Just Tuesday

Today will be just Tuesday, not “Day 90 Tuesday.”  It was quaint while we were in Azerbaijan, but since that is not the case--for now--I think I will drop the counting. It just doesn’t mean anything anymore.

Today is grey, cold, windy and rainy. We hang out in the hotel room as long as we can, almost 2:00, then decide to brave the elements. it is probably about 50 degrees, maybe a little less, and spitting rain as we make our way to the promised land--there is a McDonald’s in this city.


I spent about 20 minutes looking at an online map and feel equal to the task of taking us to McDonald’s. We set out on a little different path than yesterday, only to find out that my first waypoint--the new pedestrian bridge over the river--is not yet open. The security man is courteous and smiles, but speaks no english as he communicates that “this way is closed.” We cross the river at another bridge and after about twenty-five minutes arrive at the second waypoint right were it should be. We are about half-way there, and the weather nor the walk are too bad. There are hundreds of people out and about, so it is not a bad day to be out at all.

The third leg of the walk is the longest, about thirty minutes, but is is along a wide boulevard and must be one of the oldest and grandest streets in the city. The architecture is amazing and beautiful. The sidewalks are wide, and except for Beloved getting a quick shower from a rain gutter downspout, the walk is easy. There are sculptures and artists and fine shops and banks and lots of people, as you might expect in a capital city of 1.5 million people. We are not in Kansas anymore, Toto.


McDonald’s is McDonald’s anywhere in the world--the Big Mac is spot-on and the fries taste just like they do in DesMoines or Lincoln or Tulsa or any other McDonald’s in the world, but it is a familiar taste and I am happy. We end up with ice cream afterwards and totally eat too much, but it is a nice time. We spend about 45 minutes there, then back toward the hotel. 

We decide to go another route, if we can get down to the river then we can get back to the hotel, no problem. We have to walk a little bit out of the way to get there, there are whole blocks of the city that are closed-off because (apparently) of the earthquake. Shattered buildings in various states of destruction or falling down-ness, so they have barricaded the streets. 

Once we get to the river the walk is pleasant and easy. I guess it is spring-cleaning time all over the world, they are working in the gardens and mowing grass and trimming trees. The latter reminds us that we are still in a developing nation... one guy with a chain saw (that is running) is climbing a very steep hill with no rope or fall protection at all. No glasses, no gloves. We watch as he arrives at the tree he is gunning for--the one with the pore tied in the top part of it. Between us and the man with the the chainsaw is a busy four-lane thoroughfare. The tree is about 35 feet up a very steep embankment. The tree is probably 16 inches around at the trunk and 60-70 feet tall and could easily go in the road. There are no orange cones. No flashing lights. Yet, somehow, ignoring all the risk, the tree crashes to the ground and no one was crushed or fell or injured and no cars even slowed down for the show. Beloved and I were the only ones that got to enjoy it, and I didn’t even snap a photo!

We crossed over the river and continued our exploring, always heading in the general direction of the hotel. We ended up at the top of the hill, at the Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi, commonly known as Sameba. It is a fantastic structure, and it’s gold color makes it feel inviting rather than imposing. It is amazing inside, the dome is a little over 200 feet from the floor. The nave is truly soaring. It is not an ancient building, it was completed in 2004, but it is beautifully representative of the region.

Our walk the final fifteen minutes or so is in pretty good rain, so we are wet as we return to the hotel. A little rest, a movie, a little writing and get to bed fairly early, and that was Tuesday. Just Tuesday.