Road trip from Madrid to Armenia continues. Istanbul to Safranbolu, onto Samsun and Trabzon in the Black Sea region. Crossing the border into Georgia, a night in Butami and Kutaisi and so to Tbilisi on scary roads.

Tbilisi,  Georgia, Sunday, 14th May, 2023

In Georgia - here in the bamboo forest at the Shekvewtili Dendrological Park near Batumi

Good morning from Georgia in the Caucasus.

Unbelievably we are now in Tbilisi and on day 25 of our amazing road trip from Madrid which we started on 21st April. We have done 5200  kilometres in our blessed little Mini and have gone through 7 countries: France, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Turkey. So far, we continue to be watched over and guided or that's what we feel. I realise now we have embarked on the adventure of our lives and that so many things could have gone wrong. A friend said we were very daring to have undertaken the journey but there again I inherited the love of traveling from my dear parents. My father, especially, would have found it fascinating and my mother if she is looking down at me will be so happy we included her beloved Bulgaria on our way to Armenia. 

But let me rewind to last Sunday to tell you where we have been and what we have done since I last wrote. . Last Sunday found us in beautiful but crazy Istanbul. We had a whole day left to enjoy the city and after seeing the Mosques in Sultanhamet on Saturday, where our hotel was, we had to decide how to make the most of it. We had been there twice but never taken a cruise on the Bosphorus so that's what we did. The Bosphorus is a strait that unites both the Black Sea and the Marmara and at the same time separates parts of Asian and European Istanbul. The city is divided into Asia and Europe which makes it quite unique. The actual part that separates the continents is the famous Golden Horn. 

I looked up cruises and found one but then the hotel owner proposed a cheaper one. He helped us take a taxi to one of the piers only to find there were no cruises. We were then approached by many touts and succumbed to one who offered a 2 hour cruise at 20 euros each when I think the real going price is 10 but never mind. We joined our fellow passengers who seemed to be from Denmark, England and Paris as well as some Turks. It was not the best day for sailing as it was cold and a bit cloudy. We sat on the deck where we could take pictures. We even took a selfie. I am wearing a headscarf mainly because I was cold although it looks very fetching and suitable for where I was hahaha.  Below are some pics from the cruise.

On the cruise on the Bosphorus last Sunday

The most interesting part for me was approaching the Golden Horn where I could spy the Ataturk bridge and the Galata bridge, both on the golden horn. By then the sun was shining and our cruise was over. This was what the pier looked like as we disembarked. I only realised that we had disembarked on the Asian part of the city. It's very confusing to know which part you are in if you are not very familiar with the city. 

The pier where we disembarked

We decided to cross the Galata bridge on foot to the European part and my is it long. On both sides there were many men fishing. It seems they were fishing for sardines. Here is Eladio next to a couple of them. 

Eladio on the Galata bridge

I thought Galata was a person, but no, it is a neighbourhood. We have all heard of the Galtasaray football team haven't we? We went looking for the most famous commercial street in the city which we had visited last time, called Istiklal - difficult to remember. Again all the world and his brother seemed to be there. 

The most famous street in Istanbul

This street was once known as Grand Rue de Perá. Today it is flanked by global and also local branded shops. It is also full of places to eat. 

Eladio on Istiklal Avenue

We decided to walk to the end to get to the  famous Taksim Square which is where Istiklal ends. It is considered the heart of modern Istanbul. Apart from a huge mosque, the square is dominated by a monument that commemorates the anniversary of the foundation of The Republic of Turkey in 1923 after the Turkish War of Independence. Of course we had to have a photo there too. 

Eladio in Taksim square

 By then we were hungry and eager to try a "durum". There were loads of places but first we needed to wash our hands and spend a penny. The boy urging us into his durum place suggested I go to the Mosque to find a WC. I took no heed and crossed the road into the Sofitel hotel where I knew the quality and state of the loo would be best. I later told the boy to direct all tourists there. With clean hands we could enjoy a durum - meat in a wrap basically - which can only be eaten with your hands. And here is my husband enjoying his in Taksim square for about 5 euros each which is very cheap but expensive for Turkey. 

Eladio having a durum in Taksim square last Sunday

Just as we had approached Taksim Square I spied an ice cream parlour. Ok, so an ice cream parlour. Well, this was one with a difference and very Turkish. 

The ice cream seller near Taksim Square

As seen at other ice cream parlours, a man dressed in national costume was sort of stirring the ice cream. I can only explain this by showing you the video I took. This is it. I had to try the ice cream which was rather expensive and nothing special. 

We had spied a beautiful oldie worldie tram on Itsiklal street which runs from Taksim Square so decided to take it. We sat waiting next to an old man and also tried talking to him. After the usual comments on Real Madrid, Barcelona and a gesture reference to bull fighting - these seem to the three main things people in Turkey know about Spain hahahhaa - I tried to ask him how to take the tram. He spoke no English but somehow we communicated and what a kind man he was. There would be more kind people that day, perhaps put in place by our guardian angel.

