8/28: Tbilisi's Deserters' Market & Highway to Heaven!

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While in Tbilisi, we passed this tiny bakery each morning on the way from our hotel to the metro. The selections were small but the smells heavenly. I bought a lavash, a typical bread of the Caucasus countries of Armenia and Georgia, as I knew there would be no filling in it, unlike almost all roll-like items you see on bakery shelves in both countries which have meat, cheese or something else stuffed unknowingly inside! The price of just one lari or .40 for a single lavash wouldn't break the bank even if we didn't like it. It was fresh for awhile but got very leathery, we noticed, later in the day!

Long-time readers of my blogs know how much Steven and I make a point of visiting local markets when we travel. Sometimes it's to buy fresh and inexpensive items to cook with later if we have cooking facilities but normally it's a feast for the eyes, to get a greater appreciation of how the locals live and simply escape from the tourist haunts for a bit. When we read about the unusually named Deserters' Market, named after deserting soldiers who sold  their weapons here in the 1920s, it sounded even more appealing. Ironically, the covered market itself was pretty 'deserted' as we had, it seemed, arrived far too late to see all the wares!

Steven and I only found out much later these were not candles as we thought because they looked like they had wicks but rather sugar-coated walnuts and other nuts on strings! That made sense as we questioned why there were so many candles in a produce market!

As always, I am attracted to a market's vibrant colors.

When our four children were small, they used to like fruit roll ups. These were much, much larger and also much chewier versions of those, I realized, when I tasted a piece! 

Whenever we see bulk spices for sale in markets around the world, I always think of our daughter, Natalie, and her husband of one year yesterday, Adam, who love to cook at their home in Chicago. I have always brought back spices for them to let them know they were in our thoughts while we were far away even though she has reminded me they can get the same spices, too!

If these jars of an assortment of spices had been any smaller, I would have bought one in a heartbeat for Natalie and Adam as I had never seen anything like it before.

Lots of traders preferred setting up their produce and other items on the streets around the market, likely to avoid having to pay fees to go inside.

I love raspberries so treating ourselves to this man's smallest container for a couple of bucks was a great snack, if a little messy hours later in my backpack when the rest got too warm!

Sidewalks were clogged with minuscule bakeries, produce markets, clothing stands, shoe stands, etc which added to the atmosphere.

Steven, unfortunately, had a pretty unsettling experience in the metro on the way to the market that morning. He normally carries his water bottle in the outside pocket of his backpack that's intended for that purpose. While we were on the metro, some youngish idiot sitting down decided to take the bottle out of the pocket and took a swig from it! When Steven then told him off in no uncertain terms, the guy and his friend got mad at Steven. I am glad the situation happened just before we got off at the next station because you never know how something like that seemingly minor matter could have escalated into something worse, especially in a foreign country when we had no knowledge of the language. 

After taking the metro back downtown from the market near the train station, we found a little oasis away from the din of traffic. I don't think we'd ever seen so many benches before as we did in the Garden of the First Republic of Georgia. The park just needed people sitting on them as it was almost deserted.

It was only after sitting for a spell, I happened to glance up and noticed man-made bird houses in many of the trees around us. It reminded me I needed to look up to take in the less obvious things from time to time and not just ahead and around as we explore new sights.

Of course that was easy at the busy Freedom Square where we again admired the golden St. George spearing a dragon instead of Lenin's statue that had been there during Soviet times.

Care for Dunkin Donuts, anyone!

When we saw a sign for the Catholic Cathedral of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin Mary, the first church of my faith we'd seen since beginning our trip in Paris a couple of weeks ago, we headed that way. Little did we know then we'd end up seeing places of worship of all the various religions there are in Tbilisi the rest of that day!

I mentioned in the previous post about the 'charms' of Tbilisi's Old Town, much of which has been renovated pretty quickly over the last decade. Off the main streets and behind the pretty facades, however, were lots of very dilapidated buildings with half-overgrown courtyards, carved wooden balconies and buildings that looked like they might fall down in a strong gust of wind!

There were plenty of buildings like this one in the Old Town that looked like they should have an immediate appointment with a wrecking ball. 

The Georgian Orthodox Jvaris Mama Church was located on a spot where there's been a church since the 5th century. This one dated from the 16th century.

Notice the skull and crossbones at the bottom of the cross on the church's facade!

The recently restored interior was full of striking blue, red and gold frescoes.

Again we observed a priest praying with or for someone and saw that each time a worshipper entered, he or she would make three signs of the cross starting with the forehead, chest and then the right side (unlike Catholics who touch the left side initially). The worshipper would then kiss each of the icons or touch his/her hands to their lips and then to the icon. It was very moving to watch this 'process' for lack of a better word time after time with each worshipper who often accompanied the motions with silent prayers. I felt for the custodian whose job it was to clean the framed glass holding the icons or the icons themselves after they were repeatedly touched in a prayerful way.

Surprisingly, the large Armenian Apostolic Norasheni Church was also located in the same courtyard but it was undergoing renovations and was closed. I don't recall another city that had churches of two different faiths in the same yard. I have often heard of two different religions temporarily sharing the same building to save on costs but not two different faiths within steps of each other.

I think we both held our breaths walking down Jerusalem Lane wondering if the balcony above us might decide to keel over right then from old age! 

Close by was a synagogue but the only entrance we saw was closed as had been the Jewish Museum a few minutes earlier. Only later did we discover the entrance was on another street.

The same wine shop we passed yesterday in Old Town had an even better sign out today, I thought!

Since we'd already been to a Roman Catholic church, a Georgian Orthodox church, an Armenian Apostolic church and tried to visit the city's synagogue, the only other place of worship in Tbilisi's 'Highway to Heaven' was the last remaining mosque just up the street!

Ice cream sounded really, really good as it was so hot but wine ice cream wasn't our cup of tea. I did try some the next day on another day trip and it tasted just like grape juice, not a flavor I particularly like.

The red brick Juma Mosque dated from 1895 and was the only one in Tbilisi to survive the purges of the 1930s. As with mosques we've visited throughout the world, we were invited to enter after removing our shoes and again making sure my head and Steven's legs were covered as is customary in mosques. I didn't near to wear a robe as I have had to do, though, at mosques in the Middle East. 

Exquisite light blue mosaics adorned the walls.

At the bottom of Old Town was another beautiful building, completely covered in tiles, that looked like it belonged in the Middle East. We didn't see any sign but think it was likely a cafe as people were seated on a patio out front drinking coffee. 

As we walked up to the cafe, it was impossible to miss the nearby collection of brick domes and an unmistakable odor. The domes were the roofs to Abanotubani, Tbilisi's famous sulfur baths, described by the Russian writer Alexander Pushkin as the best bath he'd ever had!

Passing the baths led us along a walkway to a gorge which looked appealing.

Steven on the bridge with locks proclaiming love for a special someone!

It was only fitting that, after seeing the 'love bridge,' we saw a newly married couple having their pictures taken in the gorge!

We've seen a fair share of Georgian weddings by now and, with each one, a drone has been present taking pictures! One of our tour guides confirmed that has become the norm now in her country. Thank goodness, our three older children and their spouses, who all got married within the last year, didn't have drones present at their weddings.

Yet another couple was waiting to have their pictures taken at the scenic gorge just minutes from Old Town!

A bench in a small park with the bathhouse domes in the background was a perfect spot to rest and recharge our batteries before trudging up the steep hill on the other side of the river back to our hotel.

Next post: The cave city of Uplistsikhe & Stalin

Posted on August 3rd, 2018, from the Black Sea city of Batumi, Georgia.