Tbilisi

Posted on October 2, 2025 by Clunegapyears

30/09/2025
Dinner nearby last night … lost in translation, but a litre and a half of wine arrived! We did take some home. And the most garlicky chicken 🤤

*A relaxed* *J … anything to do with the wine?*

We did a 3 hour walking tour. Excellent guide, but why do they talk so fast? Sam, the Australian, we’d given a lift to from Svaneti, was on the tour.

*David the guide explaining the Georgian toasting tradition*

*Lunch was good until unusually J wanted pudding. A step (several mouthfuls) too far.*

We both really like the architecture and feel of Tiblisi so will stay another day.

Our Own Tbilisi Tour

01/10/2025

We loaded two bags with laundry and staggered 1.3km with it. Under £10. Georgia so much better value than Turkey.

Free of our burdens, we did a Katherine led walking tour. I’d plotted the main places of interest that we’d not done yesterday with the official walking tour. We had planned to use the cable car up to the view point, cafes and gardens and then take the funicular down. But the weather was grey so there would have been limited visibility.

*Lots of fun statues, I especially love the last one showing the joy of dance.*

Lots of decrepit buildings – shabby chic. Many with cracks from the 2002 earthquake. But economic uncertainty and decline since the Soviet collapse and insufficient building regulations to force demolition or repair.

The State buildings looked the part. Including a permanent demonstration outside the Government building. I wonder if the stormy skies above are symbolic? We checked on which day’s demonstrations were planned.

*Public Services Offices, known as the Umbrellas*

*Freedom Square. The St George was donated recently by a Georgian sculpturer*

*Fun clock tower built by the owner of the adjacent puppet theatre*

*Underpasses, some with shops and a convenient convenience*

*Part of the Berlin Wall – we saw a similar gift from Germany in Tirana*

We both think Tbilisi is possibly our favourite capital. Plenty to do for a city break.

Our lovely lunch of 2 soft drinks, bacon and cheese omelette (J), chunky fries (both) and delicious trout stuffed with cheese and walnut paste as only £16.10 in a side street restaurant. We didn’t eat again.

Kutaisi and Another Repair

Posted on September 24, 2025 by Clunegapyears

20/09/2025

Very heavy rain all evening and overnight with the grounds getting soft. I was concerned about getting Jez out of the campsite, but J guided the wheels over the best route. Phew. We filled with LPG (£ 0.37 per litre), replenished our cellar 🍷 and bought diesel. Lovely when the right things are empty / full.

We were headed for Kutaisi, but I plotted two activities en route.

The first was Vani archeological museum. Award winning as the exhibits really were well presented. Love the use of mirrors behind the artifacts. Vani was a cult temple / necropolis centre. Largely undisturbed and few tombs raided, with finds going back to C8-7 BC. A lot of gold and treasures were found. Mid C3 BC the Greeks arrived and there was a Hellenistic influence. And coins indicating trade. I was particularly struck by the bronze casts from C1 BC. They really were particularly fine.

Our second stop involved us abandoning Jez as the track was very pot holey and muddy. So were we (muddy not holey or even holy) by the time we had walked to Dikhashkho Sulphur Geyser. With our lack of on board shower, we didn’t fancy joining the others in the sulphur bath. I dipped my fingers in and the water was warm and smelly.

*Apparently the tiny pool gets crowded at sunset*

We parked up along the river in Kutaisi. A spot recommended by a motorhome builder / hirer. We are hopeful that he can perform magic on some of our needed repairs.