This old man made me understand we couldn't get on the tram without a special card which we didn't have. Thus I gave him the equivalent of about 2 euros and he used his own pass to get us on it. That way we got to ride the iconic tram which started in 1871 but was horse driven at the time. I took a video to show you. Everyone on the tram let me film them and most of them were Turks. What a lovely moment. When we got off near the famous Galata Tower, I took photos of Eladio by this unique and beautiful vehicle, a first for us in Istanbul. 

Eladio by the beautiful tram

We wondered what to do next. So walked the streets towards the famous Galata watch tower. Eladio told me it was built by the Genovese. On our way and everywhere we went were not only sweet shops but fruit stores, like this one. Isn't it beautiful?

A beautiful fruit store, just one of many we saw.

And then suddenly and right in front of us was the tower, a city landmark. We were too tired to go up so just took photos like this one. 

The Galata Tower

Our time in Turkey has coincided with the run up to general elections. We saw many posters, like the one below. Notice the young Turks all on their phones. 

Election propaganda in Istanbul

We were tired by then but had to take advantage of our last afternoon in Istanbul as the sun was shining. The weather got warmer after our cruise. I suggested going to the Pierre Loti gardens above the Golden Horn where the best views are to be found in Istanbul. We went there with Julio and Fátima in 2005 on a very wet, cold and dark evening. That day we saw the gardens in the sunshine. Pierre Loti it seems was a French author who lived in Istanbul. We took a taxi and then made our way through the gardens to find a cafe of which there were many overlooking the Golden Horn. This was the view that greeted us. 

The Golden Horn as seen from the Pierre Loti gardens

It was difficult to get a front row seat but we did eventually and here is Eladio posing for me from this most special place. And below is a photo he took of me to remember the visit. 

Happy to back at Pierre Loti last Sunday in Istanbul

We walked out feeling on top of the world and hailed a taxi. As soon as we got in, he told us it would take 34 minutes because of traffic and would cost 25 dollars  - when it had cost about 4 euros to get there. We haggled and in the end paid him about 5 but got off at some unknown square where the metro was. I asked if there was a bus to Sultanhamet and after some sign language we found the 99. But I had no idea if it was going to Sultanhamet. So I got on and addressed all the passengers asking if anyone spoke English, French, Spanish or Russian and only one boy said very shyly he spoke a bit of English - thank God. By then the passengers were laughing and me too. We understood we were on the right bus but didn't have a pass so the young boy paid for us - bless him. We sat behind two ladies who tried to communicate and gave us toffees. The bus did not go to Sultanhamet but left us at a pier. But no worries, we were helped again by another young Turk who told us to follow him and follow him we did. He wanted us to take a tram for which we would have to find a place to buy a special pass - what a palava. We told him we would take a taxi. He protested saying it would cost two or three hundred Turkish lira - which for us was cheap at about 10 or 15 euros but for him a fortune I suppose. In the end we took a taxi after agreeing a price of 200 TL - 10 euros. The young driver immediately asked for what I think is called a tip in the Arab world - "baksheesh" which I refused. He warmed to me when I understood he wanted to avoid the old streets and would leave us on the main road near a little tunnel to our hotel. As we parted he said "very clever woman". I laughed. What an adventure but what wonderful people apart from the second taxi driver.

Finally we were in the haven of our big and warm room at the Ottoman Elegance Hotel which wasn't particularly elegant, hahaa and  where we had been well looked after. I have to add though that the owner kept asking me to give him a 10 star review on Booking hahahhaha. 

We relaxed and read, uploaded photos and I dealt with Airbnb guest tasks at home. I think I fell asleep at around 11.30 and was up at 6 on Monday morning. That day we were leaving Istanbul for the exotic sounding town of Safranbolu in the Black Sea region, once a stop off for the caravans on the Silk Route and famed for its pretty Ottoman style houses.  It was really the first stopping point on our route through Turkey and Georgia to Armenia. It took an hour to finally emerge from Istanbul on the Ankara motorway which is excellent in parts, but we felt as if we had achieved a trophy. We had a 407km drive which took us much longer than Google Maps said because we stopped so many times. One of them was to wash the Mini after many days traveling. Here it is being washed. 

The Mini getting a wash on the way to Safranbolu

There are many service stations on the motorway which are all rather shabby looking. We stopped at one for lunch as we had run out of provisions and had lunch which was just about acceptable. It seemed to take forever to reach our destination. At one point when Eladio was tired, I drove and didn't really like competing with other cars to overtake all the lorries. The surface was not great either. The same way petrol is cheap at about 1 euro per litre, tolls are cheap too. We had to go off the main motorway to Ankara and drove on quite an acceptable dual carriageway as far as Safranbolu. We reached our hotel, the Seyir Konak which had been much advertised as I scoured Internet. It was warm and sunny as we reached the pretty and well preserved town which is on a hill. The Mini made it up steep and narrow streets until we finally found the Seyir Konak . It is built too in the Ottoman style and was really pretty. We were met by two young Turks who knew some English. 

