Tblisi Archives - Wanderwiles

By car from Tblisi, Georgia, to Yerevan, Armenia

Sevanavank (Sevan Monastery and churches) on Lake Sevan

I planned our Caucasus trip with a one-way Azerbaijan Airways flight from Paris (our current home) to Baku, Azerbaijan, with 6 nights in Georgia before a return flight from Yeravan, Armenia, to Paris. We hopped a short Azerbaijan Airways flight from Baku to Tblisi, Georgia. When doing my usual pre-trip research, I quickly decided that combining a transfer by car from Tblisi to Yerevan with a little touring along the way would be a great alternative to the hassle and expense of another flight or a no-frills minibus or private direct transfer. Once again, Viator made finding what I was looking for in the way of Caucasus tours and transfers easy. I connected with Sergey at Private Tours in Armenia and we settled on a Sunday transfer with stops in a couple of monasteries including one at Lake Sevan, the largest body of water in the Caucasus and one of the largest freshwater high-altitude lakes in Eurasia.

As with our first day trip in Georgia, a different driver showed up on the day of our transfer. Garnik arrived in front of our hotel promptly a few minutes before 8am and WhatsApped me a greeting and a photo of his car. This change in names was a little disconcerting, but Sergey replied promptly when I checked in with him that Garnik was his cousin and covering this transfer. Good enough.

It turned out that Garnik lived in Yeravan and had gotten up in the wee hours to drive to Tblisi to pick us up. These tour guides and drivers are some hard-working folks! Despite a treaty last fall between Armenia and Azerbaijan, there were still people not happy with the terms resulting in on-going disputes and Garnik wasn’t sure his first choice of places to cross the border would be open. We were also a little concerned that we might have trouble crossing since we had Azerbaijan stamps in our passports, but Garnik didn’t think it would be a problem. At the Georgia-Armenia border, Garnik pointed out where we needed to walk through passport control. We had no problems at all, although there was some hold up with an Asian tour group and we did hear the words “Baku” and “Azerbaijan.” Mostly, though, there seemed to be a big language problem with English as a common language in which no one seemed fluent. Sergey appeared at this point to introduce himself and say that he was driving other clients on a similar route to ours. He’d tried an up-sell online a few days before, but we’d declined extra stops that included more monasteries and a MiG airplane museum. I gathered he was hoping to caravan with Garnik, but we declined once more and we didn’t see Sergey again until hours later in the parking area below Sevanavank although he and Garnik stayed in touch by phone. I felt Sergey wanted to coordinate and make sure all went well for us. Once we had our passports stamped, we walked through security and browsed a duty-free shop while Garnik took the car through vehicle border security. The whole process went quickly and we met him on the Armenia side of the border to resume our ride.

Garnik said Sergey had suggested a route a little different that what we’d originally planned as he wanted to add a free stop to our agenda. Unfortunately, this route had us running up against a roadblock due to border disputes and protests. Faced by police and locals, Garnik had to turn the car around and retrace our path some distance back.

Road blocked due to border protests; time to turn back

Despite this (interesting) setback, we arrived at Monastery of Sanahin – Church of the Redeemer (966AD), a UNESCO World Heritage Site as planned. Garnik parked the car near a series of vendors booths and sent us ahead to explore the monastery on our own. The abandoned monastery provides a hauntingly beautiful site with its gray stone arches and jumble of ancient tombstones serving as a floor.

An open skylight through a domed ceiling lit the scene. Recorded music played in a small chapel which offered the only sign of current use aside from the scattering of tourists and a group of students that arrived near the end of our visit.

After Sanahin, we enjoyed a fun stop at a huge roadside restaurant/deli/bakery/fuel stop. This place was fascinating. The bakery featured big open brick ovens for bread like we’d see in Kakheti, a huge fireplace in the restaurant area, and spiffy bathrooms reminiscent of a “Buc-ee’s” in Texas. We bought Armenian pastries suggested by Garnik and enjoyed them with coffee before resuming our journey.

Since we were running behind schedule due to the border dispute that blocked the road, Garnik asked if I wanted to skip Lake Sevan. No way! (Besides when I looked at Google Maps, it didn’t seem to make any difference if we drove to Yeravan via Lake Sevan or by another route. Of course, the whole idea was to stop at Lake Sevan and see the monastery there, so that would take some time.) Garnik was game for whatever we wanted to do, so we headed to Lake Sevan.

