Tbilisi and Change

We arrived in the city shortly after midnight when we went through passport control were each given a complimentary (small) bottle of wine!  We have been told that only non-Georgians receive the wine upon their arrival.  The wine is packaged in a nice carton with "Welcome to the land of 8000 vintages" on it.

We were met at the airport by our good friend, Dato.  On the way to Nia's sister's place he gave us a quick tour around some of "our" region of the city to show us the changes.

Today we have seen the changes in daylight, and on these we will attempt to reflect and share our thoughts and feelings.  It is often wrenching to see a place you love change in ways you really had not anticipated that it would ever change; maybe that is naive on our part.

So let's start at the beginning.  As we came into the city, Dato pointed out to us some new construction indicating that it was going to be a concert hall and something else.  He also commented that it is locally derisively referred to as a human body part.  We'll leave that to your imagination as you view the photo.

Shortly after seeing this construction we passed by the new city office building which, to Marty, looks much like a mushroom patch emerging from the river.  It is, however, an improvement as a location for many services local citizens want and need.  Before this construction, the area housed rowing and tennis centers.

On the right (southern) bank of the Mtkvari River there are new roads, elevated exit ramps, and a reduction in the number of stop lights, allowing traffic to flow more smoothly in many areas.  Some streets are now one way vs two way and this also helps.

We had the opportunity to walk around a bit too.  Actually, we walked around a lot this afternoon, wanting to see with our own eyes the changes in the heart of the city.  Rustaveli is much the same, as is one of our favorite coffee/book stores (Prospero's).  We saw only small changes as we went into Freedom Square where traffic could once make a turn without going around the center of the circle, but that has now been changed and probably makes the area safer.  We walked across the newer footbridge from the old town into the construction area where the concert hall is being built.  We were surprised to see that a new cable car is in operation from below the Metekhi Church up to the ridge just beside the statue of Mother Georgia.  And here we began to ruminate about the designs of the new buildings and their being in view to the President's house atop the cliffs above the river.

Is it a coincidence that all these structures are very modern and in many ways quite out of place with the city's wonderful older architecture?  Is is strange or unusual that all the new buildings may have been (don't know if they were) designed by the same group of individuals?

It is hard to determine if these are an addition or a detraction to the city's overall character.  How do you incorporate very modern buildings into a radically different style of architecture?  It is a question we cannot answer.

On the flip side, however, there are improvements that all this work as brought and we are not denying that.  Our very own block on Uznadze has been repaired and now looks ever so much better. One block away though on Agmashenebelli all the renovation makes the street feel sterile.  And some of the work is already falling apart in some places, and to us this is a disappointment.

Face-lifted buildings in Vorontsov Square.

Updated and renovated Uznadze Street

 Last, but not least, we went to a new huge GoodWill grocery store....these stores are very modern, and are displacing the city's little green markets.

GoodWill grocery store