On that topic we have found that Turkish people, at least those we met, know hardly any English. At one point I installed an audio translator which is so funny to use but necessary. Anyway, back to the hotel. The reception people showed us our tiny room which was pretty but just too tiny. We were then told we could have an upgrade in exchange for a good review which I thought was pretty cheeky. The same practice was used at the hotel in Turkey. Needless to say we accepted the bigger and better room but would write an unbiased review. No wonder this hotel has over 9 stars. We soon settled into our charming little room with lovely views of the town. 

. Our room at the Hotel in Safranbolu and the views from our room

After we had settled in, dealt with emails, issues at home, etc, we got ready to visit the centre of Safranbolu. I had read that apart from being the saffron capital of Turkey it was once important because of its strategic location and a junction of the old caravan trade route between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Seas - nothing less than a stop on what was once known as the Silk Road. Apparently saffron was introduced by the Chinese who got it in turn from Persia. In the same way it was the Arabs who introduced saffron to Spain - one of the biggest saffron producers in the world. Today the top five producers of Saffron, in this order, are Iran, India, Spain, Greece and Morocco. With so much saffron in Spain which I never buy or use, of course I would not be interested in getting any in Safronbolu. I tried to explain this to the local sellers in all the shops lining the pretty streets, not to much avail. This is me setting out of our hotel on a very steep walk on stony paths down to the old town.  

..

In Safranbolu

We were charmed immediately by its cobbled streets, the Ottoman houses, the old baths - so important in Turkey, and the old Mosque. Here are some photos of what we saw. Everywhere there were shops and stalls selling mainly saffron and, of course, Turkish delight, hahahaha - different to the Cadbury version my father loved. 

Wandering the cobbled streets of Safranbolu

Trying out Turkish delight

The old Mosque in Safranbolu

The roofs (I was always taught to write "rooves") in Safranbolu

As it was getting late, we had to decide on dinner in the town - which is really a village - or a picnic dinner in our room. We looked at a couple of restaurants but I couldn't face more meat, specially more kebabs, so we chose our small room for dinner. Eladio had the last of the smoked mackerel and I resorted to a banana, kiwi and some chocolate. We slept well that night in our small but comfortable bed.

I was woken up at 5.30 am by the Muezzin calling the faithful to pray. Not being able to fall asleep again, I got up and made my first morning coffee in our room. This hotel included breakfast but not until 8.30 - 3 hours later by when I would be starving.

I took my coffee outside to enjoy the terrace and the wonderful views of this pretty town. It's already light at this time of day in this region so I took some photos to remember this unique hotel and town. The hotel itself is divided into various Ottoman houses and is a veritable maze but utterly charming.

Our hotel in Safranbolu and the views of this heritage village

Breakfast was included but we didn't like it - it was a mixture of a lot of things neither of us liked. We managed to get eggs for Eladio and toast for me which later I realised they had put cheese in. I hate cheese and it's in nearly everything in Turkey, damn it.

We had spied a Carrefour in a nearby town so went there before setting off for Samsun. But it wasn't like a Carrefour in France or Spain. We ventured into a couple of other supermarkets and the only way to describe them was "depressing". They reminded me of a shop I once saw in Cuba, very badly stocked. Thus we just got some plonk and a tin of tuna fish. 

Our journey to Samsun on the black sea - more a stop off place on our way to Georgia - was long and tiring. That day I think our guardian angel had abandoned us. According to Google Maps it was 381km and would take just under 5 hours but of course it took us longer. We had been told the roads in Turkey were not good - there are very few motorways - and that petrol stations were few between. I think they have improved and there are plenty of petrol stations. Part of the way was dual carriageway but not always. We went through shabby and dusty towns and stopped off somewhere to buy fresh bread - my husband can't have a meal without it. That's where I fell flat on my face on a pavement, injuring my ankle slightly. But it was more a shock than anything. The people inside the shop rushed out to help me, bless them. We continued our journey and come midday it was coffee time. Turkey is famed for its coffee but it's too black and strong for me. I prefer mine with milk. At service stations it comes from a machine and has to be prepaid. For some reason our cards wouldn't work and we couldn't pay by cash. So using Google Translate as absolutely no one speaks English - I managed to communicate to a man buying his own coffee, asking him if he could get mine with his card and that I would pay him in cash. He understood but refused payment. Most Turks are really hospitable that's what I like most about the country.

We finally reached the Black Sea but the weather was foul, unfortunately, as it would be for days and days. We were starving and looked and looked for somewhere to stop and eat and there aren't  many decent places to be found while driving in Turkey. We finally found a hotel restaurant called "Lovely". It was anything but that. The menu was in Turkish and the only recognisable thing was a hamburger. Just as we were waiting for our food which took an age I got an emergency phone call from Suzy. She was supposed to be flying to Bali (forever) that day but they wouldn't let her on the plane as she didn't have her Covid passport. Iberia had not warned her in advance and we all thought Covid was no longer a pandemic. Not so for Indonesia it turns out. She had an hour to find hers and Olivia and I tried to help her as best we could but she missed the flight! What an awful moment. It totally spoiled my day and she was devastated. That means she now has to get a new certificate and we shall have to fork out for a new flight. Damn. I was very upset as you can imagine. 

