Georgia, Tiblisi, 01 July 2026

In the native language, Georgia is called Sakartvelo (საქართველო).The term translates directly to "the land of the Kartvelians". It originates from Kartli, which is the central historical region of the country. Locally, the people refer to themselves as Kartvelebi (ქართველები), and the Georgian language is known as Kartuli (ქართული).

We arrived at the airport and we were mobbed by men wanting to give us a ride to the airport. They have Bolt in Georgia so lets just say that we should have gone with Bolt. So angry I grabbed my bag and left Darren's water flask, as Darren says pay it forward and let the flask serve someone else.

The hotel is in a traditional residential area, whereas the Hotel could have been built in the stone age, so much detail with metal door trimmings , ancient lights, and an intricate wrought iron staircase with the reception at the bottom and the rooms above.

In Georgian practicality, it has a wash line. With only 16kgs of luggage between us, we are grateful for the line.

The primary river flowing through Tbilisi is the Mtkvari (known internationally as the Kura River). Originating in northeastern Turkey, it winds through the heart of Georgia's capital, visually and historically dividing the city into two sides before eventually flowing into the Caspian Sea in Azerbaijan.

On our way to and back from Budget Tbilisi  Travel, we walked 10km of Tbilisi old town seeing many attractions. We paid for and booked the 4 day hiking and the 3 day site seeing tours.

This tower is intentionally built to look like it is on the verge of collapsing, humorously held up by a single dark grey steel beam.

Gabriadze constructed the tower using hundreds of recycled bricks and decorative tiles salvaged from abandoned buildings and ruins across Tbilisi.

Every hour, a small window opens at the top, and a mechanical angel emerges to strike the bell outside with a hammer.

A lower window opens twice a day (at 12:00 PM and 7:00 PM) to present a brief, poignant mechanical puppet show called "The Circle of Life," depicting a couple meeting, marrying, having children, and growing old together.

The tower is attached directly to the Gabriadze Marionette Theater, where world-class puppet shows are still performed today.

We visited the botanical gardens.

We continued down the hill through various attractions.

Virtual reality tour on an air ballon.

Bridge of Peace.

Random statue, so beautiful.

After a Macha large milk shake in Istanbul at 4am, full breakfast on the plane around 6am (food was excellent on Turkish airways) large ice cream in Tbilisi and a large pomegranate juice made with a press on front of me, wow it was yummy. I was not hungry for supper.

Michael had a traditional pork, potatoes and red onion dish called and we made our way uphill back to the hotel.

We slept very well.