First of all, it is the cat season in Tbilisi, indeed. In the sense that cats climb higher to catch the warm rays of the autumn sun. People are already wearing jackets, but it's still hot on the roof tops in the afternoon, and cats take advantage of it. That's why you can harvest a good crop of cat photography these days 🙂
Yesterday, I went for a walk in a district called Saburtalo (საბურთალო), in the very thick of the old Soviet buildings, gray, shabby, but not without a certain charm.
Shabby residential high-rise building in Saburtalo, Tbilisi, Georgia
Pomegranate tree with ripe fruits
Overripe pomegranate got open to let seeds go
Some houses resemble cave settlements, or some kind of medieval towers. But, by the way, people here live not worse than in more attractive areas of the city. This part of Saburtalo has all the infrastructure, all possible goods and services, there are electronic displays at bus stops notifying which bus will arrive and in how many minutes. But, yes, some houses look dilapidated.
Tbilisi TV Broadcasting Tower and Ferris Wheel of Mtatsminda, a view from Saburtalo
It's a hilly area so not every corner is taken by high-rise buildings, there are many private houses and gardens with shady pathways between them, meandering down the hill.
Residential buildings of Saburtalo and Vake, a view from Saburtalo
Persimmon tree with ripe fruits
Autumnal persimmons with the deep blue sky in the background
I was actually going to photograph black and white. I put Tom Waits on the player. But bright orange, purple, and red spots changed my mood. It's impossible to get past these edible gems.
Vine with overripe grapes
Here, as elsewhere in Tbilisi, grapes are abundant - I had a post about it recently. It grows in gardens and right on walls of high-rise buildings.
Grapes getting dry. Raisins for birds in winter
The grape season is ending. But some varieties aren't yet withered.
The number of shades is impressive.
An amazing shade, isn't it? The comparison that came to my mind is red pearls. If it was a precious stone, it was a precious stone, it would fit a crown of a Medieval monarch.
Descending from Vake, I crossed Chabua Amirejibi Highway and continued to the top of Ikaltos Hill (Ikaltos Gora, იყალთოს გორა).
My route in Vake / Saburtalo, Tbilisi, Georgia on the google maps
I looked into yards, went into alleys to check if there was something colorful - panoramas, cats, fruits. I also was keeping in mind other pets, dogs. On the quiet green pathways between private houses, there can be ones, and meeting them isn't always a pleasure even in the big city. Happily, there were only friendly dogs on my way.
I especially liked the top of Ikalto Hill, which is actually a ridge with high-rise buildings on its crest. The same ugly buildings there but the feeling of being above the city, in an island flying in the sky made my spirits high. One of views from there, with distant Tbilisi TV Broadcasting Tower:
Tbilisi TV Broadcasting Tower, a view from Ikaltos Hill, Saburtalo
Below, there is another highlight, Viktor Dolidze Street. A usual Tbilisi street if not the fact it gets bathed in the light of the setting sun (in autumn, at least):
Viktor Dolidze Street
At 17:30, the last sun rays and, then, the sun disappeared behind a high mountain.
Saburtalo is not an old district, not a tourist destination but it's full of another kind of beauty and full of authenticity. I will definitely return there.
All images were taken by me with a Nikkor 70-300mm on a DSLR Nikon D750 in Saburtalo distict, Tbilisi, Georgia on October 25, 2022.
Saburtalo is one of the craziest places to me – there must be some magic behind the general belief that it is a good place to live in 😃
Btw, where in Tbilisi are you based now?
I am in Vake (as a guest, stumari var 🙂). But there is no evening light here because of the mountains behind, better to take images in the morning here but ... I don't want to wake up early these days (I don't want to wake up the host)... So I go to Avlabari by bus or walk to Saburtalo. In Saburtalo they have a hill, Ikaltos Gora, and it stands towards the evening sunlight. So this is what I need.
Such a gorgeous Georgian photo walk! 😊 Some views resemble those of Sofia (especially the residential buildings), but with the exception of the fruits. And at the same time, I know how much Georgia is a preferred travel destination for Western Europeans. Maybe more than Bulgaria.
I hope to get there one day too!
Thank you! :) Never been in Sofia. But Veliko Tarnovo was amazing.
You should visit Georgia - not far from Bulgaria. Batumi, Tbilisi, and Svaneti region (a high mountain valley) are must-visits. If you don't mind having Turkey as a transit country, it's cheap to visit Georgia too - there are buses from Bulgaria to Istanbul and from Istanbul to Batumi / Tbilisi (for example metroturizm.com.tr). I traveled in this way myself :)
Oh, thanks for the pointers and recommendations! You made a wonderful choice with Tarnovo. To some extent, you don't even have to go to the capital. It is not as beautiful as a smaller town can be.
Maybe you were lucky with your trip then, because acquaintances complained about the great chaos and disorder they encountered this year trying to get from Bulgaria to Turkey by bus. But I will keep this route in mind. Thank you! 😊
Wow what a great hike and what excellent photos, the second photo of the cat is epic 😎 and all the others in general, thanks for showing us this place.
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Thank you! The second one is the best, I agree :)
Wow, Thanks for these @x-rain.I've seen now how grapes turn into raisins. It's good in salads, lumpia, and other recipes.
Thank you! But I am not sure that every variety of grapes (like those on my images) turns into the proper raisins. But dry grapes (soaked with rains) anyway is good food for wild birds.
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