Day 1 April 21 Tbilisi Georgia
We start with a short bus ride to one of the city’s famous churches Metekhi. Much of the existing structure dates back to the Middle Ages and was built between 1278 and 1289 AD under the reign of King Demetrius II of Georgia, although oral tradition traces Metekhi’s origins further to the 5th century. Following a tradition in Georgian architecture of harmonious relationship of temples with the surrounding natural landscape, Metekhi Church was built to look like a growing continuation of the cliff, visible from many city points.
Very close is the statue of King Vakhtang I Gorgasali, the 5th-century founder of Tbilisi. He sits on his horse. The statue is visible for quite some distance.
We next visited the National History Museum. The two most popular areas are the gold room and the Soviet Occupation. Both were interesting but not amazing. The Soviet Occupation was a very dark room.
We drove to the old city and started a walking tour in the rain. A short distance in we all stopped to watch a puppet show. The puppet show was to be in an opening in a small clock tower. The entire thing looked like a fancy cuckoo clock. Shortly after noon the doors opened and two figures were there. They moved out of the window and two others appeared. Then the doors closed. They were not puppets something more like dolls. What a disappointment. The buildings here are interesting and often unusual shapes. On our way back to the row of restaurants a group of children and a few adults dressed in native costume headed for one of the churches. A priest from that church had recently passed and this was part of a ceremony. Lots of cameras everywhere.
Lunch was on our own today but we ate where most of the folks including our guide did. We ate food closer to home. Connie had an interesting ice tea drink. Ice might not have been the best choice.
After lunch we walked to the cable car via the Peace Bridge for a ride to the top of the hill. You could see much of the city from there. The place was popular with the locals too. On up the hill was the statue of Mother Georgia.
Back to the hotel for a short free time before going out for dinner. Almost all of the businesses accept credit cards. We did get some local currency from ATM’s for small purchases and access to toilets.
Spoffords Travel 