We were dragging a bit barely functional when we finally got onto the airplane for Tbilisi,
and everyone got some rest.
Our flight arrived at Tbilisi at 3am. Looking out the window of the airplane, we could see the city lights, but we had no idea what it was like on the ground.
As Kirsten drove us from the airport to her home (yes, she picked us up at 3am!), we could see Tbilisi landmarks all around, blazing with spotlights. The moving lights on the TV tower take up 140 kilowatts per hour alone. We were so tired we didn't take any pictures, unfortunately.
Kirsten actually got up and went to work but we tried to follow her treatment for jetlag: get up the next day as close to your actual waking time in the destination country as possible, then push through the day to a normal bed time. We managed to get up at noon, but it mostly worked for us anyway. The kids even had some energy to play in Kirsten's back yard.
After Kirsten came home from work, we went over to central Tbilisi, where the Peace Bridge was opened about a year ago. It spans the Kura River, and it connects old Tbilisi with a newly-built park, and the side of the river that contains the new presidential palace. This is what it looks like crossing the bridge from the old Tbilisi side:
If you look across the river from old Tbilisi you can see the new presidential palace in the background. It's the one with the big blue glass egg-shaped dome.
And on the other side, facing back towards Old Tbilisi:
The park on the other side is huge, and obviously new - in fact, it had been open only a week or two by the time of our visit. It has some cool structures and water features.
The water features includes dancing fountains, set to music (the fountain is cool, but so are the stairs behind it). Cielo made this little movie:
After crossing back over to old Tbilisi, the kids took a break near the caravanserai that's right there near the base of the bridge.
