This one might get kind of long – you’ve been warned!
After waking up, we headed up to the top floor of the Sheraton Tbilisi for the breakfast buffet which was included…and huge! Lots of fresh local fruit – apricots, cherries, etc, and all perfectly in season. Combined with other food, it was enough to fuel a long morning of walking around Tbilisi.
Headed out of the hotel, and the first stop was the Holy Trinity Cathedral. Built in 2002, this is one of the largest Orthodox Churches in the world. We were lucky that being Sunday, there was a service going on. Despite studying in the USSR years ago, I’d never been to an Orthodox church service, and certainly not a Georgian Orthodox one. It was fascinating to me to spend time in there, and in retrospect I wish we’d stayed a bit longer. It was just one of those really authentic local moments that I really enjoy when traveling.
After the Cathedral we made our way down to the river, across a bridge, and took a view up the hill/mountain on the south side of the city. We wandered through Old Tbilisi, and took a look up the hill towards Narkala Fortress which we planned to visit after lunch. Continue reading »