Second Weekend in Tbilisi

Second Weekend in Tbilisi: Small Distances, Not-so-small Questions

This is my second weekend in Tbilisi, and I am still discovering the city — slowly, attentively.

What surprised me most this time is how geographically small it actually is. It’s one of those realizations that only comes with movement and repetition: walking the same streets again, orienting yourself without a map, noticing how quickly one neighborhood blends into another. Somehow, I hadn’t noticed this during my first visit to Sakartvelo.

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Being in a new place always sharpens awareness of what matters to you.

Here, I find that the things important to me are not always easy to find. I did manage to get incense sticks — there wasn’t much variety, but at least I have some. The search for herbs for tea continues. Interestingly, I learned about a factory that used to be the main producer of herbs more than thirty years ago. Their shop should be found in the supermarket in Rustavi.

There are small victories, too. I found the first place offering specialty coffee—check.

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Today I learned that one of the main plastic recycling plants is only about a twenty-minute drive from home in Rustavi.

Plastic, however, remains troubling. It is the kind of trash that never truly disappears. Even recycling it is far from perfect. Most likely, at some point, humanity will have to figure out how to stop using plastic altogether — or at least eliminate it on a commercial scale. Until then, all that remains is damage control: limiting the amount that ends up in landfills, or worse, on streets and in parks. That raises a question I keep returning to — where does respect for our surroundings begin, and where does littering stop? And perhaps more importantly, can an individual actually change that?

The contrast between places and seasons has been striking. Back home, I’ve been seeing photos of enormous ice blocks being pulled from deep-frozen waterways — weeks of cold below −20 °C. Here, I’m enjoying warm spring sunlight, interrupted only by the occasional snowfall. Spring and snow coexist with rain and gentle weather.

I’m grateful I had the chance to go on a proper snowy hike just before coming here. And I’m equally grateful to feel the warmth arriving now. The spring sun signals the waking of nature: the first blooms, the first flowers, the quiet promise of growth.

It makes me wonder — is there space for gardening here?

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