8/30: Intro to Kutaisi, Georgia: Local Markets & Monuments

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After spending almost a week in and around Georgia's largest city of Tbilisi, we took a 6.5 hour ride on Georgia's national railroad to the western part of the country to visit Kutaisi, the country's second-largest city. The region was always a conduit for influences from the west, from the ancient Greeks to St. Nino and the Ottoman Turks. For long periods, it was ruled separately from eastern Georgia but, during the 11th and 12th centuries, it was here that the great united Georgian kingdom made its appearance.

Talking with other people in our carriage, it soon became evident that Armenia and especially Georgia were on the backpackers’ route of places to go these days. Not surprisingly there were very few older couples like us but we’ve become used to that and always being the old folks on the day trips. So far at least, we’ve been able to keep up on the hikes and treks even when they’ve been more strenuous than we originally envisioned!

It’s been very gratifying hearing travelers our children’s ages not infrequently over the years of our overseas travels, say they wished their parents would travel like we did or even that they, too, hoped to be hitting the road far afield in their 60s and 70s. We’ve never gotten the same sense of pride or amazement from any of our four children, though!

The almost six-hour journey to Kutaisi took two more hours than a marshrutka or large, private van would have but we thought the train journey would be an interesting trip and we would have more space. It was true on both accounts but neither of us figured on the excessive heat and not having a window to open in our carriage the entire journey! We arrived in Kutaisi all hot and sweaty, not exactly how we planned.

Finding our accommodation for the next three nights was quite an adventure as there was absolutely no sign for it once I entered a gate into a courtyard looking for it while Steven stayed with the taxi out on the street. I guess reserving a room with breakfast at what turned out to be a homestay and not a hotel for just $22 a night didn't include signage! 

I am the one who takes responsibility for 99% of our accommodations and, on paper, this place seemed like a steal with a 9.7 overall rating and great reviews of its staff, location, size of room, price, etc. The absurdly low price should perhaps have raised red flags as there was only a handheld shower nozzle in the shared wet bathroom, our room's fan wasn't very powerful in combating the high temperatures, the room's lights were poor, our room didn't lock and a few other issues like that! 

For me, though, the room did have a lot of local character and we felt like we were living with locals rather than a faceless hotel room that could have been anywhere in the world. After two days, Steven would have much preferred a soulless hotel room, however!

After dumping our bag, we walked down the steep hill into town to explore for the rest of the afternoon. We had already noticed, by the way, that you need to be pretty fit to tour Georgia as we were always hiking up to monasteries and churches perched on high hills and towns were built on a series of hills! The sight of the attractive State Drama Theater in the central square was a welcome one. 

Like so many of the former Soviet Bloc countries, there was an impressive fountain in the central square. In the center of the roundabout was the grand Colchis Fountain, adorned with large scale copies of famous gold jewelry discovered in the town of Vani.

Because of all the research I do in advance of our trips, normally we know when we arrive in a new city what local sights we intend to see when and have also already planned any day trips we hope to make. That way, it saves us time and potential headaches wondering what's what once we get to a new place and can  'hit the ground running' so to speak. Kutaisi was an anomaly as I hadn't had been able to find information ahead of time on taking day trips to the famous monasteries and canyons that surround the city. 

That was why we headed to the Tourist Information Center, hoping to find information on how to get to the places I had read about during the next two days. I was intrigued by the typically large and very Soviet-style monuments and sculptures on our walk and was glad I remembered to look up and notice these ones!

The city's slogan and logo of 'Kutaisi: City of Smile' was a little over the top and far reaching, I thought! Nope, I didn't make a spelling mistake - it was just a city of a smile, not of smiles, plural!

We were in luck at the TI center as its associated travel office, although they didn't provide tours, were able to book us transportation for each of the following days to the places where we'd wanted to go. 

