It’s Day 3 of the trip and we’re in Tbilisi. Check out the previous blog where we participated in the Independence Day celebrations of Georgia. We carry on from the Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi or Sameba, as it is popularly called. Let’s continue with our Tbilisi travel guide!

On checking the map, we realised that we could walk down the hill to reach Rike park and the cable car. It wasn’t a long walk but a little tiring carrying around two sleeping toddlers.

We had bookmarked a place called Old Generation – it had only a few reviews but really good ones for its wine and vibe. We got off the main road and walked a couple of streets inside to find a tiny little shop with a few tables.

Finding a hidden gem

An old lady sat inside and welcomed us in – it had a nice homely feel and we were the only ones there. She brought out some goblets and a huge jar of red wine. She said it was made in the Kakheti region in her vineyards there. The wine felt nice and cool in the goblet. The place was also very cool – a much needed change from the hot outside. I still remember the first sip I had – it was the most refreshing sip of wine I’d ever had. It was sweet wine – meaning it was not fermented as much as the more popular dry wines.

While we had our wine, we noticed that she collected currency notes and had made a tree of notes – we contributed an Indian note and she happily added Mahatma Gandhi to her collection!

She also taught us a few Georgian words while we sat there (we sat there a long time!) – gamarjoba (hello), madloba (thank you) and gaumarjos (cheers!). Seeing us enjoy the wine, she asked if we wanted to take some back. We gladly said yes, and she filled up a bottle for us. It had been the most unexpected amazing experience in that small shop in a tiny lane of Tbilisi – the true definition of a hidden gem.

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Picking mulberries and riding the cable car

Finally, we said farewell and continued our tour. As we walked down the road, we noticed trees with….mulberries! A couple of ladies were plucking them. Nam asked if we could eat them and they happily plucked a few and gave it to her. Parth devoured them – he absolutely loves all kinds of berries! These are some of the experiences we can never imagine having in India – walking around in parks, plucking fruits and berries from trees and just eating them!

We took tickets to the cable car which would take us up to Narikala fortress. The cable car made its way up and we could see the Kura river, the sulfur baths and the Sameba. We got some really good views of the city from the fortress.

We walked ahead to see the statue called Mother of Georgia and came back down.

Play time at the park and continuing the walk

While we wanted to check out the sulfur baths, we dropped the plan as it involved more walking and it would be tough to manage the kids there. So, we spent some more time at Rike Park where the kids played on swings and slides. Tbilisi was very similar to Almaty (Kazakhstan) in the fact that there were many public spaces and playgrounds for kids.

We then walked over the Bridge of Peace that connects the old district to the new part of Tbilisi. It is a funky looking covered bridge.

On the other side of the bridge was a walking street. We could see some tour groups and guides explaining the history of the buildings on this street. We saw the clock tower – a very unique structure.

There was also a puppet theatre – the themes here are a bit on the darker side and may not be suitable for children. So we didn’t even plan to get inside. There were plenty of cute cafes along this street but we were all still full from the heavy breakfast. Towards the end of the street there were some bronze sculptures of popular Georgian actors.

The Chronicle of Georgia

Next on our plan was the Chronicle of Georgia. We took a cab to go there and the drive took about 30 mins. The Chronicle of Georgia is an impressive monument that stands on top of Keeni hill on the outskirts of Tbilisi. It was made in 1985 and is an unfinished structure (much like the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona). The monument has been constructed to convey the history of Georgia spanning centuries.

There are 16 pillars which are over 30 metres tall and reminded us of the Great Hypostyle Hall in Karnak temple, Luxor. The pillars contain engravings of kings, queens and stories from the life of Jesus Christ. From the top, we could also see the Tbilisi Sea – an artificial lake that functions as a reservoir. We spent some time here enjoying the views and took a cab back to the city.

The most authentic local food experience

For dinner, we headed back to the city to a place called Mapshalia on Davit Aghmashenebeli Ave. It was an authentic Georgian restaurant in the basement of a building. The place was run by some elderly Georgian ladies and they only spoke in Georgian. So, Google Translate may come in handy if you’re trying to order something different from the menu. It seemed like mostly locals visited the place – they’d come in, place a quick order, eat fast and move on.

The food was probably the best we had during the trip – khinkhali, khachapuri (we tried Megrelian this time), salad and kompot (the quintessential drink that must sit on every table). The soup inside the khinkhali was delicious and even Parth kept asking for the momo’s juice! The cheese in the khachapuri was also amazing.

This is when we realised that the versions we’d eaten the previous day at Pasanauri restaurant was the fine dine version while the one we were eating now was the authentic, as-close-to-home-made-as-possible version.

Khachapuri guide

As promised in the last blog, here is a quick guide on the 3 types of khachapuri we had eaten so far:

• Imeretian (Imeruli): dough filled with imeruli cheese.
• Adjarian: boat shaped dough filled with imeruli and sulguni cheese with a sunny side up egg in the middle. This looked like the pide we’d eaten in Istanbul.
• Megrelian (Megruli): this one has cheese inside and outside making it the most delicious variety!

We followed this up with some ice-cream at a nearby shop called Luca Polare – we tried cherry sorbet.

It had been a long day. We booked a cab and headed back to our room. The Bolt app was coming in really handy!

Next morning, we would get our car to go to Stepantsminda. Yes, we had booked a self-drive car to explore the rest of the country. Can’t wait to get started! Hope you enjoyed this Tbilisi travel guide!

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Check out all the Georgia blogs here:

• The Georgia Itinerary – your guide to planning the perfect Georgia trip
• A Rainy 2 AM arrival in Georgia – avoiding scams and a rainy adventure
• Celebrating Independence Day in Tbilisi – a unique experience in Georgia
• Tbilisi Travel – Hidden Gems and Local Experiences
• The Georgian Military Highway – A Georgian road trip
• Discovering Kazbegi – A Travel Guide to Georgia’s northern mountain escape
• The Romantic Towns of Sighnaghi and Telavi – exploring the Kakheti region
• A deep-dive into the Wine Culture of Georgia – Saperavis, Rkatsitelis and Chacha
• An Exciting End – Dirt road, petrol scare and upcoming floods