redpillme on Georgia, I'm hooked on these bald and bankrupt style trips after I've spent couple weeks throughout the Baltics and discovered how comfy these ex soviet republics are. How's Tbilisi? I know that the food is good and the nightlife is lively but I'm eager to know the small details that only who's been there knows
Georgian, can helpTbilisi is very unevenly developed city, Vake district is much closer to small european cities in baltic states like Estonia with bus and bike lanes marble pavement and modern cafes and shit, Rustaveli and Marjanishvili have a lot of historical buildings but are tourist trappy as well, Saburtalo is commie block lifestyle but managable, Varketili and Gldani etc. and commie block life but hell mode with constant dust and dirt and underdeveloped infrastructure. The way these parts of city intertwine into each other also often feels like you take one step from a nice street and next thing you know is you are next to buildings that are falling apart.Georgia is naturally very varied, subtropical coastal jungle area, temperate central forests, alpic zone, high altitude zone, desert etc. so when you stay in Georgia it is much preferable to stay 3-4 days max in city unless you have a local friend that can show you around more. In the city you would>spend a day exploring medieval old town and castle, eating in old style restaurants like chashnagiri, going to medieval sulfur baths>spend going around rustaveli, orbeliani, marjanishvili, mtatsminda park, checking out 19th century buildings and stuff, eating at a place like salobiebia >spend a day in more newer downtown districts like vake as well as going to commie block parts of town where people actually live, maybe trying some fusion food and interesting takes on georgian food like tamtaki or veriko or something>maybe a day extra if you like specifically night life, go to clubs like khidi and basiani After that you would explore insane nature, and architecutre of roman medieval commie etc towns. Drive to explore mtskheta and armazi where christianity was preached first, go to caucasus mountain range insane peaks at kazbegi, go to dashbashi canyon, go to Kakheti wine region etc.Since country is small most of these can be done as a day trip if you go out with a car early in the morning.
Negative things to know if you plan to move to Georgia for a slightly more extended period of time>City does not communicate with citizens in a straightforward way, there might be an upcoming renovation of a street that will cause power outages for the day and you might not get any prior warning>Many apartments don't have AC but it is absolutely necessary in summer>Prices are constantly rising because of foreign interest, it is still overall cheaper than even cheapest Europe but only if you account everything, for example imported food like spaghetti and different type of fish can be straight up more expensive than Germany, but local Bazar food ingredients will be 5 to 6 times cheaper >Very hard to find good apartment renovators or anyone that is a craftsman or electrician, you need to use apps like Profy that have reliable people but it's overpriced>Sometimes hard to order online stuff because you need to go through hoops, basically you register in an intermediary delivery service because websites like amazon don't directly deliver to Georgia>Georgians are bipolar, some of them are the most insanely generous gigachad people willing to give their last thing to help you, others are lazy pieces of shit constantly trying to nickel and dime you while putting in minimum effort, no in-between
>>2688419Tbilisi gets shilled a lot, for good reason, but I don't think it's really my kind of cityPros>low cost of living>amazing food>unique culture and history>strong expat scene>visa policy (this is a huge pro)Cons>shitty infrastructure in many parts of the city>air quality >location (you'll pretty much have to fly to Istanbul to get anywhere)>lack of good supermarketsSafety is another issue. Georgia is safe, but there is always that chance that russia decides to chimp out and steal clay again. I think it's a great place to visit, but as a nomad, I prefer to live elsewhere
>>2688612With supermarkets it is very disjointed, but I will give an advice on how I shop for price optimization>Veggies, fruits, spices and sauces, milk products as well as whole chicken at Deserter's bazaar>Beef, precut chicken and pork at a local butcher >Bread just buy at local Toni, they often even make whole grain shoti bread, it is called Kato bread (Kato puri)>For expensive and marbled meat go for Blaunstein shops>For more fancy yogurts and non standard cheeses and milk products find Aria shops>For quick every day grocery go to Libre or 2 Nabiji, they are cheap and have nice loyalty cards>If you really need something like some type of spaghetti or European specific products go to Europroduct and AgrohubThere very western idea of buying all of your groceries in one place exists in Georgia, but it will be inefficient and overpriced. Quality of food and how cheap it is will be a lot better if you follow my general guide.
>>2688619The supermarket thing really fucked with me at first. It's a pain in the ass to go to a butcher, a fruit and vegetable seller, and a mini market. I couldn't even find a real butcher in my neighborhood, so I was living off frozen chicken breasts from the mini market for protein.
>>2688625What part of town were you in?
>>26886302 months split between Vake and Rustaveli. I know there are butchers in these areas, but it they were all in the wrong locations for me. I would walk to my gym and pick up groceries on the way back home. It's gay to have to walk 10 or 15 minutes in some other direction just to get some meat. Especially if this direction involves a hill, and you've got to lug a full backpack of groceries up a steep hill (yes I know bolt exists but I prefer to walk for groceries). Rustaveli in particular had an insanely steep hill that I did my best to avoid.
