Wed 21st Kataisi

Our intention was to visit the Gelati ( hard G not ice-cream!) Cathedral but we were unable to enter due to renovations. Founded in 1108 the Golden Age of Medieval Georgia. It was a cultural centre for the period. Georgian churches have separate belfry’s and exterior baptismal fonts as well. We wondered how they coped in winter doing baptisms in the snow!

https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/710/

While here, we felt it was a good time to try our driver’s home made wine. He proudly produced his bottles and poured generously!

In Georgia everyone makes wine, and the quality is associated with the character of the person. We toasted our trip, our driver and our guiding angels. There is a lot of mystical underpinning of the faith. (Anne says it is superstition) I think a mix of both. Every house we pass has a vine so it goes that grapes and wine are big images here in everything.

The wine is made from just grape skins and seeds and grape juice-no additives. They press grapes and leave the skins until they think it has fermented into wine, then filter it. We have had some great tasting homemade wine. Bread and wine are the stuff if life in Georgia!

As we had not seen the interior of the Galeti Monastery we made a decision to include the Motsameta Monastery instead. This is a functioning monastery with about 8 monks so we had to don long skirts to enter the church. This church was dedicated to the two soldier heroes who bamboozled the Turkish invasion into thinking they were a whole army. They are revered as martyrs and their icons adorn the altar. There is a tradition that if you crawl through under the altar and make a prayer/wish it will come true. Unfortunately I didn’t know that until after I crawled through so I went back again! You never know so give it a go is my philosophy. Anne also figured you can’t waste a chance.

The monastery is situated on a ridge overlooking a deep gorge with gardens growing down the slope. We thought it would be a great place for a retreat as it is surrounded by trees and birds singing. Actually I would have to say one of the delightful things about Georgia is the vibrancy of bird life. It is far more treed than Armenia and so habitat is not threatened.

When we headed back to the bus three old buskers wanted to put in a show for us.They had been singing together since young men. We acquiesced and enjoyed a traditional performance. Their harmony was good but the music was rather sad I thought. The unusual guitar was a chonguri which had a mellow sound.

As always I needed a pit stop and the singers directed us up the hill. When we found the loo with a marvellous view it was actually ghastly!

Back at the bus we were amused by the bucolic ding of cow bells as a few wandered up the road-no shepherd in sight.

Last stop in Kutaisi was the Bagreti Cathedral. Thus was the kings fortress and had been destroyed several times and was listed as a unesco site but since the Cathedral was restored but with modern changes it has been delisted. However we were impressed with the changes as it told the true story of the life of this Cathedral. At its core it was built in the 11 th century but as so many invaders did it was destroyed and rebuilt several times. It is situated on the hill over the city and looks out to the snow capped mountains.