Wit that taken care of, we headed to Kutasisi's indoor produce  Market, described as one of the liveliest and most colorful in Georgia

The striking facade was a testament, I guessed, to the country's history and, of course, its fondness for grapes and wine!

The Caucasus region must have ideal growing conditions as we'd never seen such mammoth watermelons and other fruits as we had already in Yerevan and in Tbilisi.

Wheels of typical Georgian cheese were everywhere; as it was part of breakfast at every accommodation we stayed at, we tried some but its pungent flavor wasn't one we liked. 

This stand sold more of the fruit rollup type product on the left and churchkela or strings of walnuts coated in grape juice caramel on the right. When we first saw them in Tbilisi, we had initially thought the walnut things were candles as they looked like there were wicks on the end!

We have been to market all over the world but neither of us remembered having seen loose tobacco leaves for sale before.

These brooms were far fancier than the ones used by the city's street sweepers who only had tree branches tied together on a pole to sweep up trash.

The market's sights, sounds and smells were vastly appealing as they spoke to a way of life we were unfamiliar with.

The vendor kindly showed me his huge and very pale cucumbers when he noticed my taking interest in them!

If you were particularly observant, you may have noticed a large dome in the distance above my photo of the fountain. The dome belonged to Bagrati Cathedral which was, of course, located a good distance away and up a hill! The walk took us across Chain Bridge and cobbled streets.

Kutaisi was built around the Rioni River. 

Again, thanks to Steven's research and maps.me, he found steps for us to climb rather than having to take a circuitous road.

After climbing more than 200 steps (yes, we counted them on the way down!), we needed a breather. These pretty gates were a perfect excuse for a photo break!

What was described as a stately cathedral on Ukimerioni Hill was built in 1003 by Bagrat III. His descendant, David the Builder, whom I've mentioned in previous posts, was crowned Georgian king in Kutaisi in 1089.

A wedding party was just leaving as we entered the grounds of the UNESCO-listed church that was largely destroyed in 1692 after a Turkish explosion.

Troubadours had just finished playing local music, no doubt in part for the wedding party. 

A copy of the distinctive St. Nino cross was in the nave.

Unfortunately, recent renovations to the cathedral have placed it on UNESCO's World Heritage in Danger list due to threats to the 'integrity and authenticity of the site.'

I wondered if the crowns were always on view or if they had just been part of the wedding ceremony.

As with some other mountaintop or hilltop churches we'd toured in Georgia, Bagrati was surrounded by ruins on one side, to protect it from possible invaders, I thought. I learned later they were the ruins of a palace citadel and dated to the 6th century. It was wrecked in 1769 during Georgian-Russian-Turkish wars.

The interior of the cathedral in our minds didn't warrant its being described as one of Georgia's most beautiful churches. But the view from the rear was a special sight.

I liked this view of Kutaisi's rooftops from the rear of the cathedral. Notice the domed church in the center? We decided to look at it more closely the next morning.

A shot from the Chain Bridge we'd crossed over before:

A small flea market was set up on the other side of the bridge.

The city's attractively renovated area included Kutaisi Bulvari Park that was enjoyable to wander through while looking at the statues.

Restaurants in Kutaisi were surprisingly few and far between in the city that is being revitalized after years of Soviet decline and is home to Georgia's Parliament. We ate at a Turkish restaurant across from the stately Opera and Ballet Theater - it was the same building where I'd noticed all the statues above it earlier.

Steven's huge beer cost all of $2! As he often does when we're traveling, Steven ordered Spaghetti Bolognese. I had a chicken and pasta dish.

Our bill of less than $8 came in this cute little locker thingamajig!

Maps.me indicated this mammoth monument was called To the Heroes of the Socialist Movement from Our City. What a long winded title!

This was our first sight of palm trees this trip. I wonder how many more places will have them as we continue the trip?

Next post: Exploring western Georgia's canyons.

Posted on September 5th, 2018, back again in Tbilisi, Georgia, for the night.

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