But we had to continue our journey and that we did until we arrived successfully at our new Airbnb somewhere in Samsun and supposedly near the beach which we never saw. It wasn't a great place but it was a clean apartment with a washing machine and kitchen. Thus we could wash our clothes. I then had to spend time sorting a problem at home - internet had gone. I could only communicate with the operator - Movistar - via Twitter but quickly found out via our neighbour, Julio, that there had been a huge outage after a lorry bumped into a communication tower - it was carrying a swimming pool! That had me occupied nearly till bed time and most of the next morning!

So as you see Wednesday was a terrible day, one to be forgotten. I slept well and spent a good part of an hour before breakfast working on my guest calendar and communicating with all upcoming guests. I hoped internet would be restored on Thursday and that Suzy would be able to get her Covid certificate. I also had to claim for a refund from Iberia which I did the next day but I doubt I will get one. They will will probably say it is up to passengers to find out the requirements for entering a country.  I also hoped our guardian angel would return. It didn't as you will read on but later it came back. 

Samsun is a huge city on the Black Sea with a big port where containers with grain from Ukraine may pass through - who knows? But we didn't see any of it as all we wanted to do was rest. Apparently the "famed" promenade of Atakum - Samsun, was round the corner but the weather was terrible. All we saw were blocks and blocks of apartments and opposite ours was a building site. As I waited for Eladio to bring down the rest of our belongings, I noticed chickens on the street - just look. At times I think that Turkey is very developed and at times it feels as though you are in India. Below is our little Mini quietly waiting for us to get in and drive to our next destination. 

Chickens in the street next to our apartment in Samsun

Our Mini patiently waiting outside our Airbnb in Samsun

Our next destination was Trabzón, another big port on the Black Sea but nearer Georgia - about 189km to the border. From Samsun it was 356km which Google Maps calculated would take us 5h 12 minutes. We drove all along the Black Sea coast but it was cloudy and raining most of the day. It was also very green and in a way - save a few differences - reminded us a bit of the north of Spain - even Asturias at times. This time I had made sandwiches with what I had - some bread, tuna fish and tomato - as we were not risking not finding anything we could consider eating on the way. In Istanbul you have all the choices in the world but that's not really so elsewhere in my experience, so far. The famed wonderful Turkish cuisine seemed to be escaping me. It was like that in India and in China for me and I think that's because we eat their cuisines outside these countries which cater more to local taste. I remember eating at a wonderful Turkish restaurant in London a few times but have not yet found the same food in Turkey. I don't think I could face another kebab, falafel or dorum hahahahaha. So, this has not been a wonderful gastronomic experience so far, apart from Italy. Below is a photo of us having our lunch by the Black Sea - not quite what you imagine - in our car at a petrol station. We were accompanied by 2 stray dogs. Turkey and Georgia are heavily populated with stray dogs and cats. We fed them some titbits, of course. 

Lunch by the Black Sea hahaha

Wednesday's journey was smoother than others with pretty good roads. I hardly noticed as I had to deal with the internet outage at home for about 3 hours of the journey after which my battery nearly ran flat. I also had to get a special insurance for entering Georgia, on top of our Green card. I read it was obligatory but could be bought at the border but also online. I was amazed I managed it. Eladio drove all the way and we were in Trabzon by about 16h. You wouldn't know today that it was once also a stopping point on the Silk Road. It is the gateway to the Caucasus to the north east and to Iran on the south east where we would love to go but it's almost impossible. Trabzon  is important in local history with lots of places to see but all them far away and not near each other. Our Airbnb was far away too although in a safe kind of area.  It looked pretty awful from the outside but our room with a huge but dirty terrace was fine. As absolutely no one who we had met in Turkey spoke English I was delighted to be greeted warmly by Anne who works part time for the Airbnb place because she speaks perfect English. Anne is a young dental student from Sudan.  Because of the civil war there I asked if her family was ok. Thankfully she said yes. She lead us to what she called the "penthouse" - not the word I would use hahaha. After settling in and parking the Mini we took a taxi to the main sight of the town - Hagia Sofia Mosque (Saint Sofia). The biggest site in the area is a monastery but 25km away as well as the Ataturk Palace but that was far too. It was raining but not too cold when we arrived at what the locals call "Ayasofya". Here is Eladio in front of it.  

Eladio outside the Hagia Sofia mosque in Trabzon

Below is the church tower now a Minaret as the church  is now a  mosque just as Hagia Sofia is in Istanbul 

The church tower, now a minaret. 

