Georgia 🇬🇪 Recovery day after the Final. 19th July 2026

Our Bolt driver recommended this restaurant. It is called Our Home or Our House and it's known for its kinkales

So we got on the other metro line from Freedom Square to Varketili. Walked to the restaurant in a residential area. Georgia is a country of contrasts and Tibilisi goes from huge new buildings to run down buildings, many empty that look damaged by the various earthquakes.

Lunch was great, kinkali are picked up by hand and eaten by biting around the edges sipping the sauce and eating the sides with the meat, all by hand. One generally leaves the ends as it is a race as to how nany kinkales one can eat. Once again, after a lot of kinkales, (they are very tasty) I had the mushrooms with cheese and Michael had the pork with potatoes. The nicest vanilla cream for desert. 

Bursting after way too much food, we walked back to the metro station, caught the metro back and went for a walk to digest the food.

Children play in the fountains.

A Georgian Orthodox Church 

We walked back to the hotel and had a sleep. Once awake we went to our favorite coffee place. I had a matcha and Michael a chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream and a hot chocolate. Madeleine never disappoints.

We figured that as we only flying at 21:10 tomorrow we would take advantage and go on another canyon hike. Passes the day and we get to see awesome sights. So our driver and guide will fetch us at 11:00 and take us to the 

Georgia 🇬🇪 U 20 World Cup, 1st and 2nd, South Africa vs France. 18 July 1026

So we won South Frica 16, France 5. Yay. It started raining at 20:00 pm and having an umbrella and a raincoat helped. We stayed reasonably dry but the astro turf was a different story. France and South Africa slipped and slid through out the match.

Very close match with France keeping up the pressure until the last minute.

Stunning fireworks before the match and after the match.

South Africa running onto the field.

Kevin Foote the coach of the SA under 20s kindly posed for a photo with me. He is a friend of Johno from my DailyJ, the weight and cardio regime I have been following for the last 2 and a half years to maintain strength, cardiac and muscle fitness. "Life years should equal health years".

The national anthem

So we decide to go to the Biltong bar to celebrate and the Bolt we ordered could not find us now we him. So he charged us a cancelation fee which I since have got back. Our next driver helped us by telling us our location was floating in the air (go Google maps, assuming Bolt's navigation system is based on their algorithms) and where he had stopped. He also told us about a great restaurant for kinkales and how to eat them.

The Biltong bar was full and very festive. Met some lovely people. A journalist from Azerbaijan,  a student doctor from Shri Lanka,  a graduate doctor from Australia and a computer coder from South Africa in Georgia for 3 years unable to leave as she lost her passport and there is no embassy in Georgia. Home affairs in SA has been unable to help her. As she says Georgia is a great place to be if you are unable to travel anywhere else in the world.

We got home at 3am, its been a while since we have had such a late night. Go Bokke!!!

Georgia 🇬🇪 U 20 World Cup, 3rd and 4th, New Zealand vs England. 18 July 1026

Anthem

Hakka

Georgia 🇬🇪 Getting to "Mikheil Meskhi" Stadium მიხეილ მესხის სახელობის სტადიონი, 18 July 2026

We took the bus 25 stops in total. Whike researching, I was panicking as every bus showed delayed and I nearly opted for a Bolt. Resolute in trying the bus system, we set off 2 hours early. We're now waiting for the first game to start.

New Zealand versus England for 3rd and 4th place.

Inside the bus, clean and not too full. Witnessed an argument between a lady that brought a bike into the bus and the bus driver. All in Georgian so no idea what the problem was.

The Victory Statue (also known as the Memorial of Glory) is a towering 28-meter Soviet-era monument located at the topmost ridge of Vake Park in Tbilisi, Georgia. Erected in 1981, the brutalist masterpiece depicts a woman raising her arms to hold a banner and an oak branch, symbolizing victory and resilience.

The buildings in the suburb of Vake Park are beautiful and in comparison to other suburbs, so new.

Finally got a picture of a Marshrutka, the equivalent of our Taxis.

We continued to the stadium and have the best seats on the 10 meter line.

Georgia 🇬🇪 Second last day, wow time has flown 18 July 2026

On the bus to the final. We have tried the Metro, the Cable car, Funicular and Bolt. Today we taking the bus. 25 stops to the university and then 1 km walk to the stadium.

This morning I dragged Michael on another 7km circular walk, a market, Fabrika, Sambta hotel which we did not find and back to the hotel.

Freedom Square, another angle.

Kura river 

Fabrika, a hostel, so interesting, young crowd do not get up before 10am

I loved the crazy decor of Fabrika.

Right next door a church

Fruit vendors everywhere with loads of delicious fruit, no pesticides is being used in subsistence farming. I had some today.

Random circle with statues in the middle, crossing streets can be difficult. One has to find a crosswalk as cars seem to come from every direction.

Back at Freedom square, another view.