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The South Caucasus region has always held a strong appeal for me, so to be visiting Georgia was always going to be a thrill. I had hoped to couple it with a trip to Azerbaijan but Wolfie and I decided that it would be better to spend more time in Georgia so as to really understand the country. Our first stop was Kutaisi, Georgia's second city and the place to which the vast majority of cheap airlines fly. Customs was a formality and soon we were in the taxi bus we had ordered in advance along with three other people, all of whom German. Like us, they were traveling to Georgia for the first time and were tempted by the allure of this exotic nation. The airport was small but clearly had just recently been built as it had a modern look and shiny clean interior. Modernity drifted away as the headed away from the airport, with run down petrol stations lining the basic road to the city. The journey was only about 10km, during which time we got to witness some truly breathtaking driving, made even more concerning as I had chosen the seat with the missing seatbelt. Still, we survived and about half an hour later, we were dropped off outside the mahogany door of a small guest house, the Hotel California. The door was locked but the owner was waiting for us, ushering into the rather nice room with gold flock wallpaper and incredibly high ceilings. The relation of the light to the bathroom clearly showed that this was a house which had been repurposed but it was a comfortable place to stay, with a functional bathroom and a friendly host. She let us defer payment as we had not yet had the opportunity to get some Georgian Lari and while not having a front door key could potentially have been an issue (she told us that she had had trouble with people stealing them and I assumed this was also her house), everything was pretty much perfect.
After half an hour of recuperation, we decided to take advantage of the two hours of daylight that we had left. The day was warm and sunny, nudging 20 degrees, so we decided to forgo our coats and stroll into the city centre, which was far smaller than we anticipated. On the way down, we noticed the large number of barber shops in the city, with nearly one in two places seeming to be places where you could cut your hair. There was also a large number of snack shops serving khachapuri, pasties of various types but typically cheese or refried beans. Later in the day we grabbed a couple and they were tasty, although the cheese one could have benefitted from some onion like the ones back home. The bean one was quite nice, with the smooth richness of the beans complementing the flaky pastry well, and certainly they were great snacks just to eat while walking around.
Kutaisi is very much a work in progress as a city and there is renovation work of some of the dilapidated buildings very much in progress. Since the government moved parliament here in 2009, there have been attempts to redistribute wealth away from Tbilisi, the main population centre with nine times as many people as the second city (remind you of anywhere?). It's only partially succeeded and there is little in the way of a bar and restaurant scene but it is developing. There are quite a number of empty buildings still to go though. Anyway, our main objective was to try and secure money, but finding an ATM proved to be easier said than done. There were a few multi-purpose free standing terminals but I don't trust these in Britain, let alone in foreign climes, but we did eventually find a bank with a serviceable cash machine. Alas it only had five lari notes in stock and you could take a maximum of twenty notes out, arming us with 100 lari (£33) each for the day. This proved to be more than enough, even though a quarter of this total was going on the hotel.
Across the road from the bank was one of the few sights in the city, the Colchis Fountain (Tsentraluri moedani), situated in front of the grand Drama Theatre on a roundabout. We crossed the cobbled road, carefully due to the screeching speeding cars, and clambered up the conical base of the fountain to get a closer look at the two golden horses atop the feature bedecked very much in the Turkic style. It is adorned in copies of the gold jewelry from Vani and is quite a sight. Beneath this, within the water flows, there stood statues of deer and humans frolicking. It was all quite impressive from whichever angle you stood, with us taking in the full panorama before descending into the heart of the city, which seemed to be a rather beguiling yet simple park with a few statues dotted about. We marveled at the tranquillity, and observed it was clearly a meeting point for young and old alike as a bunch of teenage goths were hanging out next to a group of pensioners laughing heartily amongst each other.
