Teflon Tbilisi

Most of my previous posts, dear readers, have been quite information heavy. That’s because I felt it was important to share the history of these places with you since they’re places that not many people in the U.S. know about. And because it’s hard to understand what a place is like now if you don’t understand why it came to be that way.

I’m in Tbilisi, Georgia, and it’s hard to describe, with or without historical context, so I’m not going to spend a whole lot of time summarizing over two thousand years of Georgian history to you. I don’t understand it myself!  Georgian culture and society has retained so much of its uniqueness and originality despite having been conquered and ruled by the same assortment of empires as the rest of Central Asia and the Caucasus; the Mongols, the Timurids, the Persians, the Ottomans, the Russians. Everything—the language, the food, the religion—remains just so very Georgian. P.S. Scroll to the very bottom of my post for recommendations on what to do in Tbilisi.

Georgia’s language is part of the Kartvelian language family, which doesn’t share any “genetic” links with any other language family. The Georgian alphabet has thirty-three circular letters that, to me, look kind of like ancient runes. But when you see an ad for skincare products in the Georgian alphabet, the letters kind of lose their mysticism. Everything—street signs, most menus, even exhibits in museums—also appear in the Latin script, with older stuff in Cyrillic. Russia used to be just slightly more popular than it is now (that was sarcasm, I passed “fuck Russia” graffiti on my way to this coffee shop). The second language of the older generations was Russian; but the second language for the younger generations is English.

Georgia is Teflon. Despite a very weighty history that includes so much pain and violence, nothing seems to stick to Georgia or the Georgian people. They have successfully held tightly to their traditions and their culture.

Tbilisi from Mtatsminda Park

So, what is Georgian culture? What is Tbilisi?

It sprawls along a long river valley, surrounded by hills trying their very best to be mountains but that are babies compared to the Caucasus Mountains in the northwest of Georgia. Unless you’re walking near the river, you’re most certainly headed up or down in elevation. The road system is chaotic, a mix of cobblestoned alleys that a car can barely squeeze through and four-lane highways zipping along the riverbanks. Cars park on the narrow sidewalks and don’t stop at crosswalks, so you just puff yourself up as big as you can. Every time I made it across the street I’d feel proud of myself.

Some of the busier streets have pedestrian underpasses that are coated with thick layers of graffiti. I love the street art in Tbilisi in general, although I don’t know how much of it was officially sanctioned and how much was painted at one a.m. by twenty-somethings who held a paint can in one hand and a cigarette in the other. A good bit of the art is pro-EU, pro-Georgian, or anti-Russian (or all three at once). There’s the straightforward “stop Russia” and “Russia is a terrorist state.” I saw “Russia” written on a pair of dumpsters with arrows pointing up to the trash. Another dumpster across the city reads “Put Putin here.” One underpass is covered with a detailed timeline, in Georgian and English, chronicling two hundred years of violence perpetuated by Russians against Georgians.

But not all the street art is about Georgia’s current political situation. A favorite of mine is: “don’t kill yourself, it’s just PMS.” “Cocaine” is stenciled on a wall in the Coca-Cola font. An old piano sits in an underpass, covered in lime-green squiggles.

Bakery windows offer bread filled with cheese, beans, or meat, and coffee shops serve wine along with cappuccinos and espresso. Sidewalk stands sell cherries, sour green plums, and nectarines, pre-portioned in plastic cups. Grocery stores stock vodka next to the beer.

I have a friend in Tbilisi, a woman named Mariam I met in a hostel in Thessaloniki. She took me to dinner on my first day in Georgia and ordered five dishes for us. Eggplant rolls stuffed with walnut and herb paste, small balls of spinach and pumpkin pkhali (spiced walnut and vegetable pâté). The classic cucumber, tomato, onion, and herb salad that is found everywhere from Morocco to Uzbekistan but with a Georgian twist: ground walnut paste. Firm cheese in cream sauce, sprinkled with cilantro and pomegranate seeds, cheese flatbread called Imeruli khachapuri, and fried balls of elargi—cornmeal and cheese mash—in a walnut sauce. The food is unlike any other cuisine I’ve had before, and it is amazing.

“You drink wine?” She asked me. “Georgian wine is—” she kissed her fingers. “Very good.” I said sure, why not, and accepted a dry red wine called Saperavi. Georgians are very proud of their wine, and they should be—they’ve been making skin-contact wine for millennia in clay amphorae called qvevri.

