Where Are We?!

experience

“We're now at the Holy Trinity Cathedral here in Tbilisi, and it was built sometime between 1995 and, I think, 2004, which makes it pretty new, actually. I think the local name of this church is Sameba... It's located on Elia Hill and has this absolutely beautiful view of the city... I think this is like the third tallest Eastern Orthodox cathedral in Europe, or maybe it was the world; I don't know. It's very, very beautiful, and this whole area in general is just super nice. Apparently, it is one of the largest religious buildings in the world when it comes to area, and it is huge, and it's super beautiful here. You can go inside for free, but I don't think you can take photos or film, so I guess you're just going to have to come here yourself. The church was absolutely humongous, super tall, and you could hear the echoes, and there was like this nice incense smell, which I really like.”

shopping

“We now made it to the Maidan Bazaar. I hope that's how it's pronounced. And it's this old school underground tunnel. It's a bazaar that, yeah, looks super, super old. Apparently, it's been around since the 4th century, and they sell wine here and foods. And I read online it was described kind of like this Harry Potter witch kind of vibe, and it totally has that. I love it. Super cool down here. I can't wait to explore.”

cafe

“We went to the shop called Luca Polare, and this one said it's Kindzmarauli, something like that, wine ice cream. She asked us if it's okay that it has alcohol, and of course, it is. Let's see what this tastes like. The consistency is a bit weird. It's almost a little bit like Turkish ice cream, a little bit stringy, not quite. It tastes like red wine. It smells like wine too... It's kind of sweet. It's like a sweet red wine or like an ice wine. Delicious... This obviously would be perfect in the summer... I'm really glad that we tried this because it's really good, even better than I thought it was going to be, and I love red wine... It's delicious, and this cost, I think, 4.90, which is about $2, or just under $2. It might be a little bit expensive. I think other shops might be cheaper. I think this is quite like a nice posh ice cream shop, but it's delicious. It's worth it.”

experience

“We're now on the Peace Bridge, which connects both of the sides of Tbilisi together because the Kura River flows through it, which I really love. I love cities that have a river going through them, and this bridge was built in 2010, I think, and it's made out of steel and glass, and it's, I don't know, I guess an Instagram spot. There are a lot of people taking pictures.”

experience

“We are now at the clock tower, which I think was designed by Rezo Gabriadze... He's a Georgian playwright, puppeteer, and artist. He's very famous here, and attached to the tower is actually the Marionette Theater, which is also named after him. You can actually go to these Marionette shows here. I think they're every single day except for Mondays, and the price is between 50 and 70 Lari, but I do think that you have to book in advance. We would have really loved to go to one of these shows because, from what I've seen, they look super cool, but if you do want to do that, just make sure you book in advance.”

restaurant

“We've now come to a place called Cafe Daphna for our first Georgian meal of the day, and I'm going to start with a local craft beer. It's called Taa... Here we try some local beer and chacha (a Georgian liquor). To eat, we try a variety of pickled vegetables and a variety of traditional Georgian dumplings called khinkali.”

restaurant

“To finish up our first day, we swing by a restaurant called Zodiaqo to try fried khinkali.”

nightlife

“We end our time in Tbilisi with some wine at Fabrika, a former Soviet sewing factory transformed into a multi-functional urban space.”

experience

“before heading to The Clock Tower and Gabriadze Theater.”

shopping

“We start our second day by trying two beloved Georgian snacks, Churchkhela & tkalpi. After a quick sampling, we head to Mapshalia for our first real meal of the day.”

restaurant

“After a quick sampling, we head to Mapshalia for our first real meal of the day. We order more local beer and chacha to start. We then order nigvziani badrijani (Georgian eggplant rolls), elarji (cornmeal with cheese), chicken kharcho (a chicken/walnut stew), and Adjaruli khachapuri (cheesy egg bread).”