A major benefit of traveling by car instead of airplane is the ability to see a country beyond its major cities. We passed through several towns and villages during our drive, struck by how often we saw large factories standing abandoned and derelict. Remnants of Soviet rule, they stand as testament to the economic upheaval in the region brought on by the collapse of the Soviet Union.

At 1,900 m (6234 ft) and with clouds rolling in and a breeze off the water, it was chilly when we arrived at Lake Sevan. Garnik waited below as David and I hiked up a lot of stairs to the top of a steep hill to where Sevanavank (Sevan Monastery and its two churches) overlooks Lake Sevan. [See lead photo above.] Founded in 874AD, the monastery sits on a peninsula that was once an island before the lake lowered by draining during the Stalin era. Only one of the two small churches was open to the public, ornate and filled with flowers.

Starting on a path towards the tip of the peninsula, David turned back to wait in the warmth of the church while I hiked to the tip. I enjoyed the rugged, barren view, but he may have been the smarter of the two of us.

Descending into Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, the skies cleared and the temperature warmed. As we entered the city, Garnik told us how much he loved his city, clearly glad to be home. We arrived late afternoon at The Alexander, billed as the most luxurious hotel in Armenia and a fun splurge for the last three nights of our Caucasus travels.

Practical info:

I booked The Alexander, a Luxury Collection Hotel, with a Marriott free night and points. It’s a fabulous hotel and a great point value, in my opinion. We enjoyed our stay and made use of the indoor pool, sauna and steam room. The view of Mt. Ararat from the spa seating area and balcony is spectacular. The Alexander is a short walk to Republic Square. There is also an elegant-looking Marriott just off Republic Square, but it is substantially cheaper and I found The Alexander a better use of my certificate and points.

I booked our transfer/tour with Private Tours in Armenia (+37441023333) via Viator. I paid $190 for the transfer and stops, a luxury price in the region, but it made for a comfortable, hassle-free day entirely suited to our interests. There was no charge for entry to the monasteries, so our only additional costs were for refreshments and a tip.

May 2024

Day trip from Tblisi: Jvari, Uplistsikhe, Gori, Mtskheta, Chronicle of Georgia

Rugs, scarves and more for sale outside the walls surrounding
Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in Mtskheta

Georgia has so much to offer and I was excited about our first day trip out of Tblisi. I booked a private tour with “Karlo-Georgia” on Viator that offered an interesting mix of sites from differing periods in Georgia’s long history. Our driver turned out to be George (how appropriate!), an independent guide who worked with Karlo. George arrived promptly at 10am across the street from our hotel on Rustaveli Avenue in a spiffy and spacious new SUV. I’d agreed in advance with Karlo on the sites we’d visit, but left it to George to determine the order of our stops as circumstances warranted. It’s impossible to know in advance where we’ll want to linger or move on quickly, how long a lunch break might be, traffic, whether rain will be a factor, etc., so I’m happy to be flexible.

Our first stop was at the UNESCO-listed Monastery of Jvari with its 6th century church, a rare example of a Georgian medieval church remaining very nearly in its original state. The church sits on the site of a 4th century miracle performed by the female Saint Nino. Nino is said to have fashioned a miracle-working cross from grape vines bound with her hair which she planted atop a pagan temple. We saw this distinctive cross of Nino with its downward sloping arms across Georgia. Nino is also a common name for Georgian girls. We admired the carvings and artwork that adorned the church, but at least as impressive is the beauty of the site on which the church and nearby ruins sit and the picturesque impression created by the whole. Perched on Mt. Jvari, the monastery overlooks the confluence of the Mtkvari and Aragvi rivers and the town of Mtskheta, the former capital of the ancient Kingdom of Iberia. (It surprised me to see the name “Iberia” in the Caucasus when I’d always associated it with Spain, Portugal and the Iberian Peninsula, but the Kingdom of Iberia existed in present-day Georgia, circa 302 BC – 580 AD.)

