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The Avlabari quarter is just across the river from Old Tbilisi. It's the next stop on the metro after Freedom Square, and its underground platform greets riders with a smell of rotten eggs (eeewww!) from the nearby sulfur baths (ooohhh).
The approach to Old Tbilisi from Avlabari, walking down "Wine Rise" at a perilous 30 degree angle towards King Vakhtang, offers more money shots, both at night and during the day, than the tree-capped view coming down from the Dunkin' Donuts on Freedom Square. Avlabari is Tbilisi's La Rive Gauche, home to the glass-domed Presidential Palace, the gold-domed Holy Trinity Cathedral, and a mom-and-pop convenience store where I used English, Russian, and Georgian to purchase homemade red wine in a re-used, two-liter, plastic soda bottle that came from under the counter. |
It's also noted for its wooden and wrought iron balconies, which I had fun taking pictures of one Sunday morning.
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Now is the time for all good men
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