Batumi

Day 382 (July 15, 2019) – Batumi, Georgia

Batumi is a resort town on the Black Sea. We weren’t able to see much on the day we arrived because we got there so late at night. Batumi was a long way away from where we began our day up in the mountains. Our trip started with a marshrutka ride down the Georgian Military Highway from Kazbegi to Tbilisi, followed by a metro ride to the Tbilisi train station, then a six-hour train ride to the coast, followed by a final taxi ride from the Batumi train station to our new apartment. It took all day, but we made it.

We were still eating well in Batumi. For dinner we shared a green salad, flatbread with hummus, beans in a bread bowl, and a couple glasses of wine.

The next morning, we could finally see where we were. It was raining, but we could at least look out the window in the daylight. After the rain let up, we went for a walk. The Black Sea was only a few blocks away and it was one of the first things we visited. It wasn’t exactly what I imagined. It was a pebble beach rather than sand, but the water was warmer than I expected. No one was in the water today, but they would be on subsequent sunnier days.

We made it to the Black Sea!

We spent most of our time in Batumi walking around to different parts of town, strolling past the Black Sea, and finding good restaurants to eat at. We found a fairly inexpensive beer bar with a good selection that we returned to a couple times. Despite being a resort town, I think we arrived a little early in the season. It seemed like the city of Batumi could accommodate a lot more people than seemed to be out everywhere. It was only the beginning of the summer and it was still a little cool out. I could easily imagine it being a lot more crowded in the coming weeks.

Batumi is supposed to have a very happening night life in the summer, most of which is centered on a string of bars along the beach. We were up on Saturday night and thought we would go check them out, but that ended up being a mistake. We had to pay a cover to get into one of the more happening places, but it was only a few bucks. The place wasn’t even that crowded, but it took an eternity to get a drink. After waiting at the bar and trying to flag down the bartender for a good 10 minutes we finally got our order in. There were maybe three people at this bar trying to get drinks and the guy had apparently no idea how to handle this level of demand. We got two gin and tonics. Nothing complicated. We paid with cash, slightly over the bill price. This was apparently not a sufficient tip and the bartender made a big show of asking where was the rest of his money? Travis reluctantly handed over a few more lari, but immediately regretted it. He was a terrible bartender who didn’t deserve it. Not wanting to deal with this bar anymore, we finished our drinks and left. So much for Batumi night life.

There is a golden Ferris wheel built into the pointy white building in the center.

Similar to Tbilisi, Batumi also embraced the architecturally eclectic. There is a mix of old and new. Some buildings look to be styled after old European castles and they can sit right next to ultramodern skyscrapers lined with neon lighting. It’s an unusual city to walk around. There are old churches and brick buildings that look like town halls. There is a huge Ferris wheel by the water that is light up at night and many enormous art installations line the beach. One of the modern buildings downtown even has a small Ferris wheel built into itself. Who would even think to come up with something like that? Batumi was not like any other city we’d seen before, but it was fun.