Next up, we arrived in Gori, the birthplace of Joseph Stalin and home to his eponymous museum. An optional stop on our tour, I’d had mixed feelings about visiting the Stalin Museum. When George said a stop at the museum would require a museum guide and take at least an hour, we didn’t hesitate to skip this testament to a bloody dictator. George did stop so we could walk the grounds of the museum, viewing Stalin’s boyhood home and the train he used to travel. The wood and brick house sits on a patch of cobbled street sheltered under a columned stone structure. The Stalin Museum itself is a large, two-story building with wide columns, arches and ornate crenulations that even its own website describes as “pompous.” We were getting hungry at this point and asked George about lunch. He told us we were about an hour away from a favorite lunch stop which would put lunch at about 1pm, later than we preferred, but we’d brought protein bars and had water so we figured we could wait. With that understanding, we were off to our next destination.

Stalin’s boyhood home preserved within a shelter
the Stalin Museum itself appears in the background

I’d really looked forward to our next stop, the ancient cave town of Uplistsikhe, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Traces of human settlement have been found at Uplistsikhe dating to the end of the 2nd millennium BC(!) and there are structures remaining built circa early in the 1st millennium. To make this stop more fun, possible entry tickets include a wine tasting option which we went for without question. Our first dip into Georgian wine tasting! Good walking shoes are the order of the day in Uplistsikhe. We hiked up the solid rock face of a long slope to a stone cottage cut into the mountainside where local wines are on offer after a brief tour of the millennias-old history of wine-making in Georgia. Holes chiseled in the solid stone ground once held clay pots used in antiquity to age wine. We enjoyed tasting four wines, but opted not to buy. We had more hiking to do and didn’t want to carry wine bottles. Besides, we had a full day of wine tasting on the Kakheti wine route planned for the not-too-distant future. We spent the rest of our time wandering the cave dwellings and “halls” of and admiring the views of the river and more ruins below. By the time we got back to the SUV, we were really ready for lunch. There was an appealing outdoor spot right by the parking area, but George said the other place was better, David wanted to try whatever George liked, we both figured it must be close since George had told us it was an hour away as we were leaving Gori nearly an hour earlier, and I was willing to defer to David since he’s the one who’s usually hungry. So, we were off again. This turned out to be a mistake.

As we drove back through Gori to get on the highway to Mtskheta, David and I spotted the ruins of Gori Castle. Seeing we were interested, George wove his way through the town streets until he could park at the base of a path leading up the hill to the castle. We decided a short hike up the hill would be fun so we left George with the car and headed up the path. At the beginning of our little hike, we came upon a circle of over-sized statues representing knights with various body parts missing, sort of a Knights-of-the-Round-Table-meet-Monty-Python scene at the base of the hill. After snapping a photo of David with his head looking tiny above the neck of a headless statue, we continued on up the hill. At the top, we found a small meadow enclosed in the castle walls on the top of the hill. A lone guard watched over the ruins while we admired the views, then headed back to the car, now really, really hungry.

At this point, it was almost 3pm and we were more than eager for our promised lunch, surely just minutes away. But, no, George informed us that the place he had in mind was an hour away. What?! It had been “an hour away” two hours ago. According to George, he meant the restaurant was an hour from Gori, near Mtskheta. I confess we were a little on the hangry side at this point. I mean, who cared if the restaurant was an hour from Gori if we were driving off in a different direction first? For a couple of hours! George was genuinely apologetic, claimed Georgians might not eat lunch until evening(!), and promised to drive “fast” to the restaurant so “maybe it would only be forty minutes.” Hmm. We told him to just keep driving safely, and kicked ourselves for not just telling George to find somewhere close to eat hours ago.

At 4pm, we finally got lunch. Hallelujah! The restaurant was a large, quirky place outside of Mtskheta with multiple dining rooms and outdoor patios. The sunny weather had turned drizzly, so we opted to eat indoors. Strangely (to us anyway), we had to pick one dining area to order meat dishes including the local khinkali dumplings, but another to order salads, sides, sandwiches, etc. We wanted food fast, so the non-meat dining area it was. We had beer, a tomato salad, and chicken salad with a Georgian corn “bagel” on benches at a big wooden picnic table. And finally got a bathroom break, too. The food was good, all was right with the world again.

After parking the car near the walls surrounding Mtskheta’s Svetitskhoveli Cathedral we approached the entrance past shops offering all kinds of souvenirs, clothing and foods. As most places we went, George knew the locals so we tasted colorful churchkhela made from walnuts dipped in concentrated grape juice at a stall operated by a woman who greeted us warmly. We browsed caps, ceramics and fruit stands and admired pressed wool vests, patterned rugs and fluffy fur hats hanging from an iron fence across from the shops. Stepping around sleeping street dogs on a paved plaza near the entrance to the cathedral enclosure, several beggar women hailed George by name, chastising him for not giving them money. He explained he’d given them money on the many tours he brought here, but that had only encouraged them. Still, he good-naturedly offered up a few coins.

