"Gamarjoba!" a Georgia Travel Page by Minashka

Tbilisi is the capital of Georgia. Georgia is one of the south Caucasus republics along with Azerbaijan and Armenia. At one point Tbilisi was considered the culture capital of the Caucasus. The town has much history and the amazing architecture is just another proof for it. Just like most of the former Soviet capitals, Tbilisi is also full of statues and monuments. Another reminder of the Soviet times is the old trolley-buses. But they only add more character and still are quite useful. While downtown Tbilisi reminds you of the European capitals, the outskirts of town are the true remnants of the Soviet era. But nothing can spoil the city’s charm and the river that cuts through it protects the old town from the outside world. What I most love about Tbilisi, however, is the fact that it is surrounded by beautiful nature. If you get tired from the noise of the town, it is only gonna take you 10 minutes to reach a lake or another landscape. Tbilisi was built on a hill so it offers a great view of the city should you just walk up to one of the high points. The view is truly mesmerizing and makes you fall in love with Tbilisi right away.

I love Georgians. They can only fall behind Chechens in their deep patriotism. During Soviet times when Russian was the official language in all of the 15 republics, Georgia sustained the power of its native language and had fewer all-Russian schools. It’s a very proud nation and has every right to it. I consider Stalin to be the most famous (or should I say infamous) representative of this nation to this day and of course there was Beria too.

I have been to Georgia around 7 times and most of my time was spent in Tbilisi. I always felt at home there but the only thing that would make me uncomfortable is the "smoking thing". It's like almost everyone smokes and of course it's in their blood to drink wine. Wine is such a big part of the culture that it's impossible to imagine a "sofra" (feast) without it. And no feast would be complete without the "tamada" - the MC as you may call it. Tamadas sit at the head of the table and say toasts. Noone is allowed to say a toast without tamada's permission. And one more thing I must mention about the Georgians is their love for singing. I love it when men get up in the middle of the sofra and start singing with their beautiful masculine voices. Oh and how can I forget to say that Georgians are very stylish people!!!