Tbilisi

Tbilisi is a city I just didn't want to miss on this journey. I had heard so many good things about it and on top of it the annual city festival "Tbilisoba" happened on a weekend when we were around. A chance not be missed.
Short version: we staid in a beautiful Airbnb in Old Town, met lots of friends, got to see some of the city festival and most of its sights and even attended a DJ event.
If you're keen on the details, you'll have to read on 😉.
Due to our earlier experiences with staying in the car in a city (you just really wish for a shower and a toilet), we chose to get an Airbnb for the weekend and leave Hans parked somewhere safe. And we couldn't have decided better despite of our difficulties of getting to our Airbnb department. Of course, I had chosen one in the old town (formerly the Jewish quarter), but I hadn't anticipated that this would also be the main location of the festival with many of the anyways small alleys closed to traffic. We made it there eventually and then enjoyed the beautiful setup and great location for the next few days. Everything was in walking distance!
And we had quite a programme lined up: after settling in we met up with Micha and Sonja, the German overlanding couple we had last met just before crossing the Mongolian border. Small world 😊 we had dinner with them in a small family run restaurant, that looked like they had simply converted their living room. Grandpa acted as the entertainer, singing Karaoke (and quite well so) for the whole evening. Afterwards, we walked together through some of the festivities to have a look at the overlander friendly hostel they were staying at. Tom and I had to reach a different destination: I had booked tickets to a DJ event (Worakl with the Tbilisi symphony orchestra) that happened in a warehouse about 2kms from the hostel. So we said "goodbye and till next time" around 11pm and made our way to the event. Anyone who knows us is going to doubt this, but we staid until 2.20am and really enjoyed the electronic music. Quite a contrast to our normal travelling life but all the more fun because of it. As our cab driver also wasn't allowed to enter the narrow streets, we ended up walking another 2kms through Tbilisi's sights at night, passing remnants of the festival, still going parties and -our lifesaver- a shop that still sold our favourite pirogis filled with potatoes. Nothing beats a late night snack!
The next day we joined a free city walking tour. Moto-Tom was in the city, too, so he came along as well. Our guide Anya knew lots of interesting places and stories and the time passed super quickly. Afterwards we enjoyed some people watching on the main square and then headed back to the apartment.
Years ago I had met Kristina, a local woman working for an incoming tour agency, in India and we had made plans to meet up. Tom and I enjoyed her and her partner's company exchanging stories and tipps at a cute teahouse before heading to the festival once again. It was the last evening but sadly we missed the main act, a music and light performance, as its timing had been changed just a few hours prior to the start.
The next day we had to move out of the apartment. We took Hans to have a service done and then moved to the hostel as we wanted to stay another night. Still so much to explore! In the afternoon we finally met up with the Kudliks who we had last seen in Kazachstan on Tom's birthday. We enjoyed our reunion so much that a short meeting turned into four bottels of wine in a fabulous rooftop bar.
How lovely it is to have friends on the road...
Tbilisi will stay a highlight of this trip for sure!Read more