Tbilisi on Film: Old Town Balconies, Sulfur Baths and Wine

Field notes from a life in transit ● currently: Tbilisi, Georgia

Tbilisi

13 frames · 1 to 12 September 2026

Tbilisi, balconies leaning into the light

Tbilisi looks like it was built by people who loved wood and never threw anything away. The old town is carved balconies leaning at angles that would worry an engineer, vines over every courtyard, cats on every step. One morning started in a bakery at dawn, watching shoti bread slapped against the inside of a round clay oven.

The sulfur baths in Abanotubani smell exactly as you fear and feel better than you hope. At the Dry Bridge market I found Soviet cameras, medals and a bust of someone nobody wanted to claim. At golden hour I rode the funicular up Mtatsminda. Evenings were khinkali, a supra with long toasts, and amber wine from a qvevri cellar. Georgians are generous. Pace yourself.

Field notes · Tbilisi

Photograph the old town balconies in Sololaki and around Betlemi Street in late afternoon, when side light picks out the carved wood.
The Dry Bridge flea market runs most days but is fullest on weekends; go in the morning, before the sun gets high and harsh.
Book a private room at the Abanotubani bathhouses for an hour, and photograph the brick domes from the street above in early light.
Eat khinkali by hand, holding the knot, try shotis puri from a basement bakery, and give Tbilisi four days using the cheap metro and taxis.