It was originally built as a Greek Orthodox church in the 13th century in Byzantine style, but was converted into a mosque in 1461 after the conquest of Trabzon by Sultan Mehmet. As usual, we had to take off our shoes as we went in.Women have to wear a scarf but I also noticed women are supposed to wear a skirt but the lady outside who was a huge laugh, didn't seem to worry about the latter. I have not brought a skirt hahahaha. 

We spoke to a group of Turkish doctors who, funnily enough, complained about having to take off their shoes. Later we would talk to them. 

The lady making sure everyone took off their shoes to go into the mosque in Trabzon

The group of doctors were most interested to talk to us although only one of them spoke English but that was good enough. The man lives in Trabzon and rang his daughter who speaks Spanish for us to talk to her!!! They asked us about the health system in Spain which we said was great. We did not ask them about health tourism in Turkey where many people from Europe go for cosmetic surgery. We have heard some horror stories related to Turkish health tourism as you may well have too. They invited us to go with them to the Boztepe viewing point which we had read about but the weather was so foul we thought it wasn't worth it. Instead we sat in the cafe by the mosque under a covered terrace and had some Turkish tea and cake - the chocolate cake was divine. We later got a taxi back after our Airbnb host haggled with the driver via my whatsapp hahahaha. 

Once the taxi had dropped us off we went to get some fruit from a quite attractive looking shop -the best we had seen so far. We got lots of strawberries, apricots, mandarins, peaches, tomatoes and some bread. I couldn't believe it cost only 7 euros! We then went and had a look at an Indian restaurant we had spied and decided to have dinner there. 

We returned to our Airbnb. From our terrace this was the view. On a sunny day we could have spied the Black Sea but not that day. The view looks better in the picture than in reality. 

View from our Airbnb in Trabzon

By 8 pm we were sitting inside India Gate and I was delighted to be waited on by a young Pakistani who spoke perfect English. Our dinner - chicken tika massala and lamb Korma with all the trimmings was the best meal we had in Turkey. We took a doggy bag and would eat the rest of the food the next night in Batumi hahahha. 

Before I went to bed I had a video call with our dear friends Phil and Kathy who we hope to meet up with later this month or next either in France or in Spain. I slept well that night and woke up at 5.30 on Thursday morning, the day we would be crossing into Georgia in the Caucasus-

The distance to the border - Sarpi Crossing - was only 180 kilometres and the road was quite good. Before approaching it I wanted a coffee as I knew getting through would take an age. Thus we stopped at the incredibly busy town of Hopa with so many lorries lining its streets. We went into a cafe where the choice was either thick, black and incredibly strong Turkish coffee or Instant. Being me, I managed to get the waitress to give me Turkish coffee with lots of hot milk which is not how locals drink it. I was served by a lovely woman called Altinay from Kazakshan I don't know why but we made immediate friends and she couldn't do enough for us. She spoke some limited English but of course she spoke Russian so I had to practice my pathetic Russian - if only my mother had taught us the language. Before we left, Eladio took a photo of me with Altinay and we became friends on Facebook. She was a darling of a woman. We have met so many people on our travels which is very enriching. 

Making friends with Altinay from Kazakstan in Hopa on the border of Georgia but still in Turkey

It was a very short distance to the Sarpi border crossing and soon we were there. I took over the wheel as I had only included myself in the Georgian car insurance. As we arrived at the Turkish part, Eladio was ordered out of the car as only the owner and driver could remain. That was a bit of a panicky moment. The queue was not very long but the border officials were quite slow. It reminded me of crossing from Israel into Jordan which takes forever or the chaos of crossing from Ceuta into Tetuan many years ago in Morocco. And this is the view from my car. 

Queuing at the border of the Sarpi crossing into Georgia from Turkey

It was quite an adventure and I had to share it with somebody so I took a video which you can see here. The building itself is quite strange. Foot passengers had go to inside with their passports while drivers waited. 

Sarpi Border crossing

It was chaotic. One car tried to jump the queue and get in front of me. The car behind me actually hit the the back of the car - with no damage - and even a lorry tried to get in front of me but I wasn't having it. The Turkish passport people were surprised, as everyone is, to see a car with a Spanish number plate. The usual reaction is to mention Real Madrid or Barça football clubs which are a veritable passport to good humour. It's funny to think that it is football that Spain is now best known for but it has helped enormously on the way. As I finally emerged in Georgia after a very short inspection of the contents of the car, my husband was waiting on the other side. It was a hive of activity and there was even a group of Georgians playing draughts. 

Men playing draughts on the Georgian side of the border. 

After greeting my husband I rushed to a kiosk to get a local sim card. There Alexi helped me - for just 14 euros I got a sim card that would last me 7 days in Georgia. It took quite a while and he had to remove the Turkish sim card and get my phone up and running with internet with the local card. Without it we couldn't use Google Maps in the streets which is essential. Between him and a girl called Viola, they did it and I took a photo of Alexi before I left. I have noticed it is only young people who manage the sim card business in this part of the world which figures.  We could have bought some Laris (local currency) at about 2.75 pero euro but didn't bother as we pay everywhere by card. 

