So I finally get close to actually catching up with this thing, and then life has the balls to ramp right back up again and just keep on happening. Lawd. Well, I will try to knock this out, so forgive if perhaps this is a tad light on all the details and witticisms I know you have all come to expect and love.
When we last left our hero, I was still riding the high of my successful solo adventure to Mtskheta the day before, and also was keenly aware that the day, while not lacking in achievements, had in fact been lacking in that one thing I had set out to do -- hiking.
So despite the fact that it looked an awful lot like rain, and Tbilisi has been getting a bunch of that earlier, I packed my essentials in my backpack and headed off to hike Mtatsminda.
Mtatsminda is less a mountain and more a plateau... Narikala Fortress and Kartli Dedas are on this same ridge. But I specifcally wanted to hike up to where the TV tower makes such an impressive display every night.
There are probably no fewer than several dozen paths and roads that wind up various places along this ridge, but I headed for the one I knew -- a path that began just down the street from Betsy's Hotel. The path starts out as stairs and pavement, but that soon falls away to a much more Georgian experience. Paths crisscross and switchback all across the mountainside, making it hard to follow one direct route but easy to continue while making the right choice for you regarding difficulty.
Because there was no one around to stop me, I soon got bored with all the switchbacks and decided to take one of the trails that pretty much went straight UP. This was tough going and I was glad when my "extreme" path crossed one of the slightly less steep ones again! After little less than half an hour I made it into the pine trees.
And after only a few minutes more (why are mountains always uphill???) I could check one more thing off my Georgia bucket list. Made it to the tower!
I'd heard there was a mostly-abandoned park at the top of Mtatsminda (where you see the ferris wheel up in the top picture), so I shimmied under a very cursory fence and went to have a look around. Only to find that the mostly-abandoned park was in fact packed with Georgians! True, something like 95% of the rides, shops, and restaurants were closed and falling apart, but that didn't stop the Georgians from having a day at an amusement park, dammit. I sat at a picnic table and ate my cheeseburger picnic I'd picked up at the McDonald's below. All these people were messing with my solitary zen, so I headed out again without staying too long.
When I finally reached the bottom again, I stopped into the beer garden next to the Rustaveli McDonald's, had some refreshment, and read while Tbilisi had its daily afternoon rainstorm.
Pretty damn sweet for a Sunday afternoon.
When we last left our hero, I was still riding the high of my successful solo adventure to Mtskheta the day before, and also was keenly aware that the day, while not lacking in achievements, had in fact been lacking in that one thing I had set out to do -- hiking.
So despite the fact that it looked an awful lot like rain, and Tbilisi has been getting a bunch of that earlier, I packed my essentials in my backpack and headed off to hike Mtatsminda.
Mtatsminda is less a mountain and more a plateau... Narikala Fortress and Kartli Dedas are on this same ridge. But I specifcally wanted to hike up to where the TV tower makes such an impressive display every night.
There are probably no fewer than several dozen paths and roads that wind up various places along this ridge, but I headed for the one I knew -- a path that began just down the street from Betsy's Hotel. The path starts out as stairs and pavement, but that soon falls away to a much more Georgian experience. Paths crisscross and switchback all across the mountainside, making it hard to follow one direct route but easy to continue while making the right choice for you regarding difficulty.
Because there was no one around to stop me, I soon got bored with all the switchbacks and decided to take one of the trails that pretty much went straight UP. This was tough going and I was glad when my "extreme" path crossed one of the slightly less steep ones again! After little less than half an hour I made it into the pine trees.
And after only a few minutes more (why are mountains always uphill???) I could check one more thing off my Georgia bucket list. Made it to the tower!
I'd heard there was a mostly-abandoned park at the top of Mtatsminda (where you see the ferris wheel up in the top picture), so I shimmied under a very cursory fence and went to have a look around. Only to find that the mostly-abandoned park was in fact packed with Georgians! True, something like 95% of the rides, shops, and restaurants were closed and falling apart, but that didn't stop the Georgians from having a day at an amusement park, dammit. I sat at a picnic table and ate my cheeseburger picnic I'd picked up at the McDonald's below. All these people were messing with my solitary zen, so I headed out again without staying too long.
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| Bird's-eye view of beautiful Tbilisi |
When I finally reached the bottom again, I stopped into the beer garden next to the Rustaveli McDonald's, had some refreshment, and read while Tbilisi had its daily afternoon rainstorm.
Pretty damn sweet for a Sunday afternoon.
Better you'd continue to Narikala Fortress from the top of Mtastsminda - that is really solo trail with most amazing views...
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