UPDATE: We completed the August issue of Global Traveler prior to the start of the conflict between Georgia and Russia. We have the individuals affected by the conflict in our thoughts and prayers as we hope for a speedy and peaceful resolution.
– Francis X. Gallagher, publisher

I am in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, standing at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. Despite the protection of the Caucasus Mountains on three sides, this ancient capital was invaded time and again over the centuries, and is still emerging from the shadow of Soviet occupation. Since regaining its independence in 1991, Georgia has started to look west.

Accompanied by my guide, Natasha, I hike to the top of the quaint Old Town with its panorama of fortresses, caravansaries and winding cobblestone streets. It’s the end of summer and, even in the city, overgrown grape vines appear at almost every turn, shading the leaning balconies of houses. With views so stunning on a cloudless morning, it’s difficult to comprehend the distant blight as Natasha points out rusting Soviet fuel factories and unsightly apartment houses once offered free to workers willing to move from other parts of the Soviet Union.

Back in the heart of Old Town, I am eager to experience the famed Georgian hospitality that made Tbilisi a popular stop on the ancient Silk Road. Some travelers never left, and multiple ethnic groups still live here peacefully. I observe this enduring harmony firsthand in neighborhoods where churches, mosques and synagogues stand side by side.

Old Town’s narrow streets are lined with cafés, art galleries and wine shops, and we stop for a cappuccino al fresco. All is oddly quiet for late morning. (I soon learn that Georgians are not morning people.) In the evening, I’ll return for a glass of excellent Georgian wine and more activity. But first, Natasha steers me toward some historic treasures, including the Sioni Church with its fifth-century frescos. These magnificent works of art were once painted over by the Communists, who banned religious worship and reassigned churches for more proletarian purposes, such as a knitting factory.

That evening I head out with Georgian friends to sample the local food and hospitality, which survived the leanest of Soviet times. (Even under the Communists, food was plentiful — Georgians did not endure the long lines seen in Moscow and St. Petersburg.) Today, free of monotonous state-dictated décor, restaurants match the style and character of the traditional food.

Music greets us as we enter Maidan, a hip restaurant where the conversation is usually as good as the food, led by a tamada (toastmaster) — usually a man who honors friends and pursues a succession of topics throughout the evening. Anyone can join in, which gives diners an opportunity to get acquainted, particularly after several bottles of wine.

Another day, we meet my friend Nino for lunch at Dzveli Sakhli (meaning “old house”). Before settling at an outdoor table overlooking the Mtkvari River, we walk through the open courtyard where a baker prepares the local — and addictive — bread in a clay oven while a chef grills meat over an open fire. We try Georgian specialties such as sulguni (cheese seasoned with mint), sturgeon with walnut sauce, and Saperavi, a local red wine. All the while, Nino enthusiastically expounds on Georgia’s past and future. I learn that Georgia maintained its resort image during the Communist era, attracting party bigwigs who summered on its Black Sea coast. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Georgia has worked to attract new tourists, mostly from Europe. Still, most foreigners come for business, while Russians come to visit relatives.

Georgia hopes to join NATO and the European Union, two priorities of President Mikheil Saakashvili. A lawyer educated in the United States, Saakashvili was elected in 2003 with 97 percent of the vote after the bloodless “Rose Rev olution.” Billed as a savior following the corrupt Eduard Shevardnadze period, Saakashvili has enjoyed good relations with the United States. Despite being accused of corruption by the opposition, Saakashvili was re-elected in 2008, but by a smaller majority.

Georgia’s expanding economy (up about 10 percent annually) is slowly changing, but echoes of its restrictive past linger in the minds and hearts of its citizens. Georgia remains a poor, mainly agrarian society dependent on neighboring Russia for much of its trade. Russia, however, has closed the border, boycotting the export of Georgian wine and other agricultural products. It has stopped air travel between the two countries, turning a two-and-a-half-hour flight from Tbilisi to Moscow into a much longer journey.

Russia also is aiding two breakaway regions of Georgia — Abkhazia in the south, which leaves Georgia with a small presence on the desirable Black Sea coast, and South Ossetia in the north. Agricultural trade with the United States is geographically difficult, so Georgia now looks mostly to Europe. Maintaining stability here, however fragile, is critical because the Caspian oil pipeline flows through Georgia and Turkey, bypassing Russia.

Yet, Tbilisi’s future looks bright, a point underscored by the growing presence of international hotel chains. Park Hyatt expects to be Tbilisi’s first 5-star hotel. Its mixed-use property on a hillside overlooking the old city will include an office complex, serviced apartments and a conference center expected to open in late 2009 or early 2010.

The Kempinski Hotel Rustaveli will open around the same time with 200 rooms and suites, as well as serviced apartments. (Rustaveli, Tbilisi’s main boulevard, is lined with neo-classical buildings that currently house mostly government offices.) An InterContinental Hotel is also under construction. Hotel investment groups say the city’s economic growth and regional importance are reasons enough to locate here. In the meantime, the Marriott Tbilisi, housed in an early 20th-century building, remains the hotel of choice for business travelers; it’s advisable to book rooms at least one month in advance.

A rapidly improving infrastructure is also attractive to investors, especially a new highway connecting Tbilisi to the Black Sea that will reduce driving time from five to three hours. Most of the Georgians I met seem to be prosperous, content and only mildly concerned about corruption and the looming presence of Russia. The streets are filled with Mercedes and BMWs, albeit mostly older models.

For my final meal in Tblisi, I return to Old Town to lunch at the charming Hotel Kopala, where a glass-enclosed rooftop restaurant overlooks the ancient surroundings. Several well-prepared Georgian specialties later, I contemplate how Georgians continue to foster optimism despite the continued meddling of its powerful neighbor and the added uncertainty of a new Russian president. Most likely, they realize investors are knocking on their door and betting that a new, emerging Tbilisi will continue its tradition of hospitality.