Tsitsinatela Family Park

Tsitsinatela is the largest amusement park on Georgia's Black Sea coast. It stands in Shekvetili, a few kilometres from Ureki, between the pine woods and the main road, and on summer evenings families from both resorts converge on it. The name means firefly in Georgian, a reference to how the place looks after dark. That is also its logic: by day the park is half-empty and unremarkable, but after seven the whole site lights up and fills. What is inside: - A Ferris wheel with a view over the Ureki shoreline and the pine belt - Rides for children from about three years old, and a separate zone for older ones - Arcade machines in a covered pavilion, useful when it rains - Food stalls, an open stage and often live music at weekends One thing should be said plainly: this is not a European-standard theme park. The rides are mid-sized, some are elderly, and each one is paid for separately. A teenager expecting a large American park will be disappointed. For a child between five and twelve it is exactly right, and a considerable improvement on another evening spent on the beach. The season runs from early June to mid-September. Outside those dates the park is shut and there is no point in driving over.

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