Tbilisi

I’m a sucker for Tbilisi. My infatuation is no doubt driven by the fact I spent nearly four years of my life here. But I wouldn’t have stayed if I hadn’t been enjoying myself. If Baku is oil and caviar, Tbilisi is wine and romance. The Georgians are famous for their wine (which has a high percentage of vitamin P!) and their capital is simply magic.

Tbilisi is built on a valley, and a river runs along the bottom, splitting the city in two. Walking the cobbled streets, I sometimes feel I’ve fallen into a cartoon. The buildings lean at odd angles, pastel-colored plaster crumbles from walls, paint flakes off the lace-like balcony railings, and towering over it all stands a blocky metal statue of a woman holding a sword in one hand and a bowl in the other. It’s the Mother of Georgia, and the bowl of wine is for her friends and the sword for her enemies. When I first arrived here, five years ago, every Georgia would point her out and tell me the story, but no one could tell me about the much lovelier ruined fortress next door to her – the 11th century Narikala fortress, to be precise.