Ashes in the Light

During our stay in Tbilisi, we spent a lot of time simply wandering.

Of course, there were landmarks we wanted to see.

Liberty Square.
The Clock Tower.
The Bridge of Peace.

But looking back, I don’t think it was the attractions themselves that stayed with me.

It was everything in between.

By then, we had settled into a comfortable rhythm.

No rushing.

No strict itinerary.

Just a rough list of places we wanted to see and plenty of room in between.

And I think that was when the city slowly began to reveal itself.

We spent the day wandering through different parts of Tbilisi, following streets that seemed to lead somewhere interesting before branching off into completely unexpected directions.

Some attractions stood out.

Others less so.

But somehow, the city itself became the highlight.

One of our first stops was Liberty Square.

To be honest, there isn’t a great deal to say about it as a visitor.

At its heart sits a large roundabout crowned by the golden statue of Saint George.

Cars flowed steadily around it while people hurried across the surrounding streets.

It felt more like a landmark you pass through than one you spend time at.

Still, it served as a useful point of reference as we continued exploring the city.

Later, we made our way to the famous Clock Tower.

I think this was one of those places where expectations played a part.

Having previously visited Prague, I couldn’t help making comparisons.

The tower itself was charming, quirky even, with its slightly crooked appearance and whimsical design.

But the viewing area was quite small, and when we arrived it felt crowded with visitors all waiting for the clock to perform.

Even so, I appreciated how different it felt from the grand monuments we had seen elsewhere.

It wasn’t trying to be impressive.

It simply had its own character.

And somehow, that suited Tbilisi.

We eventually found ourselves at the Bridge of Peace.

Unlike much of Old Tbilisi, the bridge felt distinctly modern.

Its curved glass-and-steel structure stretched across the river, standing in sharp contrast to the older buildings surrounding it.

I later learned that its construction sparked quite a bit of debate because of how modern it appeared within such a historic part of the city.

Standing there, I could understand both perspectives.

It looked completely different from everything around it.

Yet somehow, it worked.

But if I’m being honest, what I remember most from that day wasn’t Liberty Square, the Clock Tower, or even the Bridge of Peace.

It was everything in between.

The narrow streets.

The uneven paths.

The old balconies.

The occasional staircase that seemed determined to send us uphill again.

The cafés tucked into unexpected corners.

The feeling of wandering without needing to know exactly where we were going.

I think that was when Tbilisi finally started to make sense to me.

Not through its landmarks.

But through its atmosphere.

Through the quiet moments between destinations.

Through the streets we hadn’t planned to walk down.

And through the small discoveries we would never have found if we had been rushing from one attraction to the next.

Sometimes a city reveals itself through its famous sights.

Tbilisi, I think, revealed itself in the spaces between them.

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