Although it is a very safe place, Tbilisi is not always a pretty, picturesque city. Odor wafts from open dumpsters. Fruit is laid out on tarps on the sidewalk for purchase. Streets are cracked and tiles are missing. Chainlink fences are rusty, and overfed stray dogs sleep in the shade. There’s at least one rinky-dink currency exchange on every street, offering to buy U.S. dollars, Armenian dram, euros, Azerbaijani manat, British pounds, Russian rubles, or Turkish lira (this is strange to me because you can get around Georgia just fine without cash). I saw a car driving by the Avlabari Metro Station with no hood—the front hood and fender were completely just gone and I could see all of the parts that I don’t know the name of. But people don’t avoid these things. They’re part of life, so there’s no attempt to isolate the beautiful from the ugly.

For example, there’s an abandoned lot filled with trash (see picture above) a three-minute walk away from Tbilisi’s biggest orthodox church, a golden-domed giant surrounded by clean white steps and lavender plants. Inside there are maybe a hundred icons, drawing and paintings of saints holding their symbols, on a golden background with halos of Georgian script. St. Nino is the woman who brought Christianity to Georgia in the fourth century A.D., and she always holds a wilting cross made of two grape stems tied together with a lock of her own hair.

St. Nino and her grapevine cross

Georgia is, intrinsically, a deeply religious country. But not like Iran or Saudi where religion is baked into the laws, like it or not. The people are devout because they always have been and they choose to remain so. After all, Georgia was one of the first places to become Christian! Christianity came here in the first century, even before Nino came with her makeshift cross. Taxi drivers cross themselves when passing a church, teenage boys kiss icons of saints unprompted, children get up early with their parents to go to mass on Sunday mornings, stylish twenty-something women with perfect makeup cover their shoulders and hair to go into church. People who’ve just got out of prison often go and spend a few weeks at a monastery before reentering society.

inside the Holy Trinity Cathedral

Georgia is the first democracy I’ve been to on this trip, and it’s easy to sense the difference. There’s so much national pride, pride in the history and the mountains and the food and the language. The pride really is so palpable, especially right now, when Georgia’s national team is in the Euro championships for the first time.

Georgia has that special combination: it’s a civilization with more than two thousand years of history, but it’s also the underdog. It’s never been an empire, but it has persisted. I think that’s what makes it so special.  

gathered to watch Georgia vs. Czech Republic (game ended 1-1)

Tbilisi Recommendations

Things to Do

Take the cable car up to Narikala fortress and the Mother of Georgia statue. Round trip is six or seven Georgian lari (GEL), I can't remember exactly! I was out of cash so I took the cable car up and then walked down.

Ride the funicular up Mtatsminda to the amusement park at the top. The funicular is a little pricier than the Narikala cable car, but it's an amazing view and you can have a meal or some coffee at the restaurant on top of the hill.

There is a great flea market and art market at Dry Bridge Park (Mshrali). I stayed here for about an hour just looking at all the paintings. Highly recommend!

If you want to be...um...disturbed, you can go to the Underground Printing Museum, where Stalin et. al. printed communist pamphlets in Tbilisi. It is run by some old men who are hardcore Stalinists who will talk at you in Russian the whole time. It is an adventure.

Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi (Sameba) is just north of the river. The grounds are sprawling and the church itself is huge. It's definitely worth a visit. Anchiskhati Basilica is another, much smaller, church that is worth your time. Parts of it are from the 6th century...allegedly!

Food

Buy khachapuri from any bakery!

Type Caravanserai Bakery in Google maps. It's the oldest bakery in Tbilisi and is unmarked; it's down some stairs next to an old train car. That's a great place to get some khachapuri.

Salobie Bia is also kind of hard to find, but it's a great place for traditional Georgian food and at one point was the number one restaurant in Tbilisi. It's next to Shota Rustaveli Theater and the sign is actually inside a set of glass double doors. Go down the stairs and to the left to find the restaurant.

Mapshalia is in the Marjanishvili neighborhood, north of old Tbilisi and across the river. It's super cheap, known mostly by locals, and you can only pay in cash, but they have also really great traditional Georgian food.

Coffee

Smile Coffee is a super cute place off the main street Shota Rustaveli Ave. The coffee was great, the Wifi is good, the colors are bright and happy, and you can stay as long as you want. They also have all-day breakfast!

Daily Grind Coffee & More is in Old Tbilisi, a most touristy part of town, but I saw plenty of locals there. Also very good coffee, not much of a food selection, but they have some nice outdoor tables for people-watching!

Getting Around

Taxis through the Bolt and YandexGo apps are ridiculously cheap (tip your drivers please!), and the Tbilisi Metro is also easy to use. You can use your contactless bank card to tap through the gates at the Metro, a ticket is about 50 cents.

Where to Stay

I stayed at the Ivy Hotel; it was about $50 a night and extremely nice. The location is not great; you have to walk about fifteen minutes to get to "the city" but the views are beautiful.

I also heard great things about Fabrika Hostel.