12th September: Kutaisi, Georgia
Kutaisi market contained all kinds of feasts for the eyes. Finally, the fruit and veg we’ve been looking for in Georgia! Despite the abundance of great produce, we’d found it much harder to come by than in Azerbaijan until now. We picked up plums, home dried prunes and almonds as a delicious healthy snack. For the first time, we also got our hands on the ubiquitous churchkhela. This Georgian classic is walnuts inside layers of thick (usually) grape juice, left to dry, and all served on a string. First taste was actually a little underwhelming – we both wanted something tangier – but I found myself coming back for more with increasing regularity during the day.
The food adventures continued at lunch time as we found a small pay by weight café. We shared lobiani (bread stuffed with beans); red peppers stuffed with carrot; badrizhan nigzvit (aubergine rolls with walnut filling); beetroot with tkmeli (plum sauce); baked aubergine with peppers, onions and bazhe (walnut sauce); and carrot, also with bazhe and dried pomegranate seeds. It was all delicious!
Unfortunately, Kutaisi is a building site currently. Quite apt, given the airport is named after local King, David The Builder (can he fix it). There is no access to the main park at all, and many roads in the centre (including every possible route to our accommodation) are being recobbled, so are a dusty mess. Many buildings (again, including where we’re staying) are clad with scaffolding as plaster is replaced and insulation added. Unfortunately, this also means that some of the city’s famous murals have been lost. Given all these simultaneous works, too many cars, the 33C heat, and our seemingly unerring ability to keep ending up on the same few streets time and time again, the city felt like an inescapable oppressive maze. It’s not of course and there are definitely some pretty areas but we’re not really huge fans on first impressions. Perhaps we’ve just been unfortunate with our timing.
We retreated out of the heat to visit the city museum and an art gallery. We’ve noticed so much fantastic art so far in Georgia and would definitely have bought a few pieces if we had an easy way of getting it home. We both particularly like the vibrant, deep reds used, especially in images of pomegranates.
As the heat of the day finally began to subside, we made the walk across the river and up the hill to Bagrati Cathedral. This place of worship was a UNESCO world heritage site until 2017 but was removed due to ‘over-restoration’. Given it didn’t have a roof or a wall on one side, I’d say the Georgian people are well within their rights to add these to enable continued use of a building which is sacred to their orthodox Christian population. We have a great view of this prominent building from our room, but had heard it was the place to be for sunset. The interior was fairly simple but with many blue and gold images of Jesus and his mates. One striking element was the placement of a throne-like chair in the middle of the space, with no pews for the congregation. Outside, the golden light bathed the holy building and the city it overlooks. Kutaisi certainly did look much better from up here.
