Not too far from Dubai, only a three-hour flight. It helped that as a UAE resident, I could get a day visa-free entry. Then, with plenty of time to explore the city, I set about finding the coolest things to do in Tbilisi. But I found so many cool and interesting places to visit in Tbilisi, that I did not want to leave and ended up staying longer than planned.
I spent about three weeks in Tbilisi, wandering tirelessly through its crumbling old town, looking up at intricately carved wooden balconies, ruined buildings with gaping walls and overgrowth, leafy lanes where artists sat painting, and many many churches, fuelled by nutritious churchkhela Georgian candy and warm potato bread from basement bakeries, whose aromas beckoning from street-level windows, were impossible to resist.
I explored the posh neighborhoods around Freedom Square and Rustaveli, joined the stylishly dressed locals to watch the Opera, and dined in fancy restaurants with ample enthusiastic toasting to good health and celebration. There was no lack of cool, interesting and quirky places to visit in Tbilisi. After I was done sightseeing in Tbilisi, I set about discovering life like a local. Thanks to a two-day trip to the Kakheti wine region , soon, I knew my Georgian wines well enough.
I even found an indie theater where I watched a performance that seemed part-fantasy. What I loved about Tbilisi, as I did about Georgia as a whole, was its ability to surprise me with something when I least expected it.
The thing that stood out to me was the friendliness of the locals, who in spite of being used to tourists, are not bored, irritated, or indifferent. There are regal balustrades and carved wooden balconies, and creepers and ivy that dress the faces of half-demolished buildings.
