One of my favourite haunts in Tbilisi is Drybridge Market, a fleamarket with a plethora of curios. I initially went to look for Diecast models (more details in my diecast blog: Drybridge Market (diecasts) ) to add to my collection and that is still one of the principal attractions for me. I also find it is a good place for taking photos particularly when the sun is shining.
Technofix Motorcycle (German manufacture), asking price $200…or was it 200 lari? (Way beyond my means)
Drybridge Market is the most interesting market in Tbilisi. You’ll find all kinds of knick-knacks and charming miscellanea from art, accordions, samovars and electrical gadgets to china, glass and silver being sold off by impoverished old folk.
coins, medals, old cameras…
In addition to diecast cars, I also look through some of the badges related to cars. I have a few now. I saw some interesting badges related to early Soviet Spaceflight, pins of Vostok 3 and Yuri Gargarin, the first man in space. I might get some another time, they were only one or two lari each.
Yuri Gargarin pins
Vostok-3
An SS Helmet from World War II
Sometimes there are pieces related to the wars, like this SS Helmet, asking price: an eye watering $300, but I was assured by the seller that it wasn’t his “last price”. There is a lot of Soviet War Memorabilia, as you might expect in the former Soviet Union: uniforms, medals, gas masks etc
old mobile phones
I wonder if any of those old phones work…
Backgammon or Nardi boards
Backgammon (Nardi) is a very popular game in Georgia. You often see old men in Georgia playing on park benches.
a game of backgammon
amber, coins, badges and medals
I was most interested in amber since reading A Visible Darkness about the amber trade in the Baltic in the early nineteenth century. I was told amber is 1.5 lari for a gramme…I bought a very small piece for 2.5 lari (about $1.20).
toy lorry made in the Lada Factory
The photo of this lorry attracted a lot of interest when I posted it on a Facebook Group “Eastern Bloc cars” because it is made in the Lada Factory…the Lada Logo is clearly seen on the side of the cab. I was interested in a different lorry, a 1:43 Soviet Made Kamaz Milk (Moloko) Tanker with tipping cab, which cost me 40 lari.
My “haul”
I came away with a couple of dozen pictures, a Moloko Tanker, a Matchbox Chevrolet Silverado, a small grain of amber and a badge rewarding careful drivers (total expenditure 49.50 lari about $23).
I visit the market two or three times each month.
jim holroyd 365 