Windy Sunday and Colder Monday

Our first hike in Tbilisi turned into a city walk.  We reunited with our old friends from the early 2000's and decided to do a hike at Turtle Lake, which is above the city in the foothills.  Once there, we found the path very snow-packed and icy so we retreated back into the city.  Pausing to look at a very interesting squirrel, Dabid Bloss, Jody McPhillips, and David pose for Marty.

 Tableclothes whipped by the wind, part of the flea market which has expanded onto the bridge!

We needed to shop on our way home, so here is just a peek at one of the crowded shelves in our local market.

 

And yes, they sell frozen fish.  We guess it gets sold fast enough so there isn't any freezer burn!

It was a very windy day and so we were glad to have opportunities to stop along the way for hot coffee!  As we headed back after about three miles with Jody and David, we walked another three miles to get home: along Rustaveli we say city workers planting pansies!  They were chopping into the planters to get the frozen soil loosened enough to drop in the little plants.  It does seem strange, but it also looks very pretty!   The city has not yet turned on the decorative holiday lights that adorn the major city streets. These consist of angels on or near the side walks and ornaments that hang from the center of massive strings of lights right over the center of the street.

 

On Monday, today, we decided to take a walk into the old town so Marty could take some HDR shots (multiple shots of the same thing with different exposures).  Although it looked like snow when we left the apartment, there had been none in the forecast; however, on our way home we did encounter some small flakes coming down.  There isn't the wind today, but it does feel much colder than yesterday.

More and more the Old City's traditional dwellings are being allowed to fall in on themselves, meaning that restoration is impossible; something valuable is being lost that made this part of the city architecturally so interesting.  It isn't just the balconies over-hanging the narrow streets it is also the wonderful metal work one finds in gates and doors.  This house above will soon just be rubble, and in its place will eventually appear something not quite "right".

We have always enjoyed peeking into the courtyards (they call them "Italian" yards) and seeing interesting things.  Sometimes we get lucky and see people or colorful laundry on a line or two.

This shot above give you a sense of the narrowness of the original street.

And down another street. The rusty pipes are gas lines.

As we made our way back to the flat we took one of the many under-street passageways and here Marty could not resist a quick shot into one of many small fruit markets where people were busy shopping.