Alexi who set up my new Georgian sim card

The process had been far too long and chaotic and I thought to myself it must resemble Soviet times. If Georgia really wants to enter the EU it has got to up its game. I mean in 2023, a border crossing like that is not acceptable in this part of the world. But it will be a story to tell and was quite an adventure. 

I also had to have a photo of Eladio with the Mini finally in Georgia. We had made it and felt triumphant. 

Eladio with the Mini now on Georgian soil

It was only 18km to our accommodation in Batumi, the first big town in Georgia, the second largest in the country  and  a famous seaside resort. I took the wheel and have to tell you that driving in Georgia is a huge challenge. The roads are awful and the locals overtake you from the right. There are stray dogs everywhere, many of them lame for having being knocked over by cars. Later we would see even cows grazing by roads and motorways which resembles India I thought.  But I made it to our lovely Airbnb where the owner Rostom, a tall young Georgian who speaks Georgian, Russian and perfect English - music to my ears. I had looked for an Airbnb with private parking but as we have found out many Airbnb hosts consider parking on the street as private parking and include the feature as "parking on the property". That wasn't so again and all we could do was park our dear Mini on the street - Metaxa 2.

My hopes were not high as most Airnbns have not been as good as the pictures. But this one was excellent. You can see it here. It only cost 38 euros for the night and was one of the best we have been in. . It was a one room apartment with a private bathroom and kitchenette. Internet was excellent and it was sparkling clean. The bed was comfortable too. Here is a photo of Eladio upon our arrival in Metaxa street, Batumi which I kept calling Butami - hahahahah. 

Eladio in our lovely Airbnb in Batumi

Once we had settled in and I had done the online shopping for Suzy and Lucy, we set off to explore some of the town. We walked through the lovely 6th May park towards the sea boulevard. The beach of this Black Sea resort is made of black sand and lots of coloured pebbles. As far as beaches go, it is a far cry from Spain's golden sandy beaches. But it was the Black Sea, new for us and an exotic place to be. I took a pebble to keep on my desk at home. 

Eladio on the beach in Batumi

We then walked along the seaside boulevard and then back into the park and emerged near the old city. We crossed a square flanked by high rise luxury hotels with horrible modern sky scrapers which is not what I had expected to find in Georgia. But I learned that this is a hotspot for rich Russians and they like the opulence of places like the Marriott, the Hilton, the Sheraton or similar. I hate them and far prefer a modest little apartment in a more authentic building. Batumi is known as the Las Vegas of Georgia with all its casinos - not a redeeming feature but it has some interesting places. 

From the park and boulevard we tried to make our way to the heart of the old town - Europe Square. Although we had Google Maps it was  bit of a challenge so I approached a young man, asking if he spoke English - most people do here. He told us the way to go and we emerged in this sort of pedestrian precinct square with lots of fountains and local Georgian music playing. I stopped to take photos, including the one below   to remember the place. We loved it. 

Eladio by the fountains in Batumi

I also took a video just to show you the atmosphere. Here it is. 

It was a short walk to Europe Square which we found beautiful. We loved the buildings from former times and were piqued to see the statue of Medea  - from the famous story of the robbery of the Golden Fleece by Jason and Medea which actually took place in Kutaisi. More about that later. 

Europe Square with the statue of Medea in the centre

Adjacent to the square is this lovely building which I fell in love with but have been unable to find out what it is or was. I asked some locals and even they didn't know. 

Beautiful building just of Europe Square in Batumi

It was getting dark by then and we had lost one hour of the day as it's an hour later than in Turkey which, in turn, is one hour later than in Spain. It then began to rain and we fought with Google Maps to eventually return to our Airnbb which wasn't far but not easy to find.

Our supper was leftover curry and rice which Eladio had with fried eggs. It was great to have a kitchen. We also drank some acceptable Turkish wine but looked forward to trying the famed Georgian wine later.

My husband was shortly in bed while I took a while, uploading photos, updating the guest calendar, getting in touch with upcoming guests, etc but also finding accommodation for the next few nights - one night in Kutaisi and three nights in Tbilisi.

I must have gone to bed past 11pm Georgian time but slept well. I was awake at 5.30 but then slept until 6.30. I made my coffee with my trusted plunge coffee maker, Colombian ground coffee I have brought with me from Spain and the milk frother I got in Venice. 

It was Friday 12th May and we would be leaving again that day to yet another city in yet another country. What fun. 

I sat and had my morning coffee on the balcony and wanted to share with you the views from the apartment to get an idea of what buildings look like in Georgia - some are crumbling, many are old Soviet nasty blocks of apartments and lots of not very pretty high rise blocks. Georgia seems very poor in most parts. 

View from our balcony in Batumi

Since its independence from Russia in 1998, Georgia is now an emerging economy but there are more signs of underdevelopment than development apart from the horrible sky scrapers being built everywhere. But it's their culture which interests us most. 

