In the City
Tblisi is an amazing city, and the rest of the world is sleeping on it. Its charm was built over ten thousand years of contiguous culture, straggling east and west. Hills abound in the city center, and you could climb a flight of steps and turn a corner and find a secret cafe with an amazing view of the city and swear it was put there just for you for just this time.
The famous freedom monument, with St. George at the top. Conveniently located right outside the hotel I stayed at.
Tblisi is like a fairy tale city. Cafes below a castle, what more could an American want?
We sat and drank beers and ate delicious food in a cafe after a day of walking and all I really felt at the time that this guy looked like he had everything figured out. What more do you need?
We climbed a lot of hills, but there was always a surprise around the corner that kept you climbing.
Feral cats abound in the city, almost always seen curled up on cafe seat cushions during the day. Not a bad life.
There was a lot of very cool street art. I liked how this one was framed by the architecture.
A restaurant we went to for dinner one night. Everything that could be outdoors, was outdoors in Tblisi, and at night with the lights everything looked magical.
So much of Tblisi is built into the hills, so there's a view like this pretty much everywhere you.
Outside the City
In Tblisi, we were lucky enough to fall in with a local on an early trip who drove as around and quickly became our friend. He lives in Tbilisi, but from time to time he takes us out of Tbilisi. I’ve had the privilege of seeing the Georgian countryside as a local, and it is a wonder worth pursuing.
A beautiful landscape just right off of a highway. We just stopped and stepped out and this was there to photograph.
It's hard to make interesting photos of castles, which is crazy because castles are so interesting! This was one of lots and lots of castles in the countryside. You can just imagine the bandit peering out that window, looking for the unwary merchants on the Silk Road so they could go levy their "taxes".
This is a view from a countryside restaurant we stopped in where I had the best meal I've ever had in my life.
In a castle there was a small shrine with this beautiful Icon backlit by the window.
More religious artifacts in windows. It was still and quiet and you could feel a weight of centuries of belief.
At a bar in the evening this stranger saw my camera and insisted I take a photo of him making a toast. The translation for the standard Georgian toast is, "To our Victory", which I think is pretty fantastic.
A market way outside the city. It was bustling and everything was fresh and it was easy to imagine making a quick trip there every day to gather the ingredients for dinner.
We stopped at a winery and there was a manor house to tour with amazing art from centuries of Georgian history.
Our then driver, now friend, Georgi drives us through the countryside where we often had to slow down for Shepards and their flock.
A roadside Khimkali place, where the cooking was done in a central kitchen in a courtyard and everybody got to eat in little private rooms.
A long-exposure photo I did in the mountains at night. That blaze of light is a little temple. Beyond those mountains, Russia.
The Food.
I am not good at taking pictures of food. But I took a few and while I’m not blown away by any of them, I needed a reason to tell everyone that the food in Georgia is the best food I’ve ever had, bar none.
At the top of this photo you can see what was introduced to us as "Georgian Snickers"; dates and grapes dried and stuffed with nuts. They are delicious and healthy and I wish I had more right now as I type this.
Khachapuri could teach pizza a trick or two.
I saw this pig and (presumably) its feet in a market. It's not going to go in food that *I* want to eat (probably) but sure made for a fine picture.
Khinkali (dumplings) are delicious and serve as an amazing cure for hangovers. You bite a side and drink the soup within, then eating the rest. This picture doesn't do them justice.