Commute

Trevor's been requesting pictures of my morning walk to work. My camera battery was dying this morning so I only got a few shots, and it's super gloomy in Tbilisi right now, so the walk looks even more grim and post-communist than usual. It's really quite pleasant, except for the exhaust fumes.
I avoid exhaust fumes on one stretch of my walk by cutting through the parking lot behind a row of depressing Soviet-era apartment buildings via this alley. As a bonus, there are usually several stray cats, and in the afternoon there are usually couples canoodling on the benches in the little grassy strip.I avoid getting mowed down on super-busy Vazha Pshavela by ducking under the road via the entrance to the Delisi Metro station.
But there's no tunnel under Tamarashvili, unfortunately, so I take my chances at the crosswalks along with all the other pedestrians. This morning there was a freakish lack of traffic, making me wonder if it's some holiday that I don't know about. (Maybe everybody has my cold now?)To cut about 10 minutes off my walk, I hike up this hill (seen from the top + much steeper than it appears here) leading to a twisty alleyway shortcut it took me a week of lunch-hour exploring to find.
The last few minutes of the walk take me past a soccer field and tennis courts, which in the morning are filled with old dudes and in the afternoon little kids taking lessons. So cute.

Thirty minutes after setting off, I climb three flights of stairs and fire up my computer for an exciting day at the office!