Georgians have their own language with a unique alphabet, or rather 3 alphabets of which they are extremely proud. Georgian has its roots in the Caucasian language family. Scholars are divided on its region. Some suggest the alphabet derives from Phoenician and others say it derives from Semitic and Aramaic origin but the majority consider that the Greek alphabet served as the basis for the Georgian one - it looks very different to me. Someone called Mesrop Mashtots invented the Armenian alphabet in around 400 AD and he is considered the creator of the Caucasian Albanian and Georgian alphabets too by some scholars. This is what it looks like. 

Georgian script

Armenian has the same script (or similar) but is apparently a totally different language. But in Georgia you hear Russian everywhere. It borders with Azerbajan, Turkey, Armenia and of course Russia. Many were already here but many have flocked here since the invasion of Ukraine. Some say too that Georgia is still a satellite country of Putin's. And of course we must also remember that Russia invaded Georgia in about 2008 which ended with Russia recognising the independence of areas called Abkhazia and 

South Ossetia. Georgia and Russia have always had difficult relations but I am happy to hear the people oppose the invasion of Ukraine - well they suffered their own. Of course, we all know who the most famous Georgian person was and it's Stalin. We haven't seen much evidence of him although there is a museum dedicated to him in Tbilisi. Anyway, back to Batumi. 

But if Batumi has one thing that is good supermarkets which cater to rich expats; mainly Russian I think. So off we went to get more provisions to  a supermarket called Agro Hub. There we found good quality food and lots of choice. We bought a lot of ready made Georgian dishes which looked delicious - I far prefer the food here to Turkey. Here is Eladio coming out of Agro Hub. 

Eladio coming out of Agro Hub with our shopping in Batumi on Friday

To get to Tbilisi (prononced Te-bi-li-si) was not such a long drive, around 370km but would take at least 5.5h. Thus we had decided to stay in Kutaisi on the way. I have a Georgian friend/Airbnb guest - David who thought it was a good idea. It was David who told me that the Golden Fleece had been stolen in Kutaisi and that it was the former capital of the country in medieval times. I had never heard of the story of the Golden Fleece but my cultured husband had. According to Greek Mythology, the Golden Fleece which gave powers to the owner, was robbed in Kutaisi by Jason and the Argonauts from the Colchis - an ancient Georgian tribe. Jason was helped by Medea the daughter of the King who owned the fleece. It's an amazing story which you can read about here and there have been films about it.

Kutaisi is only 147km from Batumi and is on the main road to the capital but would take ages. If that road is so bad I dread to think what the road to Yeveran will be like. The host from our Airbnb in Kutaisi - a lecturer in Georgian literature at the Kutaisi University - recommended we stop at the Shekvetili Dendrological Park which she said was the best of Georgia. My husband told me dendrology is the study of trees. I later read this amazing park with even a bamboo forest and amazing tropical birds, was built by a Georgian oligarch - oh yes there are plenty of them here. Bidzina Ivanishvili, is very rich but also mad about giant trees. The place is absolutely bizarre and I've never seen anything like it. This was the entrance which unbelievably was free. 

The entrance to the park - notice the Georgian script

We were in for a surprise. This was not like any park we had ever seen in the west. We went straight to see the birds and I was furious to see low nets in the trees so they can't fly. One poor large crane was doing its best. I loved the peacocks who spread their feathers for us but hated seeing them in captivity. 

Peacock spreading its feathers

The lake with flamingos and all sorts of ducks was beautiful but again the animals were fenced off. 

The lake at the tree park

We reached what fascinated me most; a veritable forest of bamboo trees like the ones below. 

Bamboo forest

The oligarch, criticised by some and lauded by others, had huge trees brought by sea especially. It seems a herculean project. Maybe the money could have been better spent, say on the roads for example. We resumed our journey after about an hour in this fascinating park passing the famed region of Caucasian mountains, some as high as 5000 metres with snow on the top. Not so shortly after, we arrived in Kutaisi and found our Airbnb which was right in the centre. It was a very comfortable apartment with all mod cons and extremely clean. It was Eladio's favourite so far. Mine was the Airbnb in Sofia. 

We were starving by then and after quickly settling in had a lunch of some of the delicious Georgian food we had bought at Agro Hub that morning. I was so tired that day that I joined Eladio and had a siesta. It was a dark and wet day - the sort of weather we have been encountering since we entered the Black Sea region in Turkey. 

Before exploring the city that afternoon, we looked up what to see and there were basically 4 things, the White Bridge (Tetra bridge), the Cathedral, the famous Colchis fountain which is in the the Main square and is named after David Agmashenebeli.  I read later he was the Tsar of Georgia in the 11th and 12th centuries and was known as David IV and David the Builder and is considered the most successful Georgian ruler in history. 

