T'bilisi Local Customs

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The district of Ortachala is where the bath houses using water from the sulfur springs are. There are several baths in town and most have also private rooms that cater for small groups and couples. I don't know how many there are today, but in the 13th century there were 65 mineral water bath housesin town.

In the past baths had three important functions: hygienic (to wash oneself), medical (to be cured from illnesses) and social (meeting friends and for women checking out prospective wives for their sons).

Today people go there mainly to relax and to have a massage. Watch out in summer - with an outside temperature of about 40C, a hot bath can be a bit of a pain.

Sidenote: some baths turn into brothels at night.

Georgian cuisine is especially unique and is surprisingly diverse. Each regions has its own specialties and almost all of them are represented in Tbilisi. Georgian cooking was seen as the "haute cuisine of the Soviet Union" and while most other republics lacked restaurants and cafes, the Georgians maintained their tradition.
Bakeries dot the city baking fresh bread and khachapuri (cheese pie, see photo at bottom of page) all day long. Despite the vast assortment of eateries the Georgians still pride themselves on home cooking. If one strolls the city on weekends they will find that courtyards and verandahs are full of families surrounding tables with plates of food stacked high. Georgians will spend time eating, enjoying their food and usually supplementing their healthy appetites with large amounts of wine and vodka.Georgians consider their cuisine the best and find it difficult to accept others ( I agree with them) . Due to this, foreign food is fairly difficult to find in Tbilisi.

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GOOD TASTY BREADS

TRY THE LAVASH, THE ROUND ONE

ALSO THE SHOTTI, THE LONG ONE

ALL COOKED IN A TUNA (OVEN)

DON'T FOGET YOUR MORNING KACHAPURI (EXCELLENT CHEESE BRED), A COMPLETE MEAL

Some architecture of buildings are heavily impressed from the east, like the "Turkish Baths".These were multifunctional and a key aspect of daily life

Tbilisi is surprisingly clean. One of the new regimes first actions was to place plenty of litter bins allover the city.

Meat Dumplings. Georgian men often compete to see who can eat the most while drinking beer.This is some sort of Pelmeni or Manti ( in turkish)