Arrived in Kutaisi

We wake early to take our 9am bus to Kutaisi, Georgia. This bus is newer and clean but they have strict rules about what bags they let you take to your seat so we have to quickly decide what we need for comfort for the next 4 hours. The driver swerves and occasionally honks and yells at cars going too slow but also at cars that pass him up while he is in the fast lane. Crazy drivers seem to be a theme of Georgia.

The apartment we have rented in Kutaisi isn’t the best place I’ve stayed in. It’s clean but lacking some things of convienence that make a stay more comfortable (like having to climb 5 flights of stairs or missing dish towels). Fortunately the host happily communicates with us through a translator app and we are in a central location.

We drop our bags off and walk around the corner to meet our day tour that is scheduled today. It is now shoulder season so our group tour ends up being a private tour instead. Initially it feels awkward but we soon value the personal attention.

The city of Kutaisi used to be a more popular tourist location due Kutaisi having direct international flights to certain cities but with the opening of the high speed rail between Tblisi and Batumi Kutaisi has become become less popular.

We start our tour in Central Park, a charming park next to the Colchis fountain and the Meshkhishvili theater. The Colchis fountain was installed in 2012 to feature the historic Colchi kingdom. All of the gold emblems on the fun fountain are enlarged reproductions of artifacts found during excavations of the colchi period.

While we explore town we are told local stories about some of the people honored with statues. We admire the street art and learn about one district that was settled by the French. We see a Catholic Church in its historic beauty before it is due to be “renovated” to an Orthodox Church. When it is converted, they will destroy all the original catholic parts. While not the only religion in the country, Eastern Orthodox Christianity is the most popular.

Kutaisi is a sleepy town compared to Tblisi but has its own charm. This boy with a hat sitting on the bridge is a character in a popular Georgian film.

Our tour guide takes us through the local market and we learn about the Georgian spices and treats.

At tour ending we ask our guide for restaurant recommendations and she recommends the restaurant in the Magnolia Hotel, a charming authentic Georgian food experience. I am excited to try new dishes. I enjoy most of what we try except the chicken dish I ordered as my main dish. My stomach is still uneasy from the day before and I am having a hard time with the grease content of the recipe. I will be happy when my stomach is back to normal.

We are tired from traveling today so we return to our flat for an earlish night, enjoying a nightcap from one of the few bottles of things we have picked up to sample along the way. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain all day so we re-arrange our excursion plans last minute to turn tomorrow into a lazy in town shopping day. It proves a good idea because it does start raining early in the day. I brave the rain briefly in the morning to get a decent cup of coffee but eventually we have to eat so we choose an art cafe not too far from our flat. We share a pizza and delcious salad.

We visit the market afterwards. Thank goodness the market is mostly under a covered area. First we visit an underground clothing and accessory market, much of it catering to older conservative women. We then return to the food market where we buy some spices and various goods. We spend some time trying to shop in the cheese section but it is impossible to get the attention of one of the cheese women since she is currently occupied with yelling at a woman at another booth right now. We return later to buy some samples of cheese from a woman who is not yelling.

We feed some street dogs hot dogs and are tired of the rain. We return to the room to try the pomegranate wine we have purchased yesterday from Armenia. I am not sure if we have a bad bottle or the wine is just really that bad but we end up pouring most of it down the drain. A wine has to be pretty bad for us to waste and this vinegar wine is terrible.

We finish the evening at the fancy restaurant around the corner. We are entertained by a pianist and violin player.

Tomorrow we have another day tour planned in town. Hopefully the weather is good. We’ve had too much rain so far.

Gdańsk: Museum Afternoon

I started today at the Solidarity museum and the Gdańsk Shipyard.

My day isn’t over yet and I almost forget there are a couple museums free today since it is a Monday.

I stop first at Artus Court on the famous Dlugi Targ. Artus court is named after King Arthur and was used as a meeting place for merchants and social life in the 17th century. The decor and art in the museum reflects the importance of this building for the means of commerce. I particularly enjoy the animal inspired art in the building.

The day isn’t over yet and the Town Hall museum also has free admission so I head over there. I tour the museum but skip the tower since that costs extra.

After museum time I walk the streets once more then visit happy hour at the rooftop bar of my hotel.

Because I wish to have a nicer dining experience I have reservations this evening at Tylge Gdansk. Even with a reservation I had to wait a little while but the food was superb.

It is another lovely evening stroll walking back to my hotel. Love the 24 hour flower automatic.

Trip is coming to an end soon. I have one more day out and about.…

Gdańsk

I’m on my way to the port city of Gdansk that is a the top of Poland near the Baltic Sea. Many come up to this part of Poland to enjoy the coastal life. Unfortunately even though it is May it is still too cold for beach weather.

My train ride here from Warsaw is only 3 hours but seat reservations in first class is the way to go. The train is busy. On this train there is a rude group of guys in the partition next to us. They unceremoniously kick out an older couple from their seats and because they don’t speak Polish they are endlessly mocked. The guys get louder and louder and soon they play very loud dance music the rest of the ride. They even catcall me at one moment when I am lining up for my stop. Honestly this is the first time I’ve encountered rude and inconsiderate Polish people during my entire travels here. Hopefully it is not a trend.