The white bridge on the River Rioni was right by our Airbnb and that's where we went first. I don't why it's considered so beautiful but it obviously means something to the people of Kutaisi. Here is Eladio posing for me on the bridge. 

On the White Bridge in Kutaisi

From there and using Google Maps we made our way to the cathedral which was closed so we didn't see it but what we did see was the Colchis Fountain, the top attraction of Kutaisi. Here I am in front of it on a rather dreary day so the gold doesn't stand out. 

The Colchis fountain in Kutaisi

Quoting from a guide book, "The Colchis fountain is a celebration of the local ancient history in Kutaisi. Colchis was the earliest known Georgian culture and best known in Greek mythology in the legend of Jasona and the Argonauts, a land rich with gold. The fountain is modern and sits in Kutaiss' main town square but the figures were inspired by gold jewelry found in archeological digs in the area". There you go. I took a video of the square and fountain which you can see here. 

We also walked into a modern Georgian church above the horrible McDonalds in the main square. I think it is named after David the builder.

We then went in search of the most famous street in the town, "Nino street" but it was raining hard and after finding it we walked home. On the way I saw a book market and was interested to see a book about Stalin in Georgian. I had to have a photo. Obviously his legend lives on. Wouldn't the world be a different place if he had never been born?

A book in Georgian about Stalin who was born in the country

We only escaped the rain when we got "home" and could dry off. The rest of the evening was spent uploading photos, etc but also re-planning our route home. I woke up early to torrential rain which would be a nuisance on our road trip to Tbilisi. I have been pronouncing it wrong in all my videos. I later looked it up and this is how you pronounce it: Teh-bi-li-si. Never mind. We set off from our wonderful apartment in Kutaisi and had a long journey ahead of us to the country's capital. What we didn't know is just how dreadful the road would be. It's only 262km but can take all day as the "motorway" is not complete at all. You see dogs and cows everywhere and big road engineering works in very mountainous terrain. 

Google Maps took us on some back road leaving Kutaisi and we could hardly drive over it as it was all potholes. I took a video for you to see. It really was appalling. Eladio was at the wheel and all I could do was laugh. 

We finally drove through it very slowly and soon we were on the "main road" to Tbilisi but oh my God I can't describe it. I slept part of the way, through the worst bits. I was in touch with our ex guest David who lives in the capital. He told me what I already knew that "Georgians don't usually pay big attention to rules". Too right he is. Cars overtake on the right, don't stop at zebra crossings and a whole load of etceteras. Cows and dogs by the so-called highways don't help either. I took a video of one of the moments and Eladio said it wasn't the worst which I had missed. Just take a look at the "highway". If the main road in Georgia is that bad, I wonder what it is like to Yerevan - God help us. I saw signs on the way to Baku and Teheran which made me realise in just which part of the world we are in. If only we had more time. Eladio is already talking about next year's trip. He has suggested flying here and hiring a car to visit the "stan" countries.  I'm going to hold him to that! I also realised just how lucky we are living in Western Europe where life works so much better and is comfortable. We may complain about our infrastructure, our governments, our health systems but compared to these parts of the world we should stop and think how lucky we are. We live in relative paradise in comparison and no wonder immigrants flock to our countries. I would too. 

Anyway, back to the road to Tbilsi. Just look at it. 

The scary road to Tbilisi 

At one point we were stopped by the police - yes - another scary moment. Apparently our crime was having driven on a continuous line on the road - which all Georgians do anyway. We had done so to avoid a car crashing into us! We were rather amazed at being stopped and suspected we would be asked to pay a fine but we weren't. There was a lot of shouting in Russian and showing of papers but we were let go thank goodness. What a surreal moment. I didn't dare take a photo I'm afraid. 

To cut a long story short after a horrible long drive we arrived in the capital at around 14h, starving of course. What we didn't know was that our apartment, in the old town, was on such a steep street. We found it but not quite and the receptionist had to come out and help us through the last 60 metres, in torrential rain. Not a nice arrival in Tbilisi. 

The surroundings were ghastly but the apartment is great. This is it. After a quick lunch of leftovers from the Georgian ready made dishes we had bought in Batumi, a shower and a long sleep we emerged feeling so much better. It was still raining and all we wanted to do was to seek refuge here. At one stage Eladio went to reception to pay and later to take our washing. We are here for 3 nights, so now was the time. I took a video of the building to share with you. This is it and some pictures below

Our apartment in Old Tbilisi

This morning, if all goes well, and despite the rain, we are going to the old cathedral here  the Anchiskhati Basilica where I read the choir in this very old Georgian Orthodox church is amazing. Georgian chant and polyphonic singing are renowned worldwide.  Later we have booked a tour with our own private driver and guide - one of the few luxuries we have indulged in on this trip. I think there is lots to see and as we have made such an effort to get here, it deserves some of our time.

I shall tell you all about it in next week's blog post by when we will have spent a few days in Armenia and should be back in Turkey - hopefully in Cappadoccia. 

Cheers for now,

Cheers Masha (and Eladio)