We continued walking a couple of blocks, taking in some brutalist concrete Soviet architecture in the form of circular statues with steps leading up to them. We also saw a beautiful azure mural of an anime-like girl with flowing blue hair flecked by yellow and red diamonds. This was in the cafe district and we soon exhausted the sights, deciding to cross the turquoise river and head up to Bagrati Cathedral before the light waned. Perched on top of a hill overlooking the city, to get there we had to cross the imposing Chain Bridge (Jachvis Khidi) with its thick chains holding it over the gorge. We then headed up a narrow stairway which deposited us at the base of an incline with the imposing cathedral of sandstone hue and light green roof directly in front of us. As we approached, the more solid and imposing it became, so much so that it was hard to believe that it was all largely in ruins one hundred years ago. There has been a cathedral on Ukimerioni Hill since 1003 when the original was built by Bagrat III. It originally had a tall drum, pointed dome and four free-standing pillars but much of this was destroyed by the Turks in 1692. It was renovated intermittently throughout the twentieth century and became a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1994. Renovation was completed from 2009 to 2012 but this put its status in jeopardy as the integrity and authenticity of the site was compromised. Indeed the first thing you notice (well Wolfie did anyway) upon entering the cathedral is the large metal pillars at the front, contrasting against the stone of those further back. On the north-west portion of the building, a metal box section has also been erected which wouldn't look out of place in a 1980s council estate. Despite all this, the Bagrati Cathedral is considered one of Georgia's most beautiful churches although on the inside it is all rather plain. Part of the original flooring is preserved under glass but the walls are largely bare. A few icons and paintings, exquisitely done in gold and silver, are set behind sandy troughs in which you can place candles but the overriding impression of the interior was like Kutaisi itself, it promises much but delivers little. Despite this, the views from the ridge over the city were beautiful in the sunset, as was the large metal cross, while we also got to explore the palace-citadel immediately to the east of the cathedral, which was destroyed in 1769 during the Georgian-Russian- Turkish wars. Remains of a wine cellar and a church can be seen. Initially we scrambled onto the walls, aided slightly by an addition of concrete at some point, but the view was disappointing and we realised we could just walk around, advising a Japanese couple who saw us clambering to do the same. A quick look here and we soon crossed back over the chain bridge and headed back into the city, catching views over the gorge as we did. There were quite a number of stray dogs around and many followed us for a while as we walked. I said hello to many of them. In the city, we managed to catch the dying moments of the massive market with its range of fruit, vegetables and spices, the latter of which looking like ribbed dildos hanging upside down. Many of the stall holders were packing away and with numbers dwindling we perhaps didn't see the market in the best light, although it was good to experience it nonetheless.
It was 6:30pm and as we had had pasties only two hours before, we decided to find a bar. This was easier said than done as nearly all of the establishments with a beer sign outside turned out to be off licenses or Corner shops. Crossing over the river once more and heading towards the park, we bore a left when we realised it wasn't lit, and spotted two potential places. One of them turned out to be an off licence which did have draught beer but no place to sit. Not fancying making small talk with the barman with my limited Russian, we opted for the other place, a plain Soviet type canteen with four people inside, which we soon realised were the owner's family. Still, they did have local beer (called Kazbegi), so we settled down at one of the tables and the lady behind the bar brought them over to us after pouring them out, coughing repeatedly over the glasses as she did so. She was clearly ill and drinking the beer was somewhat off-putting but we didn't want to be rude so we did it anyway. It was a little awkward being the only customers in the bar but the family were hospitable enough as we drank. We then excused ourselves and continued exploring, spotting a Tesco with the same livery as the British equivalent yet I am suspicious as to whether it's the same chain, before we realized there was very little else to do and so we decided to cut our losses and go for food.
Tripping over the uneven pavements in the dark, we headed back towards the river and over the wooden boardwalk of Tetri Khidi. It was then that we discovered what was a passable bar area, as well as the restaurant we wanted to try, Palaty. Still not feeling overly hungry, we decided to go to a bar just down the road, which sold us some more fizzy Georgian lager while we enjoyed the entirety of Coldplay's back catalogue on YouTube. Indeed the pervasion of Anglophone music here, like in many other countries, is strong as the first things we heard on the taxi-bus were songs by Green Day and the Chainsmokers track that has been played to death in the gym. Anyway, with time pushing, we finished our 1.50 lari drink (50p) and headed to Palaty, where a treat was in store for us. With a soundtrack of live piano and violin music playing fragmented rearranged versions of popular Eighties tracks, we sampled the delights of Georgian cheese including the smoked Sulguni. We also tried some soft salty varieties along with an excellent Georgian white wine from the Tsinandali region. It was very subtle yet appley and went perfectly with our food, more khachapuri. I had the standard cheese one but Wolfie had what can only be described as eggy boat, like scrambled egg and cheese in a Yorkshire pudding/Cornish pasty pastry. There was a raw egg on top to mix into the hot scrambled egg and the richness of the food was a delight. Indeed it was probably one of the best things I've ever tasted but no doubt it was tough to finish. The waiters, wearing black t-shirts with a house on them advertising Palaty, spoke English and so were incredibly helpful while everything about this meal was exquisite - the music, the wine, the gastronomy, all fantastic.