An arched gateway on the plaza opened to the cathedral grounds. Bearded, black-robed Orthodox priests talked with parishioners or carried wood to where work was being done on grassy areas within the courtyard. The 11th century Svetitskhoveli Cathedral is not large, but is considered one of the great cathedrals of the Georgian Orthodox world. It sits on the site of a 4th century church and is the historical site of a religious event giving rise to its name which means “living pillar.” The story behind it appears in many artworks around Georgia: According to Georgian religious lore, a 1st century Jew from Mtskheta was in Jerusalem when Jesus was crucified and brought Jesus’ robe back to Georgia. When he returned to Mtskheta, his sister Sidonia touched the robe and died in ecstasy. Unable to remove the robe from her dead hands, she was buried with it. A spot in the cathedral is said to be the place where Sidonia is buried with the robe. A giant cedar tree grew from the spot from which St. Nino had seven columns made for the foundation of the church. The seventh column was said to have supernatural powers including flight and producing a sacred liquid that provided miraculous cures. [See the center image in the collage above of Jvari Monastery for a painting of this story.]

Entering the cathedral, we were surprised to find an open coffin containing the shroud-covered body of a priest in the middle of the main aisle. Small clusters and individual priests and parishioners came to pay their respects and chat before moving on. At one point, a priest lifted the cloth from the deceased’s face to kiss him. We learned the dead priest had been in his 90’s and much-loved. This viewing was apparently a come-and-go affair lasting some time. Feeling uncomfortable about intruding, we turned our eyes to the artwork and medieval frescoes of the church. The soaring ceiling, amazing frescoes, icons and carvings are beautiful despite the effects of time and invasions. Nevertheless, we kept our visit short.

I’d originally been told this day tour would take 7-8 hours, but when George picked us up at 10am, he said we’d probably be back by 4pm. We were way past that already, still at least 25 minutes from our Tblisi hotel. And we had one more stop, the Chronicles of Georgia monument in suburban Tblisi. We had plenty of sunlight and didn’t mind the long day, but poor George. Rush hour was in full swing by the time we made it back to Tblisi, but he never lost his cheer as we crept through traffic to the monument.

The Chronicles of Georgia turned out to be worth the extra rush hour time (at least for us). The massive monument sits on a hill overlooking Tblisi and near the “Tblisi Sea,” a large man-made reservoir. A large stone scroll at the base of wide stairs pays tribute to “the 3000th anniversary of Georgian statehood” and “the 2000th anniversary of Christian dissemination.” Sixteen soaring pillars at the top of the stairs depict kings and queens of Georgia. It’s an impressive spot with great views and was a fitting end to our first day trip in Georgia.

Tblisi and the “Tblisi Sea” viewed from the Chronicle of Georgia

Practical info:

I booked this day trip with “Karlo-Georgia” via Viator. The cost for the entire day was a very reasonable $130, not including lunch, entrance fees and wine tasting at Uplistsikhe, and a tip. Karlo farmed our tour out to George who also works independently and can be contacted on WhatsApp at +995 599 22 05 20. George was a good guide despite the mix-up about the timing of lunch. The SUV was spacious and spotless. We were picked up and dropped off just across the street from our hotel. We had a hassle-free, fun and interesting day.

May 2024

Tblisi, Georgia, a city of contrasts

We arrived in Tblisi on a short Azerbaijan Airlines flight from Baku. The Tblisi International Airport is not big and we quickly collected our luggage and summoned a Bolt car. We ended up using Bolt several times in Tblisi, always with very reasonable prices and typically short wait times. We knew prior to our arrival in Tblisi that massive protests had been going on in the city over objections to a proposed anti-free-journalism law. I messaged our hotel from the Baku airport to verify that the street our hotel was on (the same avenue on which the Georgian Parliament sits) was still open. Thankfully, the hotel confirmed that it was so I could reassure our Bolt driver who at first told me the road was closed.

