Tibilisi

The capital has enchanted me. Despite my tired eyes, the first poster at the train station surprised me - 'Stop violence against women'. I will leave it uncommented.

We will all be refunded for the train ride - that is nice, but in case of a flood, only people who have influenced the climate can be blamed, so it is a bit strange to get a refund for a human-made problem caused by humans.

I hope my criticism and world weariness are understandable and have been expressed?

The broken benches at the train station are less surprising - they remind me a bit of Southeast Asia.

The night walk to the hostel reminded me once again that I have quite a lot of luggage - but the temperature was bearable, so the first encounter in the dark was unspectacular and bearable, and it made me even more curious about the city.

In the hostel, the surprise was that I am sleeping on a mattress that is still completely wrapped and crackles. Afterwards, I learned that hostels here are afraid of bedbugs.

The next day did not start with sightseeing as planned - first, work had to be done and in the evening, we took a small walk in the city - familiar travelers were already involved.

Froincvili, affectionately renamed and Carliovili from the current hostel, first raised the blood sugar level - because we walked from dessert to dessert and finally the alcohol level.

The party mood was then clouded by some bad music, so the next attempt of a long party night was postponed.

On Saturday, we went to Mzcheta outside the city - so off we go to a marshrutka and 25 minutes out of the city to see the Swatarowo Monastery and the Swetizchowell Cathedral and climb the Bebristsokhe. A nice trip for Saturday and on the way back to the city it was soooo crowded (it's currently vacation time, that shouldn't be underestimated) that the bridge in front of the 'bus station' is the absolute bottleneck and we decided to get off earlier and walk the rest.

The Mapshala restaurant tempted us again with delicious food and after a little wait - not because there were no tables - no, there were not enough chairs... we indulged ourselves in the country's delicacies and feasted excellently.

Then football is quite an international sport and there was also a match in the evening, so we briefly watched the fans pre-celebrating, only to realize that the ticket prices in front of the stadium are ridiculously expensive. 150 lari. Well, that offer cannot be accepted. Since I'm not a fan of football anyway, I wouldn't have gone there.

On Sunday, it was time to move to the weekend residence. Breakfast is served every day and the room has a view over the entire Tilfis. It could be worse. But where there is a view, there is also a mountain not far away :-) Phew, climbing up the mountain is a good workout.

At the top, there is also a sports field and public sports equipment - as the cuisine slowly transforms into a calorie-based one and the clothes become tight, it is time to move a little more!

At the top of the mountain, there is a cemetery - Georgian style - with complete pictures on the tombstones. If desired, a larger meeting or picnic can take place next to the graves. Benches and tables are almost part of the grave. It was somewhat surprising to see so many fences.

The Baghdadi restaurant is also recommended :-) simply fantastic and a great tasty memory of Jordanian cuisine.

You can also get another great overview from the Mtatsminda Park over the whole city - So let's go for an evening walk on Tuesday and yes, it is quite impressive to watch the approaching thunder clouds. The rain was so heavy that the ceiling at the supermarket around the corner could not hold and caused a small flood.

Remarkable and new to me was also the incredibly voluminous dog in the guesthouse. It's hard to believe that he can still stand on his own feet.

For the further journey, I should be accompanied by a solar-powered power bank. So off to the train station and into the electronics store pleasure.

I was able to communicate in English. That's good. I needed my passport to make a purchase and actually pulled a waiting number at the checkout.

After a surprising farewell meal at the Mapshalia on Friday evening, it was time on Saturday - goodbye Tibilisi and hello Bolnisi.

We started from the Samgori Metro Station with the marshrutka. I encounter old decommissioned sprinter buses from Germany again, but this time the number of buses is manageable.

Summing it up so far, I can say that the city is full of contrasts - a fancy high-rise building stands next to very old rusty communist buildings.