Kutaisi Twice

21/09/25

An over 20,000 steps day. We walked twice into Kutaisi. Back for 1.00 to meet Rustam. He builds small campers and rents them and motorhomes. Repair isn’t really his business but there just aren’t any other options in Georgia. He said he’d have a go at most issues, but wouldn’t touch the Alde wet heating. We gave him a key to Jez and he returned that afternoon to do the work:

A screw had broken off that holds a window arm to the wall
A drawer handle had come off and the threads sheared.
The 220v system had stopped working on inverter. It works as if we are on hook up, or should. I’d tested the 220 by plugging in the external orange cable with an adapter, so I knew it was the connection. Rustam unconnected and reconnected everything between them. And it worked. Yay.
The roof light over the bed leaked in heavy rain whilst driving. We’d had it resealed 18 months ago, but Rustam thinks it is a rooflight design fault. We had replaced a wind up handle roof light with a bar to open some years ago, saving about £150. We may be able to block the ventilation holes with a rubber strip.
One shower drain had broken the tray around it. Rustam looked at the fitting of the tray, but to remove it would have involved first removing the shower walls. So we went for just sealing it over, leaving us with one drain.

Total price €150, so happy.

We just wandered Kutaisi in the morning.

*Passing water gushing off a mountain and women sweeping debris from drains along the road. Where are the men?*

*The rusty pipe along the road was Russia’s cheap way of supplying gas to properties. Cheaper than burying underground. I read that it recommended to call should you smell gas,* 💥 *boom*

So many cars are missing front or rear bumpers. The driving is only beaten by Albania on the bad driving scale. Georgia is a major importer of used cars from the USA, which they repair and sell onto Russia and the ‘Stans. Either, a fair few of the wreaks make it onto the Georgian roads, or more worryingly, damage is caused whilst on the Georgian roads.

In the afternoon we went to Bugrati Cathedral. One of the 4 most important Georgian orthodox cathedrals. Gelati Monastery, which is a must see, is closed for renovation so Bugati is doing a production line in weddings. A standing service is held off to the side. Seems to be a quick affair with no music or guest / family readings. Three weddings just in the time we were there.

Controversial as it was significantly restored, with a modern wing and supporting part of the inside. UNESCO very unhappy so moved the cathedral from a world heritage site to a site at risk. But having looked at the photos of the state it was in before, I’m with Georgia, not the purists.

*Supper was delicious. Walnuts in aubergine and chicken sauce, but smooth. My leftovers made 2 soups and a bottle of good white was only £10*

Kutaisi Walking Tour

22/09/2025

*We crossed the hydro plant and walked into town along the other side of the river.*

*The river is still raging muddy water after all the rain and we could see Jez in his parking.*

We did a guided walking tour with one other couple … Hungarian father and daughter living in Geneva. He grew up in London from age 9 and spoke English with a plummy accent, she with a strong accent. A good tour and it cemented some of the history I’ve been reading. Our guide does speak Russian, but is reluctant to use it … we witnessed this when a Russian lady asked for directions. He also advised against visiting 2 museums as they’d been built by Russia. I asked about the flood of Russians (I had read 1.2 million) after the invasion of Ukraine (either to avoid conscription or as they disagreed with the war). He said if you heard a loud booze fuelled party late into the evening, it was Russians. He also said that Georgians charged Russians more to rent or buy property.

*Colchis Fountain – I’d driven around it … no rules at all. A complete free for all in every direction*

*Quite a few statues around. Chap in the right, outside the No 1 public school, had taken the Georgian historic archives and treasures to France* in 1921 *to protect them from the invading Red Army*

Lunch was fairly liquid, as one yummy glass of wine became 3. A recommendation from a young journalist who was at the next table. I got her to write down the names of some good wineries. We ate a hot chicken liver, onion and mushroom fricasse with iceberg lettuce – an interesting combination but it worked.
We had taken the large rucksack and I filled it with meat, fruit and veggies at the daily market.

*Our only evening visitors were cattle and a horse!*

Wroclaw: a history lesson

Posted on August 15, 2023 by Clunegapyears

13-14/08/2023

Leaving the bustle of Karpacz, we motored to Magnolia Park. Sounds like an American TV show? Appropriate, as it was a huge retail mall. There was a Decathalon, but I restrained myself. I don’t like shopping but always find something I most definitely need in outdoor shops. I did make use of both the toilets and Carrefour!

