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Hi, friends! This is Max, and this is the channel "Russian with Max" - a channel for those who are learning Russian. Today we will have a vlog. I am currently walking down the street in Tbilisi, Georgia. And I am going to meet my friends who came here, to Georgia, to visit Yulia and me. Well, these are Yulia's friends from the beginning, so to speak. I mean, Yulia went to school with these girls. They have known each other for years, they are good friends. Well, and for many years now, they have been my friends too, and that is really cool! So, they came from Moscow here, to Tbilisi, to see us.
We spent the whole day together yesterday. We walked. Oh, you can't see it now. Well, anyway, up that mountain, to the lake. And today we are going to the city center. Now I'll tell you what we are going to do there, because we have a plan. Here's our plan today: we're going downtown, strolling around the old town, looking at the old town, the center, the historical center of Tbilisi, and then we're going to the movies, because the girls found out that The Devil Wears Prada, Part 2, was showing at the cinema, and they really wanted to see that movie, the second part. And I hadn't seen the first part.
And last night they said, "Max, you have to see the first part of this movie!" So what can I do? I watched it. By the way, I liked the movie overall. It's a pretty simple, pretty light, enjoyable movie. I don't know, just a simple, enjoyable, good movie. We'll watch the second part today. Of course, I invite you to come see the city center with us. Well, we won't be able to watch the movie, unfortunately, but at least I'll share my opinion about the second part. Okay, let's wait for a taxi now. Wow, it'll be there in a minute.
Quick! That's it, and we're going downtown. A Tesla is coming to pick us up. We'll go in a Tesla. A guy - well, the driver - stopped me right here on the avenue. I needed to get out, so I got out, and there was a lane of buses. And, anyway, the bus was coming, I quickly closed the door, and he was like, "Ha-ha-ha, wait a little bit." I waited a little bit. There, there's a bus like this. I waited a little bit, looked again, opened the door - and there was another bus.
I was like, "No-no-no, let's just wait a little bit, this. Anyway, we'll go somewhere else." Anyway, yeah, it was funny. The funny thing is that we drove for, well, I don't know, ten minutes, probably, to the city center here, and the ride. it was also a premium fare, so not the cheapest - the ride cost me, listen up, two euros, friends. Two euros. Ten minutes in a Tesla to the city center. Well, that is, ten, I don't know, maybe twelve. Well, I think ten. About ten minutes. Cool! Well, as always, there are two sides to the coin here. On the one hand, it's great that it's so cheap for you, because you realize that, well, it's just nothing - two euros for.
I don't know, for a ride. In Spain, the same ride would cost eight or nine euros minimum, but most likely ten euros. I've never paid less than ten euros for a ride in Spain. But, on the other hand, you realize that, of course, these prices affect the drivers. I mean, you realize that the drivers most likely earn very little because of this. Yeah, the other side of the coin. While prices here, in general, I wouldn't say they're low, compared to Georgia. I mean, you can buy some things cheaply, but generally, rent or groceries - well, they're definitely not cheap. So, overall, they're comparable to European ones. That's how it is. By the way, there's a huge shopping center here,
and there's another metro station here - Freedom Square. Well, anyway, there are a ton of different shops here. I need to meet some girls now. It seems like I need to go up these stairs there, because they arrived earlier, and I arrived a little later. So now I'll look for them. Well, in the twenty-first century it's done elementarily - you just, how to say, browse (we usually use this verb) or share your location on Telegram - and that's it, and you go to someone else. It reminds me of a computer game, when there's you on a little map and there's some marker telling you where you need to go.
And so you follow the map. That's cool. Oh, by the way, there's a passage here. Look. Oh, wow! And here, look, the Griboyedov Theatre. You can look at the actors here. Well, I assume these are actors from the theatre. And there's even a poster nearby. Yes. A theatre poster. So. Here we have a fountain. I see a fountain. And I think I need to turn right, toward the mountain. And here, by the way, look at this cool building. It also looks like a Soviet legacy.
So interesting. And here's this fountain. Oh, look, they're restoring some old houses further down. Let's go take a quick look. Well, I don't know, maybe they're not restoring it. But, in general, they're repairing something. They're probably repairing the road. Yes. And here's some kind of sports ground. And look what I see, friends. Look who's there! Diego Maradona himself. El Pibe de Oro, which translates from Spanish as "the golden boy." Oh yeah! It's unexpected to see Maradona here. Yes, friends, this really is a Soviet-era building.