We didn't want to get back to the hotel too late as we didn't want to keep the friendly owner up, so we headed back at this point, picking two bottles of beer up on the way. I had intended to get a shower and have these in the room as I dried and wrote this journal but upon our return at 10pm I just flopped into bed as the tiredness and alcohol had hit me. Wolfie woke me up forty minutes later, when I also noticed other guests being let in the front door. At this point I decided just to go to bed, beginning a mammoth eleven hour sleep to catch up from the night before and a busy period of work and stress. We awoke in time to check out at 11am and then head to the station for the 12:15pm train to Gori, a story I'll pick up next time.
After half an hour of recuperation, we decided to take advantage of the two hours of daylight that we had left. The day was warm and sunny, nudging 20 degrees, so we decided to forgo our coats and stroll into the city centre, which was far smaller than we anticipated. On the way down, we noticed the large number of barber shops in the city, with nearly one in two places seeming to be places where you could cut your hair. There was also a large number of snack shops serving khachapuri, pasties of various types but typically cheese or refried beans. Later in the day we grabbed a couple and they were tasty, although the cheese one could have benefitted from some onion like the ones back home. The bean one was quite nice, with the smooth richness of the beans complementing the flaky pastry well, and certainly they were great snacks just to eat while walking around.
Kutaisi is very much a work in progress as a city and there is renovation work of some of the dilapidated buildings very much in progress. Since the government moved parliament here in 2009, there have been attempts to redistribute wealth away from Tbilisi, the main population centre with nine times as many people as the second city (remind you of anywhere?). It's only partially succeeded and there is little in the way of a bar and restaurant scene but it is developing. There are quite a number of empty buildings still to go though. Anyway, our main objective was to try and secure money, but finding an ATM proved to be easier said than done. There were a few multi-purpose free standing terminals but I don't trust these in Britain, let alone in foreign climes, but we did eventually find a bank with a serviceable cash machine. Alas it only had five lari notes in stock and you could take a maximum of twenty notes out, arming us with 100 lari (£33) each for the day. This proved to be more than enough, even though a quarter of this total was going on the hotel.
Across the road from the bank was one of the few sights in the city, the Colchis Fountain (Tsentraluri moedani), situated in front of the grand Drama Theatre on a roundabout. We crossed the cobbled road, carefully due to the screeching speeding cars, and clambered up the conical base of the fountain to get a closer look at the two golden horses atop the feature bedecked very much in the Turkic style. It is adorned in copies of the gold jewelry from Vani and is quite a sight. Beneath this, within the water flows, there stood statues of deer and humans frolicking. It was all quite impressive from whichever angle you stood, with us taking in the full panorama before descending into the heart of the city, which seemed to be a rather beguiling yet simple park with a few statues dotted about. We marveled at the tranquillity, and observed it was clearly a meeting point for young and old alike as a bunch of teenage goths were hanging out next to a group of pensioners laughing heartily amongst each other.
We continued walking a couple of blocks, taking in some brutalist concrete Soviet architecture in the form of circular statues with steps leading up to them. We also saw a beautiful azure mural of an anime-like girl with flowing blue hair flecked by yellow and red diamonds. This was in the cafe district and we soon exhausted the sights, deciding to cross the turquoise river and head up to Bagrati Cathedral before the light waned. Perched on top of a hill overlooking the city, to get there we had to cross the imposing Chain Bridge (Jachvis Khidi) with its thick chains holding it over the gorge. We then headed up a narrow stairway which deposited us at the base of an incline with the imposing cathedral of sandstone hue and light green roof directly in front of us. As we approached, the more solid and imposing it became, so much so that it was hard to believe that it was all largely in ruins one hundred years ago. There has been a cathedral on Ukimerioni Hill since 1003 when the original was built by Bagrat III. It originally had a tall drum, pointed dome and four free-standing pillars but much of this was destroyed by the Turks in 1692. It was renovated intermittently throughout the twentieth century and became a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1994. Renovation was completed from 2009 to 2012 but this put its status in jeopardy as the integrity and authenticity of the site was compromised. Indeed the first thing you notice (well Wolfie did anyway) upon entering the cathedral is the large metal pillars at the front, contrasting against the stone of those further back. On the north-west portion of the building, a metal box section has also been erected which wouldn't look out of place in a 1980s council estate. Despite all this, the Bagrati Cathedral is considered one of Georgia's most beautiful churches although on the inside it is all rather plain. Part of the original flooring is preserved under glass but the walls are largely bare. A few icons and paintings, exquisitely done in gold and silver, are set behind sandy troughs in which you can place candles but the overriding impression of the interior was like Kutaisi itself, it promises much but delivers little. Despite this, the views from the ridge over the city were beautiful in the sunset, as was the large metal cross, while we also got to explore the palace-citadel immediately to the east of the cathedral, which was destroyed in 1769 during the Georgian-Russian- Turkish wars. Remains of a wine cellar and a church can be seen. Initially we scrambled onto the walls, aided slightly by an addition of concrete at some point, but the view was disappointing and we realised we could just walk around, advising a Japanese couple who saw us clambering to do the same. A quick look here and we soon crossed back over the chain bridge and headed back into the city, catching views over the gorge as we did. There were quite a number of stray dogs around and many followed us for a while as we walked. I said hello to many of them. In the city, we managed to catch the dying moments of the massive market with its range of fruit, vegetables and spices, the latter of which looking like ribbed dildos hanging upside down. Many of the stall holders were packing away and with numbers dwindling we perhaps didn't see the market in the best light, although it was good to experience it nonetheless.
