Day 29 — my last day in Tbilisi. My ride to the airport is expected to pick me up at 3 AM, so I won’t see daylight in Tbilisi until I’m in the air. The last day of a long stay has a specific rhythm: you’re still here, but you’re already leaving. Every action carries a weight of finality.

I cooked breakfast to burn through the remaining food — eggs, the last of the bread, whatever vegetables were still alive in the fridge. Then I spent the morning cleaning the apartment. I ended up with three small bags of trash. The physical residue of 29 days: receipts, packaging, coffee grounds, the paper trail of a life lived in a borrowed kitchen.

🌳 The Park Bench

After the cleaning, I went to sit at the park for a while — Giorgi Leonidze Park, where I’d rested after the museum day. I wanted to reflect on the past 30 days. So many adventures. So many nice and kind people. So many majestic views. Tbilisi had given me the Chronicles of Georgia, the rainbow mountains of David Gareji, the silent sanctuary of Bodbe, the candlelit Conservatoire, the turquoise waters of Martvili, and the cavernous wonder of Prometheus. It gave me sulfur baths and khinkali, churchkhela and kakhetian wine, random encounters and meditative moments.

And then a beggar came asking for money. I handed him 2 GEL and he walked away. That’s a common theme here, especially with the elderly — pensioners whose state support doesn’t stretch far enough, selling their dignity one lari at a time. Georgia’s beauty and Georgia’s hardship exist in the same frame. You can’t have the full picture without both.

I had hoped to see the violin woman — the one who plays for hours on a bench, no case open for tips, no audience expected. But the park was empty. Some encounters can’t be scheduled. She had been the perfect prelude to the Candlelight Concert on Day 27, and I wanted to thank her with another moment of silent appreciation. Maybe she’ll be there tomorrow. But I won’t.

I put on my AirPods and turned on Spotify. Nessun Dorma — “None shall sleep.” Pavarotti’s voice filled the empty park. I am, after all, headed to Italy next. The next song was Canon in D — perhaps appropriate. I have fallen in love with Georgia, and perhaps a marriage is in order? Not to a person. To a place. A commitment to return, to not let this be the last time, to honour what these 29 days have been.

🍜 The Last Pho

I was contemplating my last lunch and Pho Bo seemed about right. A chill has entered the atmosphere here on my final day — autumn announcing itself, as if the city knew I was leaving and wanted to give me one more taste of the weather that defined my first weeks here. I headed over and ordered my final chicken pho — 21.90 GEL. It ended up being my last meal for the day. A bowl of Vietnamese soup in a Georgian food court, eaten by a Texan headed to Italy. If that’s not the 21st century, I don’t know what is.

I’m headed to bed early. I need to rise at 2:00 AM to head to the airport. That’s the drawback of being sandwiched between Asia and Europe — the flights in and out are at odd hours. Tomorrow is a transition day. But tonight is the last night in Tbilisi, and I want to close it with a full night’s sleep and the satisfaction of a city well explored.

By the Numbers

Item	GEL	EUR (≈)
Beggar	2.00	€0.68
Pho Bo (final chicken pho)	21.90	€7.45
Total	23.90	€8.13