Tbilisi was founded in the 5th century AD when a king was hunting and found a heavily wooded site that he thought would serve well for a new capital to his Kingdom. The city resisted the high tide of Islam and therefore, became a bastion of Christian belief through the Early Middle Ages when Islam culture was at its height prior to the dark times commencing with Mongol conquests.
We are doing self-guided walking tour that is starting just outside the Old City
We arrive at Freedom Square and the iconic statue of St. George slaying the dragon
The veneration of St. George leads to the red cross on the white background (same as is found in England by the way) and why those not of the country call it Georgia.
From there we headed down a main street
Decisions on the arrangement of flowers for retail are serious stuff
As we pass by the city walls
We see the juxtaposition of that which is shabby and run down with that which is new
At a statue before entering the old city
Like old towns everywhere, it has been turned into a center for social commerce and tourism
I took a crap load of pictures but am trying...I am really trying to not post pictures of the same things you see city to city
A very interesting clock tower
But no matter how many posts, I never tire of my favorite subject
The solo photographer
Like my memory of Prague, the street music here is of unusual quality
From the old city we take one of the newer monuments in the city
The Peace Bridge
Or the Glass Bridge
Or the Love Bridge
The propensity here to give one thing many names makes navigating a bit of a challenge
These two metallic tube shaped buildings are a new center for performing arts and exhibition hall
Wife and I call it the Fallopian Tubes building
Overlooking the 'Tubes'
Are the very modest and restrained new Presidential Palace
Then we took a tramway
from Rike Park up to heights by the Narikala Fortress with full views back at the park, the old city and into the modern city
We arrive at Narikala Fortress
We start to make our way down to back to the city
Must Brag On Wife
A year ago at this time when we were in Israel, Jordan, Turkey and Greece, she was nearly a cripple with agonizing sciatica and bursitis making every movement torture
Through long hours of physical therapy and an extensive personal training program she is off pain shots and moving like she hasn't in nearly a decade
We look back down on the city
Looking back up we see the statue of Mother Georgia
Everyone's image of 'Mom' I am sure
As we make our way to our next stop
Bethlem Church
A young (well young to me) woman who lives in Germany and Baku but hails from Ukraine asked if I would take a picture of her. She insisted she was not photogenic. After I showed her my pictures of her, she had to admit she was wrong
A few more city scenes before we made it down and grabbed a taxi tired but still pretty strong after our long day
1 comment:
I'm so proud of mom!!
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