Georgia Day 2 - #ByaheNgKokobears

Good day Creatives, another day, another blog! Hehe

Let’s check out our 2nd day itinerary.

8 AM – Around 8:30 actually nag extend hehe – Breakfast in the Hotel

10 AM – Left the hotel and started walking to Varketili Metro Station. This is around 5-10 minutes from our hotel, about 2 blocks away we need to walk upwards towards this area.

Rode the metro, about 6-7 stops.(Stopped at Rustaveli)

Iveria Inn to Kvarts Caffe

* Walk to Varketili Metro
* Rustaveli Metro
* ⁠Walk 11 mins

Kvarts Caffe to St. Peter & St Paul

* Walk back to Rustaveli Metro (11mins)
* ⁠Marjanishvili Metro
* ⁠Walk 9 Mins

Walk around the streets of Tbilisi, stopped for an ice cream and bathroom break ^^
Visited the trending cafe – Kvarts Cafe. This has been trending in UAE for those visiting Georgia because the cafe has a dedicated artist that will capture you – in an artwork on their cups. She will draw you on the spot for 10-15 mins and you get to keep it with you! :) Unfortunately when we visited, the cafe was already packed with 1-1.5 hours waiting in line to be drawn. So what we did was we just sat there for a while, enjoyed the little underground cafe, observed the people waiting, took photos and videos of the available artworks and left.Nevertheless it was still a good experience. A kabayan couple was there and just finished their cup’s artwork when we left. Indeed an instagramable place and art.

L-R – Evening of our arrival, we walked around the are and saw a chapel nearby. 2nd Photo: A monument in Old Tbilisi city but no description. 3rd Pic – On the streets of Tbilisi with paintings & souvenir shops.

12 NN – We continued walking around, took photos of the streets, stopped in some benches along the road, sat down and just felt the city, old city vibes.

2 PM – Lost our way and took 1 more metro from Liberty Square MS to the exact train. Another walking but never tiring coz the place looks nice. I feel alive walking in a foreign street seeing people who look so different from me. ;) As we exited the Metro Station, we bought white flowers to offer to Mama Mary.

3 PM – We found the church! The church is called St. Peter and St. Paul Cathedral. A small church that reminds me of my childhood church in Pardo. Once we reached a mass was ongoing. We believed it was in Georgian and in Eastern rights because the whole time almost 90% of the time the priest is facing the altar.

4 PM – We went outside the church and waited for the 5 PM mass.

5 PM – A Bucket List Mass: The Latin Mass Experience

This was more than just another mass—this was an unexpected and profound encounter with God.

As an expat attending a Latin Mass, I had tempered my expectations due to the language barrier. I knew the Liturgy of the Word would be in Russian, while the rites would be in Latin. To prepare, Koko and I did two things to help us follow along:

We read the day’s Gospel in advance to understand the context.
We brought a Latin-English Mass guide to keep track of where we were during the service.

I anticipated it would be just another typical mass, similar to those where we’ve struggled to understand priests due to accents or sound issues. But to my surprise, God revealed Himself in this foreign place, in a language unfamiliar to me, in a way I hadn’t expected.

There was a slight uneasiness at the beginning, (Continue Reading here)

This mass, in a foreign land and language, unexpectedly became one of the most profound encounters with God I’ve ever experienced.

* * *

6:30– PM After the mass we walk back to the nearest Metro and looked for Team Pira’s suggested restaurant – Stelzenhaus.

St. Peter & St. Paul to Stelzenhuas

* Walk back to Marjanishvili Metro
* ⁠Liberty Square Metro
* ⁠Walk 13 Mins.

We’ve reached Stelzenhaus and ordered pork and chicken with rice :) and a glass of wine. The price here is doubled compared to Nikala’s Yard. Probably because the place is situated in the touristy area of downtown Tbilisi where we did our City walk. Not really a happy tummy.

9 PM After that we used the taxi booking app BOLT to as it was starting to rain again.

That’s it for day 2 creatives!

Catholic Mass in Georgia 🇬🇪, Artsy Coffee Shop by JM Kayne 💚 – YouTube