Georgia 4 - when will this end? Tbilisi!

Alright! So the next days on my trip to Georgia were spent in Tbilisi, the awesome capital! As I mentioned, the economy is blooming like it's nobody's business after Sakashvili took over, and thus, things are changing very fast, with construction everywhere, and fancy new apartment complexes popping up all over the city. And yes, they do have glass-bottle coke, which, as we all know, is the nectar of the Gods.

Still, though, it is predominantly a city of older, classic architecture, such as this Stalin-era and arabic-inspired building.

If you're a geek like me, you remember watching BBC World during the Rose Revolution, when protestors made their way into the parliament, which is this very building!

In one end of the great assembly hall, on an elevated speaker's podium, stood Shevardnadze, desperately clinging on to his near-autocratic power. In the other end of the hall, protestors were forcing themselves in, shoving and fist-fighting for every inch until they came so close that Shevardnadze's bodyguards saw no other options than to usher the President out the back door, into a waiting helicopter and into history, as the peaceful revolution of Georgia stripped him of his ill-gotten power. (He has since then returned, and lives in a house in Tbilisi, spending his time trying to get on TV.)

Either way, that was in this building! I definitely remember seeing this on TV, as well as the enormous crowd outside.

Speaking of which, here is the Freedom Plaza.

This, dear friends, is Tbilisi.

This is my guide for these couple of days, Levan, Georgie's brother. He is an awesome guy and the best guide anyone could ask for, with a huge knowledge of the city's history, and, well, not to be sentimental here, but it was a huge privilege to stroll around the city with him. (Also, he has a UCB t-shirt, clearly celebrating my career as an improv performer!)

From the downtown area, we climbed (fairly literally - it was pretty fucking steep) up one of the surrounding hills, and into the memorial cemetary of Georgia, where all notable artists, writers, dancers etc. have been laid to rest.

It was full of the most elaborate tombstone art, such as this, commemorating a dancer.

From there, we walked to a historic neighborhood, with New Orleans-style houses (uhm, pre-Katrina, that is.)

This porch/veranda that goes around the entire building is a fairly common feature of the older houses of Tbilisi, which makes sense, since it is a very warm city, and it's pretty nice to be able to sit outside at night (and also, everyone loves to flash people in exchange for beads.)

It's also a neighborhood full of funky art ..

..Such as this, aptly named "People Dancing Around a Phooning Norwegian". In the background is the Tbilisi Children's Art Museum.

Again, the front porches, here along the Mtkhvari river (YEAH, TRY PRONOUNCING THAT, DAMMIT!)

Tbilisi is also famous (You haven't heard of this, you say? Well, then you're a douche.) for its hot springs and Turkish/Roman baths, but MORE ABOUT THAT LATER. Yes, we went, and yes, it was crazy. AND YES, I HAVE PHOTOS. Either way, these little brick domes are all roofs of different private bathing rooms, which were pretty damn cool, and very different from anything else I've seen experienced.

This is actually the one we went to, in an old, Persian-inspired building. Craziness ensued.

From here, we climbed up another (steep) hill, to a hilltop fortress/church, overseeing the river and the city below.

This wall protected the church ...

...And the view was pretty gnarly.

The view also included this, a statue of a woman with, uhm, some extra equipment, that looks like something else entirely from this angle.

From this angle, however, you understand that she is holding a sword. So yeah, fear her "sword"!

Either way, walking downtown again, we walked past the (future) house of one of Georgia's Oligarchs, i.e. someone who's become rich as fuck through quasi-legal means. This is a phenomenon that is, sadly, fairly common in post-Soviet states:

As the Soviet empire finally collapsed and the newly born nations were desperate for cash, some people with the right connections at the right time were able to acquire - more or less legally - enormous publically owned values from the various states for very little money. These investments have now grown into industrial or media empires, bringing with them enormous political influence and what-the-fuck-style wealth for these lucky few.

The Oligarchs of Georgia are widely suspected to have strong mafia connections as well, but are too powerful and well-connected to be fully investigated, so they run mostly free, free to build airport houses, at least. Apparently, this house was designed by the same people who built Gardermoen.

Anyway, the rest of Tbilisi's people lived in streets that looked more like this one.

So, this will really only be funny for my Norwegian readers, but there was a Romanian oil company present in Georgia, with the awesome name of ROMPETROL. The name makes total sense - Romanian Petrol - but, well, in Norwegian it sounds hilarious.

Anyway, the next day, we went to something akin to the "Folkemuseum" in Oslo, a large outdoor museum that shows old-timey buildings in their (kind of) natural surroundings. This, for instance, is a Georgian equivalent of a Norwegian Stabbur (again, only funny for Norwegians)(Or not funny, I guess, but, eh, interesting, if you happen to swing that way.)

Houses like this were apparently common..

..As was houses like this one! Again, note the front porch.

This is me, exploring the space and interacting with the interior decor. The moose is, indeed, loose.

Again, doing this with Levan was fantastic. As an old classics student, he knew his stuff, and was a fab guide and a fab guy in general.

This is one of my favorite things from the museum: In case of fire, bring one fire extinguisher, a shovel, a wooden stick for making marshmallows, and two hilarious, pointy hats.

Another building had a really cool ceiling, which made a rounded chimney shape.

Again, me in old building. I know, I am posting too many photos.

There were also funky statues, which is something I always appreciate!

Indeed, it is appreciated! By me!

Later we climbed down the hill (Actually we drove in the sketchiest Lada taxi ever), to Georgia's WWII Memorial.




And here I shall bid you all goodbye and wish you all a good week - I'm off to see a movie, I think. So yeah.