It is cold and wet again so once I get to my hotel room I don’t want to leave. I think all my travel exhaustion is catching up with me so I spend a couple hours napping. I eventually force myself out for dinner and a walk around town. Luckily the rain is just now a slight drizzle. Most of the surfaces here are stable but there are some slippery spots near my hotel and I am one of those people who can render the most slip-proof shoe useless. I walk carefully this evening. I have contemplated buying more secure shoes because mine are old.

I am excited because I am actually staying in a hotel where my rate includes early breakfast so I don’t have to wait around for coffee shops to open to get my coffee. The hotel room is a bit of a splurge, purchased with credit card points, with a wonderful view of the canals. It does get loud during the day with all the drawbridge alarms and moving sidewalks (for boat passing) but luckily it gets quiet in the evening.

The first night I find it really challenging to eat at places I originally planned due to long lines or being completely full for the night. I have a note to make reservations when I can for other nights. I do finally get an outdoor table at a pizza place because it has stopped raining and no one wants to sit in the cold.

In the morning I have a busy day of sightseeing so I am not feeling too bad about my early bedtime tonight.

Graz museum day

I visit the Kunsthaus Graz (Graz modern museum) because I love some weird art. The main exhibit is a series of artwork from artists from the former Yugoslavia – a region I visited earlier. I see the artwork from the artist that does the running through Zagreb nude (I love you Zagreb) and I see some interesting penis related artwork (Gelatin by Golem is one example, photos of naked guys in nature backdrops is another). The art explores many different ideas and pushes boundaries. One movie shows hostile architecture in the ways cities develop spaces that seem to prevent sitting. In the movie people sit in these hostile spaces and later show their bare bottom with the associated indentations. In addition the museum has a great view of the city.

I also walk through the art space called Murinsel, an island in the Mur river that hosts a cafe and an art space. They play movies and have live music perform there.

I also walk along the water.

I notice a long path up the hill to a park with scenic views but it is not in the plans today. Instead I happen upon a tunnel next door that was built as a war shelter. It leads up to a lower part of the park. I use this time opportunity to grab lunch. Sushi is on the menu today. There is a photographer taking photos of all the menu items for I am assuming website photos and such. They offer the few of us dining all the plates when they are done with the photos. Unfortunately this happens after I’ve already stuffed myself. I could have walked out with a much cheaper meal if I would have just been slower to order.

After lunch I walk by an interesting double staircase.

I walk by the mausoleum dedicated to Emperor Ferdinand II next door. It looks impressive but I decide to wait til later to go inside which proves to be a bad decision because I never catch the opening times again during my visit to the city.

It is three o’clock so I am in time to see the historic Glockenspiel dance. In this clock there are two dancers, a woman and man, who dance to the different chimes.

Earlier when I was rushing to the clock I noticed a weird white building in the distance. This building seemingly made of white cubes is called Argos designed by Zaha Hadid.

Tonight I have dinner reservations to try the famous Graz fried chicken (Backhendl, or Styria Fried chicken). It is quite good and pairs nicely with their salad that contains pumpkin seed oil (yum) and the famous Styria beans the size of a thumb.

When I finish dinner it is raining so I run back to my hotel for the evening. Little do I know that this rain will cool things off nicely. While most of Europe has a heat wave I am feeling quite nice the next couple days.

Arrived in Salzburg

After a couple hour bus ride I am in Austria. I arrive first in Salzburg, the former roman settlement run by an archdiocese. It flourished in salt mining riches and at some point was part of Bavaria. Eventually Salzburg was annexed into Austria where it remains today.

Salzburg is also the birthplace of Mozart and where he spent his early years before he wandered off to Vienna to make money.

But what many from the USA know this city for is from a little musical called Sound of Music that was filmed here. The musical was a childhood staple and is the focus of a tour I attend (more on that later).

I am a week too early for the Salzburg music festival which is disappointing or fortunate depending on the way you look at it. I think it would be neat to attend some performances but the crowds would get on my nerves.

I book a boutique hotel from my credit card points and I have been having good luck when I do that lately. I am staying at a really nice hotel on the river in a room overlooking the river and fortress.

I make dinner plans at a trendy restaurant that just happens to be the oldest restaurant in Europe called St. Peter Stiftskulinarium. But before that I explore the area a little and pop in some churches.

Stiftskirche St. Peter (St Peter’s Abbey)

I am dinning outside today but apparently there are historic rooms you can dine in. I could not figure out how to get reservations specifically in those rooms. Dining outdoors is nice but it could be any trendy restaurant in any city. The steak I ordered is slightly overlooked. I am so used to restaurants undercooking my steak I wasn’t expecting this one. I guess order steaks rare if you dine here. The menu has many other interesting dishes as well but I have my heart set on some red meat for some reason. I guess its been a while since I’ve had a steak.

After dinner it is still early so I walk around town and end up in the cemetary of St Peters church. It is quiet and calm due to the tour groups gone for the day and it is probably one of the most beautiful, but small, cemeteries I have ever seen.