As I learned, it was built in 1981. And it was the building of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia, and now it's just. well, the Georgian government is located here. Overall, it's an interesting building. It's late Soviet modernism. Well, first of all, look at this stunningly beautiful tower. Cool, right? Secondly, I told you about modern technology, about how convenient it is to simply share your location, find another person.
So, I've been walking around here for fifteen minutes now, taking pictures of buildings, showing you the theater, and heading towards Yulia, and she somehow, I don't know, teleports to some other place entirely. And now they're roughly where I started, where the taxi driver dropped me off. Anyway, I'm off to look for everyone. It's really beautiful here in the center. Well, I guess you could call it the city center. The center is just big. So. I'm walking now. trying to catch up, trying to catch up with the girls.
I'm catching up with the girls. It's not working yet. They're walking a little too fast, to be honest. Maybe I'm just used to usually catching up with Yulia and Sabrina, and they walk slowly together, but now Sabrina is in kindergarten, so the girls are walking really fast. But I'm trying, I'm trying. Well, it's really beautiful here. Anyway, I've already resigned myself to the fact that I won't catch up with the girls, but I just can't not show you such beauty. Look at that beautiful building, with its columns. It's from a different era, well-the 1930s, 1950s. At least, that's what the internet says. Because this building took a very long time to build.
Well, it's big, it goes on and on, way back. And that's the Georgian Parliament building. Soviet neoclassicism with national motifs. And right across the street is the very beautiful building of the Georgian Museum of Fine Arts. Look how beautiful it is! I definitely have to go there. So, I'm back where I started. I still haven't met any girls. I need to cross this avenue to meet them. That's Rustaveli Avenue or Highway. By the way, St. Petersburg also has a Rustaveli Avenue, a big avenue. And Rustaveli is, by the way, a classic of Georgian literature. He lived in the 12th century, during the so-called Golden Age of Georgia.
Look: Alexei Tolstoy. By the way, don't confuse him with Leo Tolstoy. He was a different writer, he lived later, during the Soviet era. Bulgakov, Kant, and Vysotsky. I went into the underground passage. Finally found it. And they sell all sorts of things here. I remember it was like that in the passages in St. Petersburg too, always selling all sorts of goods, usually of dubious quality. But it's some kind of, I don't know, cultural thing, like: "I bought something in the passage." There was even a thing about people buying diplomas in the passage. Well, that is, this actually used to happen at metro stations
where there was a passage from one station to another. There were guys standing there, and they had a sign in their hands that said: "Diploma." And you could, well, apparently, go up to them and somehow, I don't know, negotiate the purchase of a higher education diploma. Imagine, right, those were the days? Well, this was, I don't know, the 90s, early 2000s. Of course, this doesn't happen anymore, but it used to be like that. And so there was this.
well, there was this phrase, this cliché, like: "Did you buy your diploma in a subway?" Or: "He doesn't know anything. Did he just buy his diploma in a subway?" Well, that is, it became such a cliché, a catchphrase - "buy a diploma in a subway." And indeed, you could buy a lot of things in a subway. Well, while I'm telling you all this, friends, let's take a look at Freedom Square, right? Am I right in thinking that this is Freedom Square? Most likely it is.
And at the top, you can see St. George the Victorious on horseback, piercing a snake or a dragon with a lance, yes, defeating the dragon. It's a Christian symbol, of course. And it is precisely in this very St. George's honor that the country of Georgia is named, yes, or Gruziya. Well, I can't say for sure why with Georgia. But Georgia, the English name, is associated specifically with St. George the Victorious. That's the story.
There's a really interesting place here. I remember it from my last trip to Tbilisi. You walk along this cool boardwalk, and there are these old. well, what? Ancient, even, I don't know, parts of some kind of buildings. It's hard to say what they were. I don't know. But history is right under your feet. They sell carpets here. And, friends, we've finally reached the old town. The girls are a five-minute walk away. Oh, I hope I can find them. Oh, listen, these things look a lot like what we saw in Spain.
