If there is one thing that Armenia was missing, it was an attention to its parks. There was an abandoned children's railway station in one area, and I found it incredibly tragic that it was left to rot. Shortly before leaving Armenia, it was announced that the railway was officially announced a dead project. Nobody was coming to save it. The city was done. Despite maintaining the interest of families and people that would flock to the space regardless of its status due to finding it simply interesting and something to do and see. To add to this, a park was right next to it. A place of clear amusements. An area of nature and entertainment within the city, but it was all abandoned. To the point where the few rides that remained were overgrown and reclaimed by nature, rustic and incapable of functioning again. One bumper cars area held one last car, sitting there on its own, beaten up and a sign of the hard times. Yerevan couldn't care less. It was such scenes that gave me such sadness, to see the potential and still remaining interest within the public to visit such spots. People wanted to go there to spent money and even just relax, but couldn't. So it came as a surprise today that in Tbilisi, a brief bit of exploration led to a new discovery: an amusement park on a mountain.
Yesterday I attempted to walk up this same mountain but struggled with the heat, but I did notice a type of cable car that ran through the mountain all the way up. I tried some digging around on Google Maps to see what was there, and saw a restaurant and not much else. My expectations were low, and I figured the most would be a few hiking trails. I wasn't even sure of how active the cable car stations were.
Today the decision to take the car up to the top was made. Walking almost to the point of where I stopped yesterday, which it appears wasn't even necessary since you can just take the cable car from the station at the ground anyway. I didn't really know this at first, unaware of where the station was or even how to use it. One trip turned out a bit costly, around $4.50, so perhaps not the type of trip you'd want to make often. A sad outcome given the park that sits at the top is beautiful and full of fun. A great place to relax but you sort of get screwed over on the cost up and down. This park was a huge surprise with all the attractions. All of the little bars and cafes, all the music and stages clearly made for specific events. In a way it was like visiting a theme park surrounded by pine trees. Such beauty everywhere, such a great atmosphere. Walking through it, the feeling of how much Armenia had been failing was felt. This is what should be happening there. These attractions are what should be encouraging people to start a business while giving families something to do within the city to give some life and joy to their children. Park rides, water rides, and all sorts of little stalls with attractions. It even had active rollercoasters!
A walk through the space revealed so many things to see and do, and it surprised me how much of it was really used. How this park had not just managed to stand the test of time, but had flourished in a way that it had even added more to it. Though for me, the main attraction was something else. Something that deserves its own post, which should be coming tomorrow!
An iced latte was grabbed for the low price of about $4.50, though for all things considered, it was actually really nice. Walking through the park and sipping on a coffee that actually was refreshing and tasted good added to the sense of wonder in the area. Seeing how many people were there and roaming around. All the little celebrations from birthday parties to just people relaxing and enjoying the view of the city below. This is also something that deserves its own post, which will come in a few days. Oh yeah, I'm getting a bit backlogged on posts just from this one visit alone! But it was so nice. To sit and observe the life around, to have nature around that shielded from the harsher sunlight that was felt today. This is a really inspiring place to be in with a mixture of beautiful historical architecture mixed with the fun of the modern world. They even had another cable car station being created which seemed to be close to finished, which would take you through to another part of the city. It seems like Tbilisi is trying to increase the ways in which people can reach the top of the mountain without having to traverse through the ancient streets of Old Tbilisi in the process, where there is no parking and you'd have to rely on lengthy bus rides. It's a great way to connect the park with the more modern parts of the city. Just have people transported overhead!
I initially came here because I wanted to fly the drone around the area, but with security in the park, and noticing it was a more theme park sort of place, it didn't feel right, though I'll ask permission next time, as the views of the city are just too beautiful to pass up. Again, you should see those in a few days!
I shot all of these with the Sony A6000, with the Helios 44-2 which has been my main lens as of late. I can't get enough of that smooth and swirly bokeh! Also the beautiful flares it holds. But those images don't always translate well into black and white photography, so those aren't present in the post. But hey, new locations and fun discoveries is what photography is all about in the end, isn't it?
I know the currency is different but $4.50 sounds like my public transport fare to the city XD
more specifically the cbd as I think our definition of "city" is slightly different from everyone else's
Glad the place was unexpectedly good :)
It's like a small two minute ride up the mountain, so one way it's a bit of a (no pun intended) steep fee.