I accosted several people with a gin dobry (hello, not a gin and mixer), and do you speak English? A Russian native speaker with excellent English helped me. I would love to have asked how come she speaks Russian, but I’d already delayed her enough. I downloaded the Jakdojade transport app. It is brilliant. Real-time info on when busses and trams nearby are leaving for your selected destination. And a gps map to help you walk to your stop. It’s a model of how a transport system should work. J, being over 65, was free and each trip was under £1 for me.

After a quick lunch, we went into Wroclaw. No gps.my city downloadable walking tour, despite it being Poland’s 3rd largest city. I asked in the Tourist Information, but none available I was told! I later found an interactive map, which helped guide us. In the meantime, we used the guidebook and tried to identify the main sites. We ended up on the original city originally an island, which houses the ecclesiastical area. Nice.

*Ostrow Tumski where* *the bishopric* *was* *formed in 1000*. *The city* *moved in 12*92

*Kids wandering around with maps and stickers (and parents!)* *Dwarf hunting. They were created as an amusing dig at the idiosyncrasies of Communism and now represent significant events.*

Desperate for a sit down (and pee) we sought out a cafe. No. 1 choice was aborted … 20 mins to get a menu and then no sign of staff to take the order. We left! No. 2 choice was a gem. After my first Apperol of the trip, 2 actually, we decided to eat there. The young girls were lovely and we had taken root.

*J’s delicious salmon on black quinoa and citrus notes.*

*Always a risk that* *duck breast* *will not* *be tender …* *this was perfect* *with raspberry* *and* *rhubarb* *notes!!*

On Monday we wandered a few more sights, before brunch.

*Hansel and Gretel houses, as they’re holding hands!*

*Eggs royale for brunch for both of us.*

We joined a ‘free / tip what you think’ walking tour with the focus on Wroclaw Jews and WW2. Local Lucas had read history and been a tour guide for 11 years. Excellent English and possibly one of the best walking tours we’ve done. This part of Poland had been German until 1948. It had the 3rd largest Jewish population in Germany. The town was heavily pro Nazi. After Krystallnacht, half the Jews fled. The remainder ended up at extermination camps. Treatment of Jews in Wroclaw swung from inclusion to persecution over the previous centuries. And even more sadly persecution in 1968. The economy was in freefall, and people couldn’t afford bread. The government had cast blame. It landed on the Jews. A number were allowed to get passports and leave Poland. Only 54 years ago!

Not until 1945 did Wroclaw receive a few Allied bombs but was ‘given’ to the Russians to invade. Women and children fled to the hills in the south, but 90,000 perished in the January hard winter of 1945. Men and boys were forced to stay and hold the city. They were more scared of the Nazi mayor who publicly executed any dissenters. Wroclaw fell after very heavy bombing 2 days after Berlin.

Post war, the borders were re-drawn again. Poland effectively shifted west, losing eastern land to the Ukraine and gaining German land to the west. Wholesale populations moved. Lovely Lucas explained his grandmother had been displaced from what is now the Ukraine. With the shortage of housing, they shared an apartment with Germans for 5 years, until the Germans were given 2 hours notice by the Russian police to pack and join a train, taking them to Germany. Under Communist rule, Poles could buy farms and apartments for about 10% of their value. Lucas said, like elsewhere, young Poles now can’t afford to purchase their own home.

*Site of the burning of 48 Jews in 1483.*

*All the Communist era neon signs in a hip alley. Lucas explained he remembers some* *of them in situ* *and being* *the only colour* *in a grey* *city.*

*The synagogue designed to blend in.* *The square* *was the* *site of Krystallnacht*.

198-200: The Hidden Napoli…

Posted on November 6, 2015 by Clunegapyears

198 – Wednesday 4th October 2015: Bank Foxtrotuncle, Duomo and Underground

Train into Napoli and as cash funds were low, the first stop was an ATM. With all the warnings of pick pockets, K sensibly held her bag in front of her….. and waited for the cash …. and waited for the cash …. said to J ‘This is taking a long time’ and ….. the machine asked for the next customer. No cash! The bag had obscured the very low exit for the money. Once we had negotiated the airlock door with guard to the bank, we attempted to explain what I had done. Some language difficulties until K offered French or German …. it then became and excellent conversation in French – understood by both sides! Oops … come back tomorrow when the bank has done its reconciliation. A telephone to the bank back home and they said to see if the Naples bank could sort it first too. Bugger as we meant to move south tomorrow. Ho Hum.