These. I don't know what to call them. Wooden balconies. Covered, yes, covered wooden balconies. Okay, let's move on. I'll show you a little bit of the old town. They sell, well, as usual in these kinds of tourist spots, they also sell all sorts of keychains, magnets. What else? Paintings, postcards, and so on. Okay, we have a cafe here. And again, there's a big little balcony overhanging. Beautiful. Very beautiful. Okay, we need to turn left, it seems to be here. Wow! Here, look at the map. Look at the map, what the old town looks like.
Just. there, right, left, right, left. A very interesting layout. Okay, now we need to go there. Great. What a metal staircase leads up there. Oh, look at this rose garden! Roses, roses, roses. Pink roses and orange roses. Okay, almost, I'm almost there. There's a beautiful building here, but it looks like they went overboard with the wiring. Don't you think so? So many wires. I'm already really close, really close. Okay. Beautiful. And how beautiful it is here in the evening, when all those lights are on, yeah, imagine.
Very beautiful, probably. Okay, and now on the left there should be. Oh! No. I thought that was Yulia there, but it's not Yulia. I got it all mixed up. Okay, where the hell are they? Here? No, not here. So, maybe here? Okay, no. Yes, yes, yes! Yulia: Do you want to split up breakfast? Max: Split up breakfast? I only split up budgets. Yulia: Well, split up the breakfast budget with me. Georgian or Turkish? Max: Of course, Georgian. Yulia: Khachapuri. Max: Khachapuri?
Yulia: Egg and khachapuri. Max: Egg and khachapuri. Well. what is a "blue fox"? Masha: The name of a place. Max: Yes? Got it. Meet Masha. Masha: Great! Max: You already know Masha - she's recorded podcasts with me several times, you can watch them. The dialogues were interesting. Very. how can I say it? Reflexive, right? Masha: Oh, don't mention it. Max: Okay, we won't, we won't, we won't. And this is Lera. Lera, hi! Lera: Hi-hi! Max: Lera, what will you have?
Lera: I'll have the Georgian breakfast, of course, because I plan to eat khachapuri every day. And they also have Turkish coffee, and I'll definitely have that. Max: Cool. And you, Masha, what did you order? Masha: I haven't ordered anything yet, but I'm planning on granola with seasonal fruits, because. Yulia: Why not? Masha: Because fruits, yes. That's all. Max: Yulia, are you and I going to split one breakfast into two?
Yulia: No, we can have two. We can have Turkish and Georgian. Max: Okay. They brought us the Georgian breakfast. Let's see what they have. First of all, they have this local bread. Tomatoes, cucumbers, eggs. Oh, my God, they're so hot! I don't know if they're hard-boiled or soft-boiled. Because there are. Oh, my God, there are two ways to boil eggs: hard-boiled or soft-boiled. In short, hard-boiled is when it's completely solid, soft-boiled is when the yolk is runny. Then we have honey. Sweet. Butter.
Masha: Why are you filming? Max: Masha really likes how I film a Georgian breakfast. Then there's butter. And the main luxury is khachapuri. This is a piece of khachapuri - it's a round pie, and there's a filling inside. It can be different, but it usually includes cheese in any case. Cheese with potatoes, cheese with some kind of herbs, with meat too. Incredibly delicious. And, of course, Turkish coffee. Well, that's an option. My option. Damn good coffee! Yulia, is the egg soft-boiled or hard-boiled?
Yulia: I'd say rather hard-boiled. See, the yolk is hard. Max: The yolk is hard. The egg is rather hard-boiled. But, in principle, it hasn't decided yet. He still has a little time to decide whether it's hard-boiled or soft-boiled, because Yulia hasn't eaten it yet. Egg, decide! We have about an hour before our session, movie session, or film screening. no, well, of course, session. Anyway, there's still an hour before the movie starts, so we decided to take a stroll through the city center, take a stroll here,
And at the same time, we'll go to some waterfall. There's a waterfall here, I've never seen it before. Now we'll see what it looks like. But this is a very beautiful part of the city, you can photograph it forever. Come here and just photograph, photograph, photograph. Next time - definitely! The schoolchildren took up the entire staircase, so we're waiting, letting them pass. There's this long spiral staircase.
Like this, it goes in a spiral. Yes, of course, I've seen a lot of locks on bridges, but I've never seen so many. This is, of course, simply a unique story. I don't know if you have such a tradition in your country, but in Russia there is also a tradition: when young people - well, or older people - get married, they attach a little lock like this to the bridge. Here, you can probably even read it… Here, for example, there are initials.