The entrance to Alma Boutique Hotel is not impressive. From the graffiti outside, to renovation tarp and pile of old books and furniture sitting next to the somewhat alarming elevator things are a bit grim. But, once the elevator opened on the 3rd floor, we found ourselves in a fully renovated, clean and fresh-smelling one-floor hotel. The nice lady at the desk spoke good English and quickly settled us into a spacious bedroom with high ceilings and a balcony overlooking Rustaveli Avenue and the Opera and Ballet Theater of Tblisi across the avenue. The contrast between crumbling elegance and modern updates came to typify Tblisi in our minds. Tblisi is a far cry from Baku’s petroleum-fueled opulence, but it’s fascinating and beautiful in its own way. Six nights in the city including two day trips to see more of Georgia flew by. I’ll cover day trips separately and stick to Tblisi itself in this post.

Tblisi is a mixed bag: crumbling old buildings, street dogs, graffiti… elegance and flowers.

Founded in the 5th century, Tblisi, the capital of Georgia and its largest city with a population of over 1 million people, sits on the Kura River. Although I’ll use “Kura,” our first day-trip guide preferred its Georgian name, Mt’k’vari, and blamed the Russians for changing the name. The Kura flows from Turkey through Georgia to Azerbaijan so our guide’s attitude and focus on Russia may have reflected the anti-Russian sentiment evident to us in a sizeable portion of the Tblisi population. We saw this sentiment expressed in the nightly mass protests against a new “transparency” law similar to one used by Putin to stifle journalists in Russia and in a clear preference for English over Russian of many Georgians we encountered, particularly the younger generation. Random conversations with locals who heard our American-accented English reinforced the impression and we found people to be friendly, welcoming and helpful. Still, it’s a complicated situation, especially with substantial numbers of both Ukranian war refugees and Russians opposed to the war now residing in Georgia, and I won’t pretend to make any broad judgments based on our travels as tourists.

Protests viewed from our hotel balcony. Fortunately, things settled down at a reasonable hour and the hotel’s double-glazed windows did a great job. We slept well every night.

From a tourism perspective, there’s a variety of things to explore in Tblisi. Just walking along Rustaveli Avenue toward Liberty Square from our hotel took us past many top sights and museums: the Opera and Ballet Theater of Tblisi, Parliament, the National Galerie, the Georgia Museum of Fine Arts, the Georgian National Museum. We wandered the length of the avenue in both directions, admiring both the intentional sights as well as taking in daytime evidence of the massive nighttime protests: scattered clusters of protesters with the Georgian or European Union flags tied around their shoulders, lots of political graffiti, and police, water cannon trucks, and the occasional ominous-looking black- or camo-clad “security” people. Favorite refreshment stops included a old-style Georgian restaurant, a cool wine bar and restaurant in an art gallery setting, a stylish café in an Old Town theater, a small Thai restaurant, and (of course) a craft beer bar. [See “Practical info” below for details.]

The Clock Tower in Old Tblisi next door to Gabriadze Cafe with one of the ubiquitous street dogs of Tblisi (Yellow tags in the dogs’ ears indicate they’ve been spayed or neutered and vaccinated. Dogs are everywhere in Tblisi and treated well by the locals. We always saw them approach for treats or petting with tails wagging, confident people meant good things.)

Gazing across Rustaveli Avenue from our balcony, we could see the Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tblisi perched on a hill and lit at night. After the sights of Rustaveli Avenue, we hopped a cheap Bolt ride to the cathedral. Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tblisi exceeded expectations. Descending multiple levels, the cathedral is deceptively larger on the inside than it appears from the outside. We browsed the artwork and relics on the soaring main level, then descended to the spacious lower levels to admire reception and conference areas and yet more artwork there. I purchased a pretty Georgian cross pendant and chain for a amazingly low price from a lady downstairs before heading outside to admire the cathedral grounds.

A small chapel sits to one side of the cathedral. Roses bloomed in hedge-rimmed grassy areas surrounding the wide paved spaces around the cathedral while birds sand in the aftermath of a passing rain. Wide steps lead past a bell tower and fountains to connect an arched entrance to the grounds and the cathedral. Wandering downhill from the cathedral back towards the Kura, we walked past quaint old buildings and the sharply-contrasting colonnaded and glass-domed State Palace of Ceremonies (the former residence of the President of Georgia) which overlooks the city.

Another day, we took the Tblisi Funicular to Mtatsminda Park, a hilltop amusement park overlooking the city. The funicular is 10GEL, but entry to the pretty park is free and the views over Tblisi are great. [See lead photo.] In addition to rides and games, the park offers pretty green spaces, play areas and food and drink booths and casual restaurants with outdoor seating. From Mtatsminda Park, we caught our longest Bolt ride along winding mountain roads down to one of the oldest parts of the city, Abanotubani.