Naples is the home of the pizza, so we had to have one …. The Margeritta is named after a queen. So huge that we shared one… really fresh ingredients.

The Duomo is nothing special: rather sombre and the interior is very C18 looking, however it did have a lot of relics. Do I have a fascination with ancient body parts?

The Saint’s bits!

Wall to wall cupboards … More bits of goodness knows who

We then wandered through the iconic narrow tall streets with all the washing, street traders and traffic: moving and parked. It is buzzing. Real life. J loved it too, as it reminded him of his time living in Amman, Jordan.

Courtyards behind large gates – now flats and offices

Grocery delivery being winched up

Lots of deep fried fast food vendors. The chap did a nice pose for me 🙂

J had ordered this whilst I was in the UK thinking it was a fishcake… nope …. deep fried macaroni cheese with a bit o’ ham. Had to buy one to see what he was talking about … actually yummy

At San Lorenzo Church we paid to go underground to see a Roman market. After Pompei and Herculaneum, it was a bit of a poor offering. However, it does server as a reminder that it doesn’t matter where you dig around here, you will first find Roman remains and then a bit deeper – Greek.

This is the San Lorenzo underground market street, with butcher, baker, candlestick maker and …. a tax office!

Napoli (J here without toilet jokes this time…) has a street called “Christmas Alley” – you folk from Brizzle will know all about the Christmas Steps – not quite the same though – but a tenuous ‘James’ sort of link… This street as the photos show – is a child’s playground – everything from miniature Santas to grottos to realistic apartment blocks made to scale from timber (nothing to do with Christmas !) – we later saw a large model (to scale) apartment building made from – what’s Italy famous for ? Answers on a thin base please – PASTA !!! It’s called colloquially – an ‘apastrament’ building ! You lot will believe anything… The principal Napolitean superstitious instrument is – a gherkin (red chilli)… You need to have one handy at all times – mainly to protect you from the traffic. One can do lots of things with a gherkin – nose picking, ear wax picking, flossing…. I need to get back on script or else a gorgeous ex-teacher will give me a detention – yippee… !

This Christmas grotto was not made from pasta, or pizza dough (though we did see one that was). Mostly resin. Lots of of footballer and nativity figurines and … Kate, Wills and baby!

Fat dogs … sleep on … shelves!

The narrow back streets of Napoli really energised us – all life is there – we will definitely be back.

199 – Thursday 5th October 2015: Above and Over Ground in Napoli

Quick visit to the charming gentlemen in the bank … yes, Madame was right. K quickly quipped that she is always right … the money will be credited to the bank account by Monday.

On Thursday, we decided to join a free guided walking tour – we have enjoyed these tours in many major cities – a tip at the end is always welcomed. Our guide was Rafaella, highly articulate and witty – a true Napolitean gentleman. We were joined by a young couple from Bulgaria who had flown into Napoli the previous night for a short visit – really nice people – their English was perfect. Rafaella reminded us that Napoli was variously ruled by the Greeks, Romans, French, Spanish and Austro Hungarians… Small wonder they area truly diverse people. From the start point at the Castello Nuova to the amazing Spanish Quarter, we appreciated again the cosmopolitan nature of this marvellous city. As K has noted, this took me back 30 years to downtown Amman – Stephen, Simon, Sarah and Sinead will well remember – actually, from our April 2015 journey, downtown Amman has not changed – thankfully. Whole families out on the streets, talking, singing – is there anything more important than families ? No.

Mosaics at the Toledo metro station in the Spanish quarter.

Lunch in the Spanish quarter. Expresso was complimentary and J loved his pasta dish

Meeting point for the tour – Castello Nuevo – typical of Napoli … wonderful architecture …. but so much covered with scaffolding and surrounded by cars.