Here, too, the names of the lovers are clearly written. Here too: Katya and Nikita, for example. Here, too, are names. Do you guys have such a tradition in your country? There are sulfur baths here-well, I suspect they're baths with water that contains a high concentration of hydrogen sulfide. Anyway, there'll be a little more detailed information on the screen. The baths themselves were all sold out, but you can see it here: a man is soaking his feet, and there's a pipe coming out of it, and water is pouring out
-that very water, sulfur water. It apparently comes from underground somewhere, which is why these baths were built here. I'm guessing they're many years old. The closer you get to this water, the stronger the smell of hydrogen sulfide. Frankly, I'm very familiar with this smell, because in the Leningrad region, we had a well that supplied water, and for some reason, the water also had this smell of hydrogen sulfide. I remember this smell very well from childhood-it's unpleasant, frankly.
You know, the smell is like someone farted, excuse me, or, to put it more bluntly, like someone farted. There's such an unpleasant smell. But now let's see what it looks like here. Okay, no, I guess you definitely shouldn't go up here, it's like there's just a drain, a sewage drain. I don't know, maybe it's some kind of sulfuric water, of course, but in my opinion. Ugh, judging by the smell, it's just dirt being dumped here. But here, apparently, on this side. on this side, apparently, there's water, containing hydrogen sulfide, if I'm expressing myself correctly.
Look at the marks this water leaves on this stone, see? There's some kind of tunnel here, and there's light there. There's light. Let's see what it all looks like. In reality, there's much less light than you see on the camera. well, than you see on the video, or rather, than the camera shows - because on the camera screen, everything is. well, quite bright. In fact, it's dark here, of course. I see that there's some kind of exposure here. This is probably Queen Tamara. Yes, she is, Tamara the Great.
Also, you see, it was the 12th-13th centuries, the golden age of Georgia, the golden age of Georgia. Apparently, these were different kings who ruled. By the way, Tamara is the only woman who was a queen. I feel like I'm leaving the thieves' guild through the sewers, damn it, the city. Oh, fine! Fine. Here we are greeted by a terrace - obviously some kind of restaurant. A cool passage. Cool, I really liked it, you immediately come out to the river and this church; look how beautiful. Georgia is a Christian country, here too, there is Orthodox Christianity, or Orthodox Christianity.
Okay, well, here is an advertisement for our film. Meryl Streep. It's cool that the same actors are playing, but twenty years later. Anyway, we'll meet after the film, I'll tell you how it is. I'll tell you. I'll share my opinion on the film. Max: Lera, what emotions did you feel after the film? Lera: I really liked it, it just. It pushed all the nostalgic buttons I needed to push. The outfits are beautiful, the music is beautiful, Lady Gaga is beautiful. My God, Meryl Streep is beautiful.
I really liked it. Max: What do you remember the most? Could you single out one thing? Lera: Well, the outfits. Andy's outfits, especially the light gray one, plaid and a little tweed - that was top notch, I really liked that. Max: You spent the whole time in such an interesting pose, tying your shoelaces. Super. Yulia, how did you. what were your emotions? Yulia: I liked it. It's a very beautiful film, Milan is very beautiful, it's really cool. it's great that Lady Gaga appeared, it was a pleasant surprise.
Max: I was just thinking, "I wonder who that is? Maybe it's Lady Gaga?" Yulia: Yeah, it's Lady Gaga. It's a good movie, a good ending, without any compromises like, "Well, now I can just walk around the city freely because I'm not the editor-in-chief of a magazine anymore." I don't know, I liked it. Max: So you liked the ending of the second movie more than the ending of the first? Yulia: Why? No, the ending of the first one is cool too. Well, I mean, they could have ended the second one differently, but I liked the way they ended the second one. Max: Okay, thank you.
Well, I liked the movie. I think it's just as cool overall as the first one. I realized that I look like a complete piece of crap - that's the first conclusion I made. Well, that's true. I liked that they showed how the world has changed (well, that's logical) in twenty years. I liked how it was shown, and it actually made me think a little about how our world has really changed a lot. I don't know, but I kind of want to reflect on this topic some more, think about it. Overall, the film is cool, if you're thinking about going to see it, go see it. That's all from me, friends, see you in the next video! Bye.
