After having transited through Tbilisi a few times on our way to other destinations, we finally stayed long enough for a real visit. The most charming part of the city was the narrow pedestrian-only alleys lined with shops, cafes, and restaurants. They filled so many functions throughout our trip: During the day, we window-shopped in the souvenir stores and art galleries. At lunchtime, we ate at one of the sidewalk cafes. When we needed a late afternoon break from strolling the city, we sat down for a cocktail and shisha. And at night, we checked out the bars and nightclubs. Like the rest of Tbilisi, the alleys featured a lot packed into a small area!
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| Jeremy within the alleys of Tbilisi |
The other big highlight was the food and wine. We discovered a love of Khabera winery. At their storefront near our hotel, they served their signature wines out of huge vats sitting in the corner of the dining area. You could even get bottles filled for take-away!
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| Would you like a glass, bottle, or vat of that?? |
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| Erica and Laureen enjoying Khabera wine |
Many people absolutely love Georgian food. Jeremy is becoming one of them. Through a Georgian restaurant in Baku, he took a cooking class a few months ago and learned how to make some of the most popular dishes. So he was very excited to sample more of them at the source. One of his favorites is khinkali - dumplings in the shape of drawstring bags filled with meat or vegetables.
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| Plates of khinkali accompanied by Georgian wine |
There is a bit of an art to eating khinkali. They generally arrive at your table piping hot, so first you need to let them cool off enough so you can actually pick them up. Then you need to strategically bite into them to avoid spilling the liquidy filling down your shirt. By the end of our trip, we felt confident we had honed our skills.
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| Jeremy demonstrates proper khinkali eating technique |
As many friends had told us, Tbilisi was a fabulous getaway just a one-hour flight from Baku. We hope to return soon!
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| Jeremy with the attractive hillside setting of Old Town Tbilisi |
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| Erica as Mother Georgia |
