Tblisi

 Tbilisi, Georgia. I had heard it's a nice place, but wow. Affordable, modern, historic, eclectic, creative, artistic...What's not to love? The country is bordered by Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey and the Black Sea. The Caucus mountains dominate the border with Russia, all the way to sea level. There's glaciers and palm trees, all in a country a little larger than Massachusetts. I'm starting to really like this place. 

Other countries erect monuments to soldiers, generals, military leaders. In Tbilisi's parks we find Rustavel, a poet. Lado Guliashvili, a painter. Giorgi Chanturia, politician and proponent of non violence. Sulkhan Orbeliani, story teller, teacher, politician. 

Seeing Soviet era infrastructure and architecture is to be expected. Blocky, gray, concrete, cheaply built, often decaying. They ruled here in the 1920s. But there is also much wonderful, classic architecture, with ornate balcony railings, caricatures carved of stone over the windows and soaring arches. Not surprisingly that includes government buildings and museums, but there's also older neighborhoods with Italianate facades and more. And modern works with sweeping steel and tinted glass. 

There is an eclectic artistic edge to Tbilisi. Artists sell their wares on the street and in galleries. Folks strum guitars in the parks and subway tunnels, sometimes busking, sometimes just for fun. We attended a meet-up of artist, mostly ex-pats and foreigners. A language mix of Georgian, English, Russian, German, French, etc. 

And there are many parks, of all sizes. Little neighborhood parks with swings and seesaws, and big municipal parks with embedded infrastructure. And everything in between. We have not been out to the suburbs of high rise apartment buildings yet, and there might or might not be parks there. Even late at night people are out in their parks, quietly enjoying the evening.  

Comparing to Turkey, this is a much more diverse culture. In Turkey , street food was Turkish-kebabs, donor, lavash. Foreign food was rare and expensive. The Turkish language dominates. There are mosques, and except for Istanbul, that's it. No churches or synagogues or temples. Tbilisi is the opposite. Burgers, pizza and Chinese noodles compete with Georgian puff pastry concoctions. Catholic, Protestant, eastern Orthodox, Jewish, Muslim, it's all here and thriving but not dominating. 

Statistically this is a safe city in a safe country. Single women walk solo at night. The busy main streets have pedestrian underpasses every two blocks, allowing for fewer pedestrian/vehicle interactions. Violent crime and petty crime are very low by global standards. Corruption is low. Weather is usually a greater problem than crime.  The bus and subway systems are excellent, frequent and safe, and can get you anywhere in the city. Plus long haul trains and busses. Who needs a car? 

What's not to love? Well, the smoking. It's not as bad a Turkey, but that's a low bar. And for some reason cigarette smokers throw their butts on the ground. Nobody else litters, only smokers. And there are a few pan handlers, but we haven't seen any homelessness.