It was 6:30pm and as we had had pasties only two hours before, we decided to find a bar. This was easier said than done as nearly all of the establishments with a beer sign outside turned out to be off licenses or Corner shops. Crossing over the river once more and heading towards the park, we bore a left when we realised it wasn't lit, and spotted two potential places. One of them turned out to be an off licence which did have draught beer but no place to sit. Not fancying making small talk with the barman with my limited Russian, we opted for the other place, a plain Soviet type canteen with four people inside, which we soon realised were the owner's family. Still, they did have local beer (called Kazbegi), so we settled down at one of the tables and the lady behind the bar brought them over to us after pouring them out, coughing repeatedly over the glasses as she did so. She was clearly ill and drinking the beer was somewhat off-putting but we didn't want to be rude so we did it anyway. It was a little awkward being the only customers in the bar but the family were hospitable enough as we drank. We then excused ourselves and continued exploring, spotting a Tesco with the same livery as the British equivalent yet I am suspicious as to whether it's the same chain, before we realized there was very little else to do and so we decided to cut our losses and go for food.
Tripping over the uneven pavements in the dark, we headed back towards the river and over the wooden boardwalk of Tetri Khidi. It was then that we discovered what was a passable bar area, as well as the restaurant we wanted to try, Palaty. Still not feeling overly hungry, we decided to go to a bar just down the road, which sold us some more fizzy Georgian lager while we enjoyed the entirety of Coldplay's back catalogue on YouTube. Indeed the pervasion of Anglophone music here, like in many other countries, is strong as the first things we heard on the taxi-bus were songs by Green Day and the Chainsmokers track that has been played to death in the gym. Anyway, with time pushing, we finished our 1.50 lari drink (50p) and headed to Palaty, where a treat was in store for us. With a soundtrack of live piano and violin music playing fragmented rearranged versions of popular Eighties tracks, we sampled the delights of Georgian cheese including the smoked Sulguni. We also tried some soft salty varieties along with an excellent Georgian white wine from the Tsinandali region. It was very subtle yet appley and went perfectly with our food, more khachapuri. I had the standard cheese one but Wolfie had what can only be described as eggy boat, like scrambled egg and cheese in a Yorkshire pudding/Cornish pasty pastry. There was a raw egg on top to mix into the hot scrambled egg and the richness of the food was a delight. Indeed it was probably one of the best things I've ever tasted but no doubt it was tough to finish. The waiters, wearing black t-shirts with a house on them advertising Palaty, spoke English and so were incredibly helpful while everything about this meal was exquisite - the music, the wine, the gastronomy, all fantastic.
We didn't want to get back to the hotel too late as we didn't want to keep the friendly owner up, so we headed back at this point, picking two bottles of beer up on the way. I had intended to get a shower and have these in the room as I dried and wrote this journal but upon our return at 10pm I just flopped into bed as the tiredness and alcohol had hit me. Wolfie woke me up forty minutes later, when I also noticed other guests being let in the front door. At this point I decided just to go to bed, beginning a mammoth eleven hour sleep to catch up from the night before and a busy period of work and stress. We awoke in time to check out at 11am and then head to the station for the 12:15pm train to Gori, a story I'll pick up next time.
