on hop off affair and the ticket lasts for 24 hours.

We decided to take the full tour and settled in upstairs with our earphones giving a commentary in English. Claire was bopping along to the intervening music and is now looking for a cassette of it….

Obviously the first way we headed was where we had just walked to and then walked back from but the less said about that the better. The commentary was interesting and the tour lasted over an hour, making a number of brief stops along the way. We found some places we might like to visit again and now we have the option of a bus that we have already paid for to get there.

We got off the bus back at the beginning and then went straight onto a boat for a two-part boat trip down then up the river. The breeze was cool and it was a very pleasant trip. A group had been getting off as we were getting on and they had quite a few empty wine bottles with them. One of the women was asking where our wine was and saying the trip wasn’t as good without wine. Judging by the state of her I’d say she was very, very wrong. We had been given two small bottles of wine as part of our trip but Claire had already chugged one on the bus. I don’t go near the stuff and the state of that woman reminded me why.

After we’d climbed the steps back up to roadside Claire asked if I wanted to call it a day. I said yes as we’d walked quite a lot, particularly up and down hills and so many steps… I was kind of thinking she had other plans and….yes….we walked up a small hill and up some more steps to get to a church. It was okay inside but we did get to have some views back across to the fortress.

After going back down the steps and the slope I was going to head to a shop I’d seen earlier that was selling potato pies. Claire spotted a long-cut over the peace bridge so we went that way instead. Thankfully there were more stairs to climb. The peace bridge is quite a feat of engineering with sylish design and lots of glass. Hopefully there is a photograph attached.

We then walked back to potato pie street where I bought two of said pies and Claire had a type of pizza thingy. She said it was okay and my pies were nice but would have gone well with that garlicky tomato sauce I had last night. We then headed back to sit outside our guesthouse and write this.

We’ve fitted a lot in one day but don’t worry, Tiblisi still has lots to offer!

And more steps no doubt….

Notes: I don’t think I’d like to drive here. It seems a bit nuts to say the least. Large roundabouts (or squares) seem to have no priority so vehicles are just wellyng into any old space. One square even had a u-turn built into it which was confusing to watch let alone drive.

We’ve seen at least three cars with most of their front ends missing which isn’t surprising at all…..apart from the fact that they are allowed to still drive them.

Customer service remains grumpy with no chance of smiles. The exchange place, the restaurant and the potato pie place all stuck with the typical glumness. People aren’t unfriendly and they’re not rude, tney’re just, well, grumpy. A bit odd in a restaurant to say the least….I mean you wouldn’t go back would you?

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