>>2688635Maybe, that's another thing that I am by default used to.I've lived extensively in both Georgia and abroad (Germany, Spain, UK) For me walking uphill is very normal, in fact generally walking anywhere for 5 to 15 minutes is normal, I once for fun checked average steps per day that friends my age do per day and we all had 10 to 20kI think it is one of those issues that might never get fully resolved because most of the local people who do meal prepping are okay with walking up and down let and right in their district
>>2688637it's not just about being hilly. I don't think that's necessarily a con about a city. some hills are much worse than others in Tbilisi, though, especially if you're carrying 20-30kg of groceries (I was also buying water at the mini market, although I'm sure locals have a better and cheaper system where they can get big jugs of water delivered to their homes)
>>2688640Most people don't buy water, because one of the leftovers from soviet infrastructure is that Georgia has very high levels of water sanitation and purity. If you have a new house or renovated piping you are basically perfect and can just drink from tap with zero issue.In case of old piping you can install a local filter on or under your sink to filter potential sediment from your local pipes.That being said, genuinely local people don't buy water for home, it's purely a tourist thing.
>>2688644weird, I heard the exact opposite, and that tap water in Georgia was contaminated with something. I was just in Colombia and, at least in Medellín, the locals pride themselves on their clean tap water
>>2688651Nope, must have been missinformed >https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_supply_and_sanitation_in_Georgia#:~:text=Service%20quality-,Drinking%20water%20quality,fails%20to%20meet%20state%20standards.You can try to follow sources here. I have this oddly specific information because my relative worked in GWP. Water sanitation quality in the system especially in Vake after new major piping overhaul under chavchavadze 2 years ago is legitimately very high quality. The issues arise mainly if local apartment complex piping system is not renovated which happens often in 1910s to Stalinka era complexes.Georgia has a weird semi libertarian system where most of apartment complexes are not run by companies but by a local self elected collective called amkhamagoba with very little government standards and prohibitions, so the apartment complex not falling apart literally depends on the people living there collecting their own personal money through amlhanagoba to upkeep the apartment building. Issue is that of course no one wants to pay or has money, instead usually issues reach a point until it's dangerous and then they finally get resolved. The city council kind of benefits from this arrangement because inevitably these old apartments from early 20th century fall apart and they can be bought out, leveled and destroyed, and replaced with new ones by major monopolist building companies.
Bump
>>2688509>Tbilisi is very unevenly developed cityI got my license with one of the guys outside Avlabari station.If you can drive in Tbilisi, you can drive anywhere.
can you receive say, chinkshit packages in tbilisi? what's the process for mail that's maybe too big for mailbox?
>>2688419we hate americans stay home
>>2689861that's weird. I was just in Tbilisi and I saw pro EU, American, and Ukrainian sentiment everywhere. they really hate russians though
>>2689863You probably can't go a single city block without seeing a NATO flag or stencil. They even have George W. Bush Street when you go to the airport.
>>2689865>ignoring how NATO has been trying to mess with georgian democracy and blocking a bill that tells where foreign funding for news comes from
>>2689867You stole a fifth of their land, Ivan. They hate you. They like based Westerners
>>2689858Yeah you can, there is normal delivery but it takes A bit longer
>>2689865George W Bush street exists because Bush was actually the first US president to visit Georgia in person There was even an attempt at his life made funnily enough but the grenade was a dud
>>2689858temu and Alibaba have default home delivery through Georgian postAmazon and US deliveries go through either usa2georgia or camex depending on which you prefer
>>2689865>revisionist american history
>>2689889If there is anything that Georgians dislike west about, it's that west tried to flirt with Russia for two decades when west was strong and Russia was weak instead of ensuring all the soviet intelligence agencies would get fully destroyed, to prevent exactly what is going on now
>>2689889please tell me what is revisionist in that comment? Is there not a George W. Bush Street in Tbilisi? Is Tbilisi not covered in NATO flags and graffiti? I lived there for six months btw
>>2689895explain why georgian dream won
>>2689896Because they were the most neutral party with large funding that also wasn't Saakashvili that many have personal negative experiences withBut the party became openly pro Russian only after war started in Ukraine, so it is yet to be seen if they will be reelected
>>2689896The government is extremely corrupt, but I understand the logic. russia is pointing a gun to Georgia's head. Georgia has a population of less than 4 million. The government goes against the wishes of the majority of the population so russia doesn't do what it normally does, which is steal clay. The people really do hate russia.
>>2689901>wins majority of vote>but people hate russiawhen the US gets nuked i will smile
>>2689904Walk around Tbilisi. Talk with the locals. I've been there, and it's obvious you haven't.
>>2689904This is a schizo chang who rants about the US in every thread and talks about how much he hates the United States.
>>2689904Guess you missed the Tbilisi protests a couple months ago. They don't seem too fond of Russia in Tbilisi
>>2689871>You stole a fifth of their land, Ivan. They hate you. They like based WesternersYour interpretation of that anon is quite correct.t. spent a lot of time in Georgia
>>2689907>I've been there, and it's obvious you haven't.You're probably arguing with a vatnik that is in Tbilisi right now, pretending they aren't running from mobilisation while they repost propaganda.
