Tbilisi

Tbilisi (Georgia), 07.05.2013

Honestly we did not have a lot of expectations when we arrived in Tbilisi. After a day crossing soviet-ruined landscapes and not finding food on the road except a leaf of bread (flavoured by hair of the baker…) our mood was very “let’s get things done and then out of here”. But what a surprise this town is! Already yesterday, searching for a hotel, we drove through many parts of the city, new and old, and were surprised to find lovely spots, city life, an old town with bohéme and restored parts. It is orthodox Easter these days, and the hotels we had screened were all full. A friendly girl in one of them helped us find one with a room available, and she also booked us a table in the Shadow of Metheki (“our president’s favourite restaurant”). We went there with no expectations, and a bit scared of the live music. Once inside and eating, the music confirmed all our fears but the delicious food and great wine thrilled us. A strong Chacha (grappa) closed the dinner properly.

So today we were quite curious to see what this place really looks like. In the morning we went to the embassy to get our visas for Azerbaijan, and spent over 3,5h on this, thanks to the delays in sending 1 (!!) email of a Baku-based agency (geo-travel.az). Hello, we are your customers, please pay attention… No chance. But anyway, we got our stuff done in the end, and continued to our next to-do of the day, Land Rover. Since we were hungry like wolves after the embassy frustration, we found a great eatery on the road, Cafe Izbushka. We don’t remember the names of the dishes, one was a sort of empanadas as we know them from spain but with less taste of bread and more meat, dipped in yogurt. The other dish were some sort of meat filled ravioli in cheese and yogurt sauce. Not really light, but very lecker!

At Land Rover we got an appointment for next monday to do some work on our rooftop rack, since the mechanics were busy. We also lost 1h looking for a replacement tyre for the one we lost offroad in Turkey. No chance, nobody here seems to have the type and brand we need. And the torrential rain that suddenly poured down from the sky didn’t help either.

So at 18:30 our day finally started, and we headed for the old town. The stories about the driving style from our last post were quickly confirmed also on city roads. Also, the variety in original and “remixed” cars is huge here, many of them also drive with whole parts of the chassis missing, and there are lots of right-driving cars too. Walking through the streets we found many curiosities, nice and run down buildings, and a great restaurant for dinner. We ate too much, but we had to try all the delicacies on the menu: khinkali, mtsvadi, kababi, eggplant and peppers filled with minced meat, mushrooms filled with cheese and a bottle of dry red wine. Some great local brandy closed the day.