მე საბოლოოდ გავედი საქართველოში (თუნდაც ძალიან მოკლე იყო)

Today is the first full day here. I had booked myself on a walking tour and I was able to have a lie-in as it didn’t start until 11:00. I wasn’t feeling 100%. I had a cold and a bad cough and my stomach wasn’t feeling the best. I went and got some drinks and something bland to eat and then took a slow walk to the meeting point. I found some shade and sat there until the guide turned up. It was nice to just sit there knowing I wasn’t feeling great.

Everyone turned up and the guide was asking where we were all from. It was so weird. There was a couple there from Gateshead and they were from not too far from where I grew up. They knew the area I lived in and the schools I went to and I knew where the school was where one of them taught. It was really weird. I was never expecting to be in a group with people that knew where I grew up and went to school.

We walked around Liberty Square and then we went to see the remnants of the old walls of the city. The guide told us that they knew the city was inhabited by Arabs as there were inscriptions found in Arabic.

As we were walking, the guide was pointing out the style of houses in Tbilisi, They were wooden houses with balconies and they are generally communal spaces and the balconies are in such a way that it allows the families to come and go between each of the houses without ever having to leave the grounds.

We then walked by some churches and we had to cover our legs to go inside. In Georgia, they don’t allow shorts or short skirts and your legs have to be covered. I didn’t go inside the churches as I had nothing to cover my legs. I was fine with that. We also went by a wonky clock. It plays on the hour every hour and there is a statue that comes out at the top and strikes the bell. At 12:00 and 18:00 there is a little show that is put on for about a minute (you can see this in the video below). It was cool to see but the guide didn’t want to wait too long and started to walk.

We went by the seat of the church in Georgia. By this point, I was starting to feel rubbish but I pushed on and we went to the Bridge of Peace. It’s a cool-looking bridge and seeing it from above too is pretty cool. We walked halfway across and the views down the river were cool too. We then headed to the underground bazaar. It wasn’t really my thing and I was glad when we resurface. Where we came above ground was at the bottom of the hill where the hostel was. I parted ways here as I was feeling really rough. Let me tell you how tough it is to walk up a hill feeling so rough. I got back to the hostel and went to lie down in the cold room and had a nap. My head wasn’t feeling good and my stomach was feeling really awful.

After a few hours, I went back out walking. I went to the cable car and the queue was massive and I didn’t feel like waiting in it. I then went across the road and took a river tour. I managed to get 10 Lari off the price of the tour. I went down and waited and the boat came. We went about 1.5 miles on either side of the boarding point. It was really cool to see Tbilisi from the vantage point of the river. The most scenic part was going along the water away from Tbilisi. The banks on the left side were really cool. Houses and a church and a waterfall. The views were awesome. On the way back, the views were of the fortress atop the hill. Tbilisi is really cool to see from atop and from the river.

Once I got back to the boarding point, I went back towards the hostel via the Spar and went to just relax for the night. It was about 19:00 by this time. I lay in bed for an hour and then went walking up the hill to the fortress. I saw there was a waterfall nearby but I found out it was closed. It would have afforded some really cool pics.

The fortress was really cool though. It was a nice walk up to the fortress – even if I was sweaty when I got to the top. I climbed some walls for the pics and it was well worth it. I climbed along the fortress wall and it gave some really great views across the city (see it in the video below). I carried on along the wall and I wasn’t quite sure why I was doing it. I hate heights. I climbed down and then went up another of the walls that was much higher. My legs were shaking s I was climbing the steps. I had to take my backpack off so I could steady myself and get up the steps. I started walking along the wall and the ledge felt really narrow. I was so scared. I wanted to go all the way to the end but I just couldn’t. My legs were shaking so much. I decided it would be prudent to go down. I had to sit and climb down the steps that way. I can’t tell you how relieved I was once I had gotten on solid ground where a fall wouldn’t have meant injury or death.

I headed back down to the hostel and the hotel across the street had an ambulance taking someone away. I missed the excitement of the ambulance for the views of the city. Damn my need for pictures. Haha.

I went to the hostel and went to bed. I was still unwell and I was super tired. All in all, it was a great day even though I wasn’t feeling good.

Total steps: 11,784

Total miles: 5.98

Below are some pics from today

Today was a day I was going to take it easy. I didn’t sleep too well because my stomach felt so awful. I decided I would do something that I haven’t done on trips since before the pandemic. I decided to do the sightseeing bus. They wanted 80 Lari for the tickets but I didn’t want to pay that and told them it was worth 50 Lari only to me and they agreed to that. The ticket was for 24 hours.

The bus was leaving in a few minutes so I just got on it and went around a full route once on the right-hand side and then I went back on the bus and did a full route from the left-hand side. I had seen some places I want to go back to but I went back to the hostel first for a rest before heading back out on the bus to go to the places I had seen. I decided that I would get the bus to the top of Rustaveli Avenue and walk around First Republic Square and then head back down the avenue to get some pictures.

I walked around First Republic Square and then headed down Rustaveli Avenue towards Liberty Square. The buildings on the street are pretty cool. It has all the hallmarks of Soviet styles. Wide streets and huge buildings. The Georgian Parliament building is massive and you have to have a kink in your neck to look up to see it all. I sat here for about 10 minutes just feeling the spray from the fountains. It was a welcome relief in the 40° heat.

I went and got some Subway and they thought I was really weird just having a plain sandwich. I only managed half of it and I started to feel really sick so I headed back to the hostel and just relaxed for the rest of the night and packed for leaving tomorrow. Despite feeling unwell, it was a good day and I enjoyed the bus and walking around.

Total steps: 10,795

Total miles: 5.35

Below are some pics from today