That Strange Stranger: Tbilisi

My last night in Tbilisi, I realised that I've been in Tbilisi for a few days and never really talked about Tbilisi. Only about things in Tbilisi (churches, clubs, food). But there is more that is worth to be told, so let's give a look to the city, albeit a very superficial and "touristic" one.

The first morning I went downtown, walking down on Davit Agmashenebeli (David the Builder, the most successful king of Georgia) avenue, to reach the Tsminda Sameba cathedral. The street is wide and clean, with lots of shops, restaurants and banks.

Liberty Square

However, it doesn't take much to see it change dramatically. Buildings that once must have been beautiful and rich are now in disrepair and lay abandoned, sometimes with a FOR SALE sign.

This is definitely an ex Soviet city, with diffused poverty. Other houses look like they have been affected by an earthquake, especially in the Old Town, close to the manifest luxury or the Tsminda Sameba cathedral, giving a back to the USSR feel all over it. Despite this, however, Tbilisi is a safe city, actually one of the safest, as several articles on the web will explain. Which is actually a good thing, becaue some places are downright scary. This below is a pedestrian underpass.

You see that white thing? For a moment it was obscured by a passing man. Horror stuff, I tell you.

The difference with the richer areas is striking. The Rike park, with the modern Peace Bridge towering over it, offer a definite contrast.

Then, the day after, I thought I would roam a bit north, so I went all the way up Davit Agmashenebeli avenue to Dinamo Stadium, then to the railway station and to the dezerter bazaar. Every saturday I go to the market in Lambrate. Here is no Lambrate (and it's no Saturday also) but this isn't a good reason to skip a market! Yet this was quite different from what I was used to.

Most stalls were manned by one person only. Vegetables, eggs, mushrooms and dried fruit (especially nuts) dominated to view, but fish and meat were also present. The impression was, of course, of poverty, but also of determination, of not giving up.