Castel nuevo main gate … a fresco showing the Spanish court

After Unification a gallery very similar to the Vittorio Emmanuelle gallery we saw recently in Milan was built to attempt to reconcile the disputing factions in the South. nothing like the buzz or crowds of Milan. And note the covered scaffolding on the right … endemic!

Cock and Bull! J with his star sign.

A main and large square … great architecture but again deserted bar a few military vehicles.

Ex voto shrine, washing and grafitti … this IS Naples.

Street scene ... moped, blokes chewing the fat and a craftsman.

Street scene … washing, moped, blokes chewing the fat and a craftsman.

Abandoned car. Despite our tour guide saying that there are few accidents given the crazy driving and parking, we saw a number of scrapped and dented cars. Great place to learn to drive!?

Looking up through the washing to St Elmo castle.

Tripe. All kinds of tripe.

St Jesu church, originally a private palace. Odd inscriptions on each stone have recently been found to contain a tune.

Entrance to one of the gated courtyards. Dragons either side had large mouths for the snuffing out the light beacons ... caught another chap just hanging around!

Entrance to one of the gated courtyards. Dragons either side had large mouths for the snuffing out the light beacons … with another chap just hanging around!

Football mad.

On a recommendation from Rafaella, we took the Funiculari railway to the top of the town and Castello St Elmo – staggering views over greater Napoli – K’s photos do it justice.

Steps back down to the Metro (parts of the Metro are still being built – Euro 1 per single journey – great value indeed) – stopped at an expensive Carrefour – and caught the Circumvesuvia train back to our beautiful soft cuddly van – can a 28 foot 4 tonne van be cuddly ? Yes – even after 14,000 miles in 6+ months ! In 10 days, we have become quite familiar with the Napolitean transport system.

200 – Friday 6th October 2015:

A beautiful sunlit day greeted us and spurred on by this light from the skies, we ran. (Actually, K spurred me out from under a perfectly warm duvet to get my arse into gear – she is a kind lady – I won’t mention the words ‘boot camp’ – otherwise my rear end might be conferred with the Order of the Boot – actually, I might prefer the Order of the Garter… ?

I ran 4 km at an acceptable pace. K ran 5.25 km – her longest run ever – at a good speed. This is the lady who started ‘norking/running’ 3 months ago – she now encourages me to run – I thought I was the ‘runner’ – changed times – well done my lady.

A jobs morning as check out was not till 2.00 … K’s grey hairs covered over…. J was so expert he now has this job for life! Hand washing, hoovering and both showered. K

We set SatNav Brad for Paestum, a Greek city dating from 700 BC – before the Romans. Seriously BC. We expected a scenic seaside route south – sadly, we got prostitute avenue. We mentioned this before – 25 at least ladies at the roadside over 20 kilometres – sad – but no judgement.

We had identified a ‘parking’ area for the night but upon arrival, decided it was a bit lonely. Our second choice was a large parking area – part tarmac part grass – near the Greek ruins. We stretched our legs for an hour – and repaired to a local cafe for a glass of Vino Bianco. The staff arranged us in leather armchairs in front of a real log fire – it could have been a ‘Rothbury’ fire – K’s home. Refreshed, we returned to our van.

I was playing with my camera – trying to set it on monochrome only and having succeeded, I decided to photograph some night star scenes. I set foot outside and saw a car entering the field. An alarm bell triggered and we went into a well practiced protocol. Anytime we use a ‘parking’ site, we park facing the exit, remove the Krooklock from the steering and leave the van ready in case of a swift drive out. The car I had spotted was doing circles around the field and we activated our evac plan. K drove and I stayed in the rear. We drove to the original choice – an olive grove in a farm – with another van parked nearby – the site looked better on a second viewing. At no time were we in any danger, but all motorhomes have these sensible evac plans. This was only the second time in 6+ months that we used it.

Tomorrow – to to the Greek ruins, following a Greek run – time to dive under my/our duvet and hide….

Clune Gap Years

A journal and reflections of our motorhome travels

Tag Archives: walking tour

Tbilisi

Kutaisi and Another Repair

Wroclaw: a history lesson

198-200: The Hidden Napoli…