First of all, I want to thank Viveka of myguiltypleasures for inspiring us to go to Georgia. She went there over Christmas and totally fell in love with the city.
The unmistakable charm of the Old Town, the history, the people, the food and wine, brought us here. We stayed for a week, but could easily have stayed longer. I know Viveka is going again this Easter. A bit envious…I am!
We decided to have a guide for one day – a real gentleman, recommended by Viveka, who had accidentally met Aleksandr at the end of her stay. And what he doesn’t know about Old Tblisi (Old Tiflis), its history and architecture – is not worth knowing. Let’s follow him along his favorite streets!
Aleksandr is a well known face in Old Town, and knows every street and every house. He is a former architect – which explains his faiblesse for the Old part of the city.
On the left hand side, according to Alexandr, you see the most beautiful balcony in town. The whole street is very beautiful – but what they are building at the end of this lovely row of balconies – I don’t know…
Around midday it was time to sit down for a glass of wine – resting in the shade. It was an unusually hot day for October, 27 degrees C.
Finally… we were approaching his own favorite, Alexandre Dumas Street. Here the balconies and bay windows seem, if possible, even bigger than in other streets.
The old, cobbled Dumas is rather short and narrow. A document of times gone by – nothing yet demolished, reconstructed or changed. A short glance at Aleksandr, and the light in his eyes revealed just how much he loves his city.
On reaching the end though, we could see newly constructed buildings – and machines working – when the street took a left turn, and changed names.
Somewhere here we found a peaceful place to sit down and rest. Aleksandr’s tour is not over yet, but maybe next Thursday? I hope you enjoyed walking with us – you are very welcome back!
Leya 
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What a wonderful place … ! Thanks for taking us along 🙂
Wonderful yes – I hope to continue that walk on Thursday. You are welcome to join in!
Der Leya, beautiful pics of Old Tiblisi. THX for posting! () greets Liz
Thank you
Quite a thorough and nice tour. Alexandr showed you all the sights.
He was a gem. And a gentleman ❤
What an absolutely delightful city! Thanks for showing it to me.
janet
Nice having you with us, Janet.
Thanks for my Virtual Tour, Ann Christine…I would LOVE to go to Tbilisi, but I fear it won’t happen
Thank you for coming along, Sue! I know you would have loved it – but…I fear it would be a bit troublesome. The whole city is a construction site as well. As a plus to all the steep climbings and cobbled streets. No taxis there. The new parts would be no problem, but who wants to visit them?
What an amazing-looking city.
Su, it is – hopefully they will realize that tearing down the old to build new is not always the best.
We must hope. City planners / developers generally don’t show much sense.
True…
What a gorgeous town! I love old buildings. This looks like a Mecca for photographers 🙂 Thank you for taking us on that walk.
My pleasure – a Mecca it is, and thank you for coming along!
Amazing free-style architecture!
I loved it too, thank you – so sad it is being replaced by machine made things.
It looks like you found a photographer’s dream. Capturing the varied vibrancy of this sweet city. I have never been there in person, but thanks to you I feel like I have now! Your guide makes the visit so extra special 🙂
So glad you enjoyed the walk! And Alexandr was a real gentleman – and I mean Real. They are hard to come by nowadays…
I agree!
Ann-Christine, I do love your close up photos in this series!
Thank you –
Thank you for taking us on this beautiful tour Ann-Christine and thank you to Alexandr too! It looks like a wonderful place to explore 🤗💖 xxx
It was, Xenia. If you love old and charming places, like I do, there is no place like this! And Alexandr was a gentleman from olden days – perfectly charming.
What a charming city: and lucky you to be shown round by such a knowledgeable and charming guide. More please!
Hehe, well – we were really lucky! More posts will come from Tbilisi and Georgia.
I loved all the wrought iron work on the stairs and balconies, it’s such a charming place.
So glad you like them too! And charming is the best description.
Those balconies are an extraordinary sight, Ann Christine. I do hope they’re not going to spoil the character of that beautiful old town. It’s a place to visit sooner rather than later! 🙂 🙂 Happy Thursday!
Thanks, Jo – I really am sorry for what is happening there. I asked Alexandr how he felt about seeing his hometown taken down and replaced by machine maid balconies and houses. He told me he would leave his great archive of photos and paintings to the city museum when he was gone.
I had a lovely time thanks Ann-Christine 🙂 🙂
😀 Me too!
Thank you for sharing … so much beauty!!! Some doors and stairs I recognize and most the streets I have walked. I will do a photo walk with Aleksandr too. He seems to know all the courtyards. Only 5 months left and I’m back. I left a big part of my heart with Tbilisi and it’s people. And the weather you had. Fantastic post, A-C!!!
Thank you so much, Viveka! And you know, it was because you loved it so much!
…. where isn’t there to love???!!! *smile
♥♥♥