Kutaisi/Tblisi, June 6, 2014

Good, very sunny and quite hot day in Kutaisi. We walked through the local bazars, consumed numerous cups of coffee and eventually hired a taxi which took us to Gelati monastery (yes like the Italian word for ice cream) and to Brogati cathedral.

The monastery is truly impressive; it's from the early 12th century with two of the churches being built in the 13th. It contains the grave of Davit the Builder, one of Georgia's most famous medieval kings. There are many colorful well maintained murals and it's located on a spread out area. Originally it housed an Academy that was one of Georgia's foremost intellectual centers. It's a very beautiful complex and no wonder it was put on UNESCO's world heritage list in 1994 I think. And it hasn't been developed properly as a tourist destination. Like Kutaisi itself, the town and the monastery do not cater much for the international tourist trade which makes it all the more natural and enjoyable.

Bagrati cathedral, from the early 11th century, is also on Unesco's heritage list though it was largely destroyed and almost totally rebuilt (and opened in 2012 I think). Parts of the cathedral have very modern elements but it still is a very impressive landmark. It's seems to be a favorite location for wedding parties. When we were there we encountered at least three. The very pretty girls in the wedding parties were all totally dressed up in very colorful and interesting dresses which George, my travel companion and friend from Belfast, and I couldn't entirely overlook.

We also looked at the new parliament building on the fringes of Kutaisi which looks a bit like the dome of the German Reichstag parliamentary building only the dome being much bigger and in fact constituting the entire building. A very modern structure a la Norman Foster which seemed to be a bit out of place. I also wonder if it makes sense to split the parliament between Kutaisi and Tbilisi with parliamentarians having to travel to and fro. While undoubtedly good for the economy of Kutaisi, I am not sure the Georgian taxpayer and Georgian democracy benefit all that much from this way of doing things though of course it may contribute to some decentralization of power (but it's a bit like the European parliament traveling to and fro between Brussels and Strasbourg - and the EU parliament, after all, is not known particularly for its great effectiveness and frugal way of dealing with taxpayers' money).

Then we boarded a minibus for the 3.5 hour journey to Tbilisi after having successfully managed to fight off the overpriced offers from two other minibus drivers. The journey was uneventful but took us pass very nice, deep and lush valleys, large rivers and a lot of wood and tress - the latter a bit like NC and the Eifel. The last part of the journey took place on a very modern and fast highway. Tbilisi welcomed us in the dark but compared to Kutaisi Georgia's capital appears to be a very modern western-style city. Eventually, after some frantic phone calls to an English speaking friend of the driver's, the taxi dropped us at our hotel in the old town. I had succeeded in forgetting the name and location of the hotel but due to the creativity of the taxi driver we got there nevertheless. The hotel is simple and modest but in order to cover up its modesty the room prices resembles that of a four star hotel.

There was a terrible thunderstorm with lots of rain later at night. It prevented us from venturing out at all. The exploration of Tbilisi will have to await another day.