Abanotubani with its ancient domes covering underground baths reminded us of Baku’s old town and bears witness to the Islamic influences in Tblisi and its place along the Silk Road. Flowing from a waterfall at one end, a creek sparkles below picturesque tan brick buildings and a beautiful bathhouse facade of blue, green, white and tan tiles and minarets reminiscent of Uzbekistan. We opted not to book time in a bath, but plenty appeared available. Cafés and hotels boast painted wooden balconies overlooking the creek in its little valley. We enjoyed a delicious lunch on one of those balconies at Restaurant Usakhelouri overlooking the bath domes and creek. We watched as two bridal parties arrived below in vintage cars to take photos in the scenic spot.

Sated and with leftovers packed up to go, we left Abanotubani to cross the Kura River to Metekhi Virgin Mary Assumption Church. The church and a large equestrian statue of King Vakhtang Gorgasali, the founder of Tblisi, perch on a cliff above the Kura River. Small tour boats ran back and forth along the cliff and under the bridge as we admired the view. We joined a small gathering inside the church to watch the baptism of an adorable but less-than-enthused infant in his father’s arms.

Metekhi Virgin Mary Assumption Church and the statue of
King Vakhtang Gorgasali above the Kura River

Across a wide circle known as Europe Square on the same side of the Kura as the church, the Mother of Georgia Tramway (cable car carries) people up to yet another mountain-side destination, the Mother of Georgia statue. On a sunny Saturday, a long line of people waited to take the ride.

Europe Square with the Peace Bridge, tramway, and Rike Park beyond

Beyond the tramway, Rike Park sits along the river next to the Peace Bridge with its glass and metal curves. Rike Park is also home to the Rike Music Theater and Exhibition Center. The Center’s intriguing architecture of more swooping metal and glass is in the shape of two tubes with bulbous bases and open ends which form a large V. These openings reminded me of the gaping mouths of giant space worms. My apologies if that’s not the impression the architect(s) hoped for.

The domed State Palace of Ceremonies above the tubes of
the Rike Music Theater and Exhibition Center viewed from across the river

We enjoyed other walks around Tblisi among the sometimes charming and sometimes dilapidated buildings that were often both. Winding streets and those ornate painted wooden balconies lured us around the next corner. Imposing modern buildings like the huge city hall and the Rikes Park buildings are a startling contrast. All in all, we found Tblisi to be a fascinating city with pleasantly cheap prices. Alternating days in the city with day trips into the surrounding country turned out to be perfect and we both felt our six nights in Tblisi was just right.

Practical info:

Alma Boutique Hotel was a great base for us. We paid a GEL 1,313.76 (currently $468.36) for six nights, including tax, but no breakfast. Coffee and a coffee pot and a small refrigerator were provided in our room and there are several coffee/pastry shops nearby where breakfast fare cost a pittance. We breakfasted at a small table and chairs we moved between our balcony and the large bedroom as weather dictated.

Bolt was definitely the way to get around in Tblisi. Even if taxis were waiting (which they always were across the street from our hotel), we would use the Bolt app and so not have to worry about cash or pricing surprises. (I did read that it was best to keep the app open until the end of the ride to protect against the remote chance of an attempt at overcharging.) Often, the Bolt car was among the taxis or was a minute or less away. We had zero problems and encountered only clean cars and good drivers.

Favorite restaurants included:
Restaurant Margalita [1 Mitropan Laghidze St, Tbilisi 0108] serves classic Georgian fare just around the corner from our hotel in a space brimming with random vintage pieces and tables sporting mismatched tablecloths. We dined there twice and they gave us a discount when we presented a business card from Alma Boutique Hotel.

Salobie Bia [Rustaveli Theater, 17 Shota Rustaveli Ave, Tbilisi 0108] offers “simple Georgian food” and Georgian wines in a cool art gallery setting next to a theater.

Gabriadze Cafe [13 Ioane Shavteli St, Tbilisi 0105] in an old theater is pretty special with an artsy interior and a wall of windows facing the 6th century Anchiskhati Basilica. The cafe also offers outdoor seating next door to the iconic Clock Tower in old town.

