We emerged into the soft dusk of our first evening in Tbilisi quite tentatively. It had been a long while since breakfast on the plane and whilst our lives don’t revolve around food... it’s fair to say we’re foodies and as ‘food’ happens three times a day... it orbits our lives.

It’s been a long while since we’ve had access to Thai food and, (as it’s one of Australia’s national dishes), we were keen. With a recommendation in hand from our house-sit owners, we tootled about 10 minutes away (felt like 30) to a family run joint called ‘Thai Curry’. I know right? Disappointing. No ‘Thai Me Up’ or ‘Thai Me Down’, ‘Thai Tanic’ or ‘Thai Terrific’. Maybe it just wouldn’t translate. Speaking of. If you ever think to yourself Spanish, French, Romanian, Italian are incomprehensible - go and take a look at something written in Georgian. As languages go it is one that bears no relationship to any other - suis generis or in a class of it’s own. It’s so daunting that the Google Translate app can’t work its black magic on it and I’ve been reduced to hoping signs are also written in Russian (quite common) as I can instantly translate that with a phone. Can take a minute though - we were in the spice section the other day and it took a couple of seconds to confirm it meant Ground Cinnamon and not Ground Hedgehog.

Now it’s not all been Thai food since we arrived (admittedly 2 nights out of six isn’t bad). Our first morning in the apartment James went out to hunt for breakfast before we moved to another tower of the same building for our housesit. He came back with quintessential comfort food (and Georgians really like their comfort food... hmmmm bread...). Khachapuri can come with various fillings, but he went for a breakfast standard - egg & cheese. Whilst stumbling about upstairs wondering how the contents of one overnight bag could have travelled so far over one night, I did wonder also if he’d been taken by white slave traders - as the shop was downstairs and he’d been gone 30 minutes. Turns out our shared Khachapuri was made from scratch and baked fresh. It all made perfect sense and we shared the luscious result. One between two seems a perfect serving if you’re planning to eat anything else in a day.

We eventually departed our one night oasis and toted the bags down a flight of stairs from 7th to 6th. Then got into the lift. Then got off on level 1 when the lift stopped and toted the bags down the final stairs to ground. Stopped on ground to catch our breaths and review the correct method for CPR. With the kind help of our booking agency apartment man, we hauled the baggages the short (huge) distance just to the other end of the building only to find, you guessed it, we needed to haul the bags up the stairs from ground level to 1st. Into the elevator, off at Level 6 then up the stairs to Level 7. Our housesit hosts are off to Asia with roughly a fifth of our luggage... but it’s not forever, it’s not for winter and their lives aren’t in their bags. As it turns out 110% mobility and fitness is a requirement for existence in gorgeous Tbilisi - just to cross the main avenue involves going down 20+ stairs, walking under the road then up 20+ stairs to get to the other side. Suffice it to say chickens do not cross the road in this town.

We are enjoying the local weather - more or less the same temperatures as southern Spain - but feels cooler, less humid and definitely cooler over night. And so far, no vicious, man eating bugs. So that’s good. In theory it means we can sit with our 7th floor balcony windows open, enjoy the view (pictured) and the drifting sound of bands busking from the main street as the sun sets. Actually did do that for a couple of nights as our little kitten was allowed to roam about the 7th floor drain pipes and balconies. Whilst heart stopping to watch - she was apparently OK doing it. We say ‘was’ advisedly. On Saturday afternoon she went out for a jaunt and then didn’t come back. For 6 hours. We were whistling and calling and looking over the edge - desperately hoping she hadn’t gone down a drainpipe or fallen to the ground. James went down to ground level to look around - no luck. Went next door to speak to the elderly Georgian lady (with a photo of the kitten) - at about the 5 hour mark. Apparentlly hadn’t seen her. At the six hour mark (reviewing the CPR - again) - we walked down 5 flights of stairs and found her cowering in a corner in the dark. We can only presume she cruised along from our balcony to the neighbours, wandered into the lady’s apartment, got shut in then got unceremoniously chucked out the front door. Definitely not a cat person it seems. So all is well that ends well - but no more open windows for us unless she has a bit of quality time shut in the bedroom. Ah well - another 2-3 weeks the weather will be cooling down and we’ll enjoy the warmth inside.

Whilst bonding with little Houdini has been taking up some time, we’ve had plenty of walks through the heart of Tbilisi and even made it to the Dry Bridge Market - flea market extraordinaire, with all manner of fleas for sale - including my official jewellery souvenir of Tbilisi - a ring which got to come home with us. The one item that has however eluded us so far is a fabric badge/patch to sew on our bags. Good to have a purpose when we’re out and about.

Plans for the forthcoming week? The Georgian National Museum is a short walk down the road and air conditioned - so that is on the list. Basically chilling out for 2-3 weeks of warm weather then we’re launching into exploration mode - Old Tbilisi, the sulphur baths, a city walking tour, the funicular up one hill, the cable car up another to the old fortress... and even a couple of day trips. Now that I’ve said all that - the cool weather better arrive sooner rather than later.