Mtatsminda

We drove up to Mtatsminda yesterday, a huge amusement park at the top of one of Tbilisi’s surrounding hills. It felt like we were on top of the world with the wind whipping around us and the huge Mtatsminda tower at eye-level. During communism it was apparently quite the destination spot, complete with everything a playful day could require: amusement park rides, goodies, and a huge fancy restaurant for those more inclined toward that lifestyle. At one point, as you can see from one of the pictures below, Giorgi and Irakly had to keep their babies moving lest they get too agitated. I found this quite amusing and had to get some photos.

Irakly and Teco met us there with Saba and we wandered around the entire park, exclaiming at how nice it was to finally have something new and fun worth visiting in Tbilisi. Walking around the park somehow made me feel like a kid again too and I look forward to the days when we can take Sophie there to play.

We didn’t stay long, however, as the wind was strong and the air was chilly -- it’s been in the 50’s since we’ve been here and we’ve only had a handful of sunny days (so much for all the summer clothes we brought!).

When we headed back down the hill (mountain if you ask a girl from Minnesota), Irakly was in the car a few meters ahead and we saw him put his car in reverse and back up towards us. I wondered what the heck was going on, but Giorgi knew exactly what it was: Irakly knew the spot on the hill where cars rolled uphill and was backing up to get to it to entertain the family. Yes, all of you skeptics out there, you’re thinking exactly what I thought, “yeah, right!” But, indeed, I made Giorgi put our car in neutral many times (yes, from an absolute stop) at the spot in question and sure enough, it rolled in the opposite direction you’d expect, both forward and backward, up the small incline instead of down.

I was flabbergasted, wanting him to do it again and again until I could figure out what the trick was, but he assured me that there was no trick; it was only in this spot where such a thing could happen and only some people know about it now. Hence, some cars honked annoyingly when they saw us slowly rolling backwards or forwards with our hazards on (not of course, in the best spot to stall, as we were on switchbacks, but you do whatever you please in Georgia and others work around you), and others screeched to a halt, trying the same thing (likely having wondered where the spot was but losing it after the roads were rebuilt). As you can imagine, this caused quite the traffic jam! We stayed until the sun went down, so the video is dark, but here’s the spot and the video to prove it (although you might not be able to see the hill as well in the video because I couldn’t get too far away from the car). If anyone has an explanation about why this happens, please send a comment!

The night before our adventure to Mtatsminda, we had dinner with Giorgi’s parents and heard stories of how Tbilisi was in the 60’s and 70’s, when everyone knew one another, you could stop by any neighbor’s house for a good time or a party or just to chat, and communism brought an equality to the people that no longer exists. It sounded like my father’s recollection of the 50’s in the U.S. Utopia. Giorgi and I were hopeful that Mtatsminda’s rebirth might be the beginning of such a rebirth for the entire city into what it once was. Imedi Makvs. I hope so.