Restaurant Usakhelouri [17/19 Abano St. in the Abanotubani district of Tblisi] provided good lunch food and a great view from a balcony overlooking the old baths. The interior is sleek and casually elegant.

Charm Thai [13 Arsena St, Tbilisi, Georgia] was twice a tasty break from Georgian food. Small, but good food and friendly service which can get a bit slow as we discovered when we returned on a crowded evening.

We tasted Georgian craft beer in tiny, graffiti-covered Process Craft Beer Bar [19 Merab Kostava St, Tbilisi 0108]. There are other craft beer locations in Old Tblisi (further south), but with Georgia such a wine-making country, we opted to focus on wine rather than beer. See my post on our day on the wine route for more on Georgian wine.

A Photo of Baku leads to 12 Nights in the Caucasus

This photo is my own, but similar to the one that originally caught my attention.

I can’t say how many times an interesting photo has caught my eye and led me to plan yet another trip, but Baku, Azerbaijan, was definitely one of those times. I don’t even remember where I first saw that intriguing image of a classic Islamic medina (“old town”) with three flame-shaped skyscrapers looming in the background, but I do know I started researching straight away. Baku. Even the name was unfamiliar and intriguing. Azerbaijan I knew nothing about. “The Caucasus” for me was a region usually in the news because of some conflict involving Russia and/or Turkey. I clearly needed to know more.

Having traveled Uzbekistan last September, I was interested in seeing more of the old Silk Road. A quick search showed non-stop flights to Baku from Paris (our current home) on Azerbaijan Airlines. This was a new airline for me so merited a little more research even though I’m usually reassured by EU safety standards for airlines servicing the European Union. Reviews looked good, the timing was reasonable, the price was fair.

I originally pondered making this a short, one-city visit, but naturally looked at what was nearby as well. Researching Baku put the Caucasus in general on my radar screen and that meant Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia and part of Russia. Current international relations and the war in Ukraine meant Russia was off the table, and I’d traveled in Russia before anyway. Tblisi, Georgia, is a short flight away from Baku, once again on Azerbaijan Airlines. That sounded promising and a Scotsman we’d met in Uzbekistan gave it a thumbs-up. The more I read about Tblisi and Georgia, the more appealing the whole country became and Tblisi became a definite follow-up to Baku.

Armenia came into focus when I realized there were day tours to some Armenian monasteries from Tblisi. If you could do a day tour, could we maybe combine a day tour with a transfer all the way to Yerevan, the capital of Armenia? We could! And Transavia offered reasonably-priced non-stop flights back to Paris from Yerevan. Better and better.

However, research also led to more info about the recent war between Azerbaijan and Armenia. A cease-fire was signed last November, so things seemed to be settling down. But still… And there were posts about problems getting into Armenia with an Azerbaijani stamp in a passport, but they were not very recent. Hmm. I read some more and decided to go for it. I had a plan: 4 nights in Baku (with 1 day tour), 6 nights in Tblisi (with 2 day tours spaced between free days in Tblisi), and 3 nights in Yerevan. I chose highly-rated boutique hotels in Baku (in the old town) and Tblisi (across from the opera on the main avenue) and a luxury hotel in Yerevan for a final hurrah paid for entirely with hotel points. I booked the iconic day tour from Baku directly with the tour operator: “mud volcanoes”, an ancient dwelling place full of cave drawings, a Zoroastrian temple, and “Fire Mountain” where natural gas burned perpetually on a hillside. I booked the day tours from Tblisi via Viator: monasteries, the historic old capital and cathedral, Stalin’s childhood home, a cave city one day; and, a great day wine tasting and cooking on Georgia’s preeminent wine route.

The only hiccup in my plans came weeks in advance when Azerbaijan Airlines canceled our Thursday flight, offering to re-booked us on the same flight on Friday. It was a disappointing loss of one day in Baku, but not a big deal. The hotel changed our booking and deducted the cost of a night, we still had a great time both on the tour and exploring on our own, and while we would have enjoyed the extra day, we hit all my Baku must-sees in the time we had.

The trip itself was fun and a learning experience. We witnessed mass pro-democracy demonstrations nightly in Tblisi passing under our balcony, were obliged to re-route due to an Armenia-Azerbaijan border dispute, and heard both sides of clashes that have marked the history of the region. Now that I’ve set the scene for our Caucasus adventure, I’ll write about each destination in separate posts. There’s much to share!

May 2024