As we left Tbilisi,, the city was readying itself for a big Independence Day parade and we had been promised something similar in Kutaisi. The weather had other ideas.
We woke up to a overcast but dry morning and headed to a cafe for breakfast of granola and Greek yoghurt and then ambled into town. Around the main square we found soldiers showing off their killing machines and killing weapons and kids were allowed to climb all over the tanks.
There was a main stage and cameras set up on the square and all traffic was stopped from entering. Then it started to drizzle and so we opened our umbrellas and walked towards some gift stalls. Then it started to rain properly and then as we climbed the steps to the main theatre to shelter under the huge entrance the rain came down so heavily that even with umbrella and hiding under cover it bounced up from the ground and we were still getting wet.
The stalls were getting a battering and then the roof of one of the temporary covered shelters ripped off and flew away. The soldiers moved inside their tanks and into shops and cafes. People hid wherever they could to avoid getting drenched. The square was empty.
We settled in to wait for a break and then walked as quickly as we could jumping over rivers of flood water and dodged waterfalls coming off roofs in huge sheets, and reached a cafe we had identified as a place to buy croissant.
It was very disappointing – the croissant were not rally croissant. But we met a girl called Anne, a lawyer from Beijing and chatted to her for a while.
After another hour or so waiting in another cafe, the rain abated and the sun came out. The party started up in the square and we took advantage of the fine weather to explore a residential area of Kutaisi.