London - Lights glow warmly in the cafes along Tbilisi's main thoroughfare, Rustaveli Avenue.
Shop windows display a wide range of goods.
The miracle has happened. Rustaveli Avenue, which suffered so cruelly in the street fighting that marked the ousting of President Zviad Gamsakurdia in late 1991, has been splendidly restored. Climb through the narrow maze of cobbled streets that rise precipitously above Rustaveli and gaze down on the city spread out along the valley of the River Kura below and relive the charm of this easy-going place that had all but disappeared in the early days of independence. A policeman sits next to the old lady collecting the entrance fee at the bottom of the steps, but the Kalashnikov he clutches carelessly seems more a reminder of past instability than a current necessity. Even though the city seems at ease with itself, the same cannot be said of the whole country.