Day 1,475

Batumi

Call me shallow, I don't care, but after two months in Turkey I was so looking forward to being back in a European city and the word on the street was Batumi wouldn't disappoint, and oh my she hasn't! 

The Sarpi border - perhaps the coolest border post building in the world?

Don't get me wrong we loved Turkey, the kindness and hospitality of its people is some of the best we've experienced in 4 years on the road, even the dogs were friendly. Historical sites literally everywhere, great roads, it had really been a cycle tourers paradise. It was mainly just one thing, food. Well maybe two things, a decent glass of wine. So bikes stored, washing on, a quick shower in our Airbnb, then we headed out. We are British so what did we want to eat? Yep, an Indian, and that's it in a nutshell, we struggled for months to find anything to eat other than local dishes, wonderful as they were, but we needed more variety and in Batumi we had it all. Oh, and that Indian meal? Probably the best we've ever had. 

We were having a few days here. We wanted to update the blog which means many hours for Tom sorting photos and somewhat less time for me to write said blogs. Then Tom needed to edit two more films of our time in Turkey, if we just stop for a couple of days then he won't have time to do anything else and I was adamant he needed time to relax, and we both could have time to explore Batumi together.  

So Batumi, well it won't come as a surprise that it had a few different rulers over the years, the usual suspects you could say. From 131 AD to 697 AD it was part of the Kingdom of Lazica, for the most part, under the rule of the Romans. Over the next few generations Georgia started to emerge, first as the kingdom of Abkhazia, and by 1008 it had merged with the Kingdom of Iberians to form the Kingdom of Georgia. The Ottomans arrived in 1703, then the Russian took charge in 1878, even the British for a couple of years from 1918 to 1920, which may explain the sausage and mash restaurant. For a brief few months Georgia had its independence, but the Russians were soon back, this time as the USSR, until finally they left in 1991. Not surprisingly, with that history the country is struggling to be one country, with some regions declaring their independence from Georgia. 

So Batumi. A busy port city under the USSR, now though the city is changing. The second largest city in Georgia, it is developing its own identity. Over the last  20 years the casinos have arrived, earning it the nickname ‘Las Vegas on the Black Sea’. The big hotel chains have arrived, with some stunning and unique architecture. Gentrification is taking place, with many of the colonial style buildings in the old town being restored. Sitting between these beautiful buildings and the skyscrapers are many blocks of rather run-down flats with somewhat dodgy looking construction methods. Many of these, and lots of the smaller older buildings provide homes for the locals and the occasional visiting cycle tourers, but I expect if we return in a few years these will have been replaced by more skyscrapers or gentrification will have priced them out of the reach of the locals, and a lot of the character that is Batumi will have been lost. 

Soviet mosaics - we’re going to see many of these over the next few weeks

Batumi has taken full advantage of its position on the Black Sea, it has built a boulevard which runs for around 4 miles. This has created a wonderful space to walk or cycle. Then adjacent to this are 3 more boulevards, tree lined, another wonderful oasis in the middle of a busy city. This has created a fantastic area without the car intruding. The narrow cobbled streets of the old town are not car friendly either, pedestrians have priority at all junctions without traffic lights too. The result? A city that's fantastic to wander around. There is art everywhere. From a few Soviet pieces that have survived alongside new graffiti-style paintings. Then modern artwork all along the Boulevard, mainly with the theme of love.

The most famous being the Ali and Nino sculpture, created by Tamara Kvesitadze. It is based on the 1937 Austrian novel of two lovers, Ali a Muslim fell in love with Nino, a Georgian princess, but they are parted during the First World War, and sadly Ali is killed. Every ten minutes the two figures move together, kiss, then slowly part, destined never to stay together. It is just wonderful.

Ali and Nino

Then there's so much more. For Tom, wonderful trees, from the massive cinnamon trees that line the streets to a grove of the largest bamboo planted in one of the boulevards. There are fountains, and plentiful areas to sit and watch the world go by. The streets are full of small independent shops selling fresh fruit, local sweets and nuts which the area is famous for. Cake shops, wine bars serving local Georgian wines, bars specializing in beer. Clothes shops to window shop at. Then obviously museums, art galleries, theatres, street music, all in a relatively compact area. It's just wonderful and we love it. Hopefully continued modernisation will not destroy its soul. 

We finally managed to meet up with Uwe and Sabine @glorypedalling who, like us, have been touring on and off for many years. Naturally we met up in one of the many bars Batumi is famous for, and whiled away the afternoon drinking beer and swapping tales of life on the road. They've headed onwards to explore more of this awesome country, in a day or so we will follow them, for now we are going to continue to enjoy this fantastic city.

Our Airbnb is here, and it has a washing machine!