Midnight plane to Georgia

By the time we arrived at our hotel in Tbilisi, it was around 3 in the morning, Georgia time. Only 1 am Brussels time, but still, it had been a long day of travelling. A 3-hour flight to Kyiv, a couple of hours to change planes and then another 3 hours to Tbilisi. Funnily enough though, we were quite energised, so when the hotel guy suggested we go up straight away to check out the rooftop terrace, we took up the invitation for our first good look at the capital.

The Narikala Fortress overlooks the city

The new Bridge of Peace. I can see why it’s not a favourite with everyone, but I think saying it resembles a maxi pad, as some people apparently do, goes a bit far.

We didn’t want to waste too much of the next day in bed, so after a shortish sleep we were up in time for a 10 am breakfast at the hotel, which was a huge and delightful array of eggs, bread, cheese, fruit and something that looked like pilaf. We ate so well, we didn’t need any lunch! As usual when I visit a city, Day 1 was more or less reserved for walking around - we clocked up almost 12 kilometres. This was our main sightseeing day in Tbilisi though, so we fit in quite a lot of the main sights as well.

First up, we visited the Sioni Cathedral, a more-or-less 13th century building with pretty, mostly 19th century frescoes.

It’s definitely wedding season in Georgia - we’ve been unwitting guests at like 3 of them already.




We stopped at the Anchikhati Basilica (no photos allowed) before heading to the national museum. We only saw the ground floor, which houses golden treasures from Georgia’s early history and pre-history. The legend of the Golden Fleece was actually supposed to have taken place in Georgia, which has long had a reputation for its gold deposits. The museum offered several different explanations for the legend, one of which is a possible technique for dredging small particles of gold from the rivers by dipping a sheepskin in the water. Whatever the truth of it, there were some gorgeous objects on display, many of which wouldn’t look out of place if worn these days.

Stele of Daniel in the lion’s den. Georgia is one of the oldest countries to have Christianity as its state religion (after Armenia, I think).



A carving of an early Georgian king presenting the church he had built. Jules made me laugh way too hard by calling him monkey man.

I loved the way the fine arts museum, next door to the national museum, almost seemed see-through with its reflections of the sky.

A patriotic Georgian street

From the museum, we walked back downhill a bit to the river, where you can catch a funicular up to the fortress on the hill. It’s a pretty fun short ride which costs less than a euro.

The cable car plying its trade up the hill above Old Tbilisi

View from the top. Our new camera is a wee bit over-enthusiastic with the blurred background effect

The hill also hosts a statue of Mother Georgia. No disrespect, but the one in Kyiv is still #1. (I climbed 91 metres up inside it - this one is a mere 20.)

Selfie on the fortress walls




We were pretty exhausted by the time we got back to the hotel, so we chilled a bit on the roof terrace, watched the F1, and then headed out in the evening for some delicious khinkali dumplings. There is a special khinkali etiquette - you grab it by the ‘handle’ up top, bite into it a little to suck out the juices, and then eat most of the rest. Apparently, Georgians will laugh at you if you manage to spill any of the juices (luckily there were none scrutinising me, although Jules did a decent job) and eating the ‘handle’ is seen as a mortifying display of extreme financial distress. We had meat, potato and cheese flavoured varieties, they were delicious!

On top of the world

I have a wee bit of a problem with my Sicily blogging, which is that I took so many photos which I want to share, but then I have to break them up into separate posts so I'm not just posting like 50 photos at once, and then I have nothing really left to say about the photos. Maybe you like looking at photos better than reading what I have to say, in which case, you're in luck. Last time, I wrote about the inside of Palermo cathedral, and this time is me up on the roof. 

I definitely recommend the climb up to the roof if you get the chance and aren't scared of heights. It's one of the most memorable moments of a trip packed with beautiful sights. You can see across the city of Palermo to the sea and the mountains. At least on the day I was there, the mountains were beautifully dappled in the mid-morning light. It had rained a tiny bit before I went up, but the sun came back out and the conditions were pretty much perfect to enjoy the view.