Tsar quality: the charm of Tbilisi

‘These regions are not under the control of the central government,’ reads a warning on a map of Georgia in the bustling centre of Tbilisi. ‘Travelling to these regions is not advisable.’ One of these regions is Abkhazia, only a few hours’ drive away. The other is South Ossetia, barely an hour from here. Since 2008 both have been occupied by Russian troops, in defiance of the Georgian government, yet here in the Georgian capital tourism is booming, and many of these tourists are Russians.

This neat irony encapsulates what makes Tbilisi such a fascinating city, a looking-glass metropolis in which nothing is quite what it seems. EU flags fly alongside Georgian flags outside (and inside) government buildings, not because Georgia is a member of the EU, but because it wants to be. Likewise, when I visited this year the lampposts were festooned with Nato banners — not because Georgia is a member but because it wants to join.