Of all of the capitals I have been in, Tbilisi is by far the most relaxed and friendly. Even the McDonald’s, pictured above, has a feel of calm no matter how busy it gets. The waterfall on the statue positioned near it brings further calm to what otherwise would be a busy and hectic restaurant experience. It is here where our walk on Rustaveli Avenue, named after the famous Georgian poet Shota Rustaveli, begins!
One interesting note about this particular McDonald’s is that it does not serve breakfast. So even at 9am, the most you can get is a cup of coffee. (And a cheese burger if you want one that early). Georgians tend not to be breakfast people in the Western sense of the word. Breakfast here are the leftovers from the prior night’s dinner for most folks.
Not too far from the Golden Arches is a line of Georgian souvenir merchants who are waiting to sell you the finest icons of Georgian culture. And the prices aren’t so bad, either.
The lanterns above are a fixture of Rustaveli Avenue for at night this street is as well-lit as any in the world.
No matter what you feel about the man formerly known asIoseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili, Joseph Stalin will be forever considered the most famous person ever to be born in Georgia. If you ask the locals with informed opinions (and those who lived during his reign) they all will tell you that Stalin gave Georgians no special treatment. He terrorized everyone equally! He is responsible for the deaths of millions of Soviet citizens (arguably most of whom live in Ukraine where I currently live).
Today he is used as a marketing tool for fine Georgian wine. Go figure!
Anarchitecturalfeature around Georgia is that of its doors.
Here a group of women relax and enjoy the sleepy mood of a warm August afternoon. Don’t be surprised if several people ask you to sit in drink a cup o tea or wine. It happens to me all the time when I visit Georgia. It is not an exaggeration. Georgians really take great pride in being warm to their guests.
These seats are everywhere around the street. I lived in Georgia prior to the Rose Revolution of 2003. And Rustaveli was not a cool place to be. Crime was pretty high and it was not so laid back. Especially at night, my friends and I were advised NOT to hang around Rustaveli.
But life on this avenue is quite different now. The new government cleaned up the street and made it a top tourist destination where bothforeignersand Georgians can meet and greet and have a good time without the trouble of hooligans spoiling the fun.
One of the best features of Rustaveli is the Parliament. But not because its the second most important political building behind the Presidential Palace.
You see this? People can meet and mingle on the steps of parliament. There are not many places in the world where this is possible.
There is a sense of freedom and relaxation that comes with passing the Georgian parliament building. Police officers don’t run towards you demanding that you move on and denying you the right to take pictures. In fact, police officers are well-paid in Georgia so they actually help you and are friendly. (My friends said that they will even come and change your tire, if you call them). Are you listening Ukraine?
These girls felt so relaxed that they sat and took multiple pictures on the parliament steps. You can actually sit here for hours and no one will bother you.
They actually asked me to pose with them. Who am I to deny these pretty, young Georgian thangs a chance to pose with the black Zeus of Motown??? If you are a minority, be ready for multiple requests for photos. I always say yes!
You see this here. This is a dedication to the 20 protesters who lost their lives at the hand of Soviet troops on these very steps back on April 9, 1989 during anti-Sovietdemonstrations. Hundreds were injured. It is known as The Tbilisi Massacre. In November of 2004, this memorial was erected in their honor. Most of those who lost their lives during this tragedy were women.
You see those green, glass rectangles above. Those are the exact spots whereprotesterslost their lives. Sometimes if you walk down Rustaveli Avenue at night, they are lit in commemoration.
No matter where you go around Georgian, every political building has European Union and Georgian flags at full staff side by side. It is a country that clearly wants to go in the path of Europe. And many of its reforms have proven that they are serious about doing so.
This is Freedom Square.
There is no real metro system in Tbilisi like there is in Moscow or Kyiv, but one distinct feature that compensates is that of its underpasses, especially the ones around Rustaveli.
Each enlarged display of art tells something about Georgian culture. Like the supra, feast in Georgian language, that ispictoriallyexpressed above.
Everything about your experience on this avenue engages you. If you are not interacting with someone who is curious about why you have visitedtheirwonderful country, you will interact with something. Here I can check my weight. 83.5 kilos (184 lbs) is not bad for someone who is 6 feet tall (1.82 meters), huh?
Here we are no longer on Rustaveli. This is old town Tbilisi where thesulfurbaths are located.
There are many Armenians who live in this area. These gentlemen saw me walking with mycameraand offered me tea. We sat for over an hour talking about their lives and how they feel about the future. They speak Georgian fluently as they were raised here from childhood. But they speak better Russian, so we conversed in that language. They drive taxis to make money. To be sure, they expressed concern over the poor economy and said that life was pretty rough. But, like every person I spoke with around Georgian, they feel veryoptimisticabout Georgia’s future and feel that theirgovernmentis trying to improve their quality of life.
Another shot of the sulfur baths, which is a fine mix of Russian, Jewish and Turkish culture. This is it for today’s “day” tour of the city. In the upcoming blogs, I will show you Tbilisi in night, life in the regions and the story of an African who decided to make Georgia his home.
You can read Terrell J. Starr’s blog here.
