We're Marianne and Chris and we've been travelling full-time since 2018.
We're currently spending a few weeks in the country of Georgia ....
A country with fantastic mountain views,
crazy roads and even crazier driving!
You can't see ..... what is that!
and let's not forget unusual architecture,
delicious food,
... and cows on the road!
So this morning we're leaving our little flat that
we've been in for the last few days,
and we are heading into the city of Batumi.
Already the traffic's looking a little bit dodgey this morning,
but at least it stopped raining!
So it's 9.20 this morning,
I'm not sure why the traffic's so busy it should be after rush hour.
Just in case you're worried about MOTs when you come to Georgia looking at the car in front i don't think you need to!
And he has no bumper!
One thing we have noticed is there's a lot of steering wheels on the right hand side?!
like back in the UK, I don't know if you know why? Put a comment below!
So you can see Batumi city centre just in the distance there, we stayed about 15 - 20 minutes drive out of town.
I just love the way they made two lanes in one because the traffic's a bit heavy.
One thing we have noticed in Georgia is pedestrian crossings ....
As soon as somebody steps on it, they all stop!
I think that's the reason why the traffic was bad ....
A little crash.
So apparently this McDonald's that you can see here,
that really strange building is one of the coolest McDonald's in the world!
There you go!
Made out of glass it looks very unusual.
So half an hour later we've driven through Batumi,
and we've come to this park we found a parking spot on the road that you can see behind us.
But this park has a little bit of an unusual feature ....
that when we saw it online, we thought it was so random.....
that we just have to come and check it out!
So they've got bikes for hire here,
and little scooters, and all the way along the seafront here they've got this cycle track.
And the coastline here
on the Black Sea a bit of a pebble beach.
So Batumi is located in the South West corner of Georgia
It's about 20 kilometers from the Turkish border,
and is one of the main beach destinations here in Georgia.
You can see people enjoying the beach behind me,
this is a very popular destinations for not only Georgians,
but Russians, and people from the Gulf states who come here during July and August to escape the heat from their country.
Of course it didn't take Marianne long to find a couple of dogs on the way....
This is what we drove to the other side of the city to see!
It is a pair of flip-flops ....
on eggs!
And i'm not sure the relevance of a pair of flip-flops on eggs ....
but there is a pair of flip-flops on eggs!
So is that not the most random thing ever? Flip flops and eggs!?
I have no idea on the meaning, i have no idea why it's in the park?!
But people come and look at it!
That's pretty cool!
Okay so the plan now is we're going to head back into the city,
and have a look around the old town,
and some of the main tourist sites here,
now that we've seen the flip-flops on eggs!
I thought i was going mad!
But there's a White Restaurant it says on the side of the building?
And it's an upside down building!
Okay we parked Trudy back down by the marina here,
by the tower that you can see behind us.
Already walking along there's a massive casino there that looks a bit like the Empire State building.
What is that at the top it looks like there's a fun fair ride right at the top of that building?!
I have never seen a building that looks like that in my life.
I think we found a friend!
Are you following us ?
We always seem to attract dogs Marianne?!
It's nothing to do with the fact that we feed them!
We've arrived at the Batumi Boulevard if you're looking for the tourist office it's right there!
There's also tour buses behind me that will take you around.
We're next to the Meridian hotel,
and this fountain is actually known as the dancing fountain,
because at seven o'clock every night
the music starts, the lights in the water and the water fountains do a dance!
So the fountains on google say that the night show,
the light night show is from 9pm until 2 a.m,
and if you're staying at the Meridian you'll get a very good view!
So in the park around the fountain there's wonderful gardens,
there's amazing bamboo, there's nice flowers ...
it's a really nice relaxed place to come
and sit and just pass a bit of time and just watch the world go by.
So i would definitely come down and have a look around this park,
it's a wonderful place!
So the park's just behind us we've just come down to Batumi pier,
where there's a little pier here on the beach,
some restaurants,
and people are enjoying the weather,
which is a little bit drier than it's been for the last few days.
They've got these little booths on the beach, which must be part of the restaurant
We've also seen signs something to visit here ....
is a dolphinarium,
where they keep captive dolphins in tanks for amusement of tourists.
DON'T GO AND SEE IT
You can see them wild in the sea if you're lucky enough.
Don't buy a ticket!
Lots of people enjoying the beach although the weather is looking slightly menacing over there!
And at the end of the pier, they've got a little restaurant / bar.
But we're off to find an octopus .... Octopus ?
We were just walking along and saw this very grand looking building that you can see behind me,
and it's actually the university!
Did your university look like that?
If you went to university?
So this is a very funky looking bar,
it's actually an old Russian mosaic feature,
which is an octopus and inside now there is a bar how unusual is that?!
My sister Sue likes making mosaics ....
I'm going to challenge you to make one of those in your garden, and we'll be round!
Another thing Batumi has a lot of ....
is street art!
Look at this wonderful picture on the wall behind us,
we're hoping that as we go around the city today we should see some more ...
When we left the UK in January 2020,
there was a thing that just didn't exist ....
something we could never imagine would even ever happen!
But it's that!
There are now PCR test centres,
all over the world!
It's definitely got a bit of a tropical feel walking around it's the humidity it's incredibly humid.
The plants are like tropical ...
It feels like we could be in Malaysia or somewhere ....
Okay so it's lunchtime now,
it's about one o'clock, I don't know where the day's gone today ....
But I am hungry now !
So there's a restaurant here Adjika.
That is what i call a groovy cup!
That looks good!
And how call this one?
Oh it's my favourite!
I like it so much!
and what's the what is name?
Kubdari
Kubdari?
Yes, this is from Svanetti and it has meat.
Oh it looks delicious,
thank you very much!
Those veg, they look really nice, gorgeous!
So look this is a bread stuffed with meat,
and it's hot!
It actually looks like it's a baked pie...
That is really good, rich salty meat,
and crispy on the outside and soft in the inside bread
Okay lunch time!
We just had a lovely meal there,
and you always get advice from locals
and we had a lovely chat with the waitress there called Tamta.
Who had the best smile ever!
She did!
And in fact she told us that she wanted us to visit a place ...
So our plans have changed?!
I think so!
She's suggesting that we go way up the West side of Georgia,
to the Russian border,
in the mountains!
And she said it's very beautiful!
So maybe ....
it's about a seven hour drive ...
maybe we'll go there tomorrow?
Let's do it!
Let's do it, do it, do it!
Welcome to Europe square here in Batumi.
Full of trendy restaurants, bars, this is the place to be if you come to Batumi.
Yeah it's the place to be seen and we're here!
The building just there is incredible!
I'm expecting Batman signals to come out of it,
or some Notre Dame hunchback to be swinging from the spires!
It's an incredibly eclectic mix of architecture!
welcome to the Medea monument.
It depicts Medea a Colchean princess,
and according to Greek mythology,
she was the lover of Jason who was in search of the Golden fleece,
that's why she's holding it!
The other thing we've noticed about Batumi is the quantity of casinos, they are everywhere!
This is obviously somewhere that people come to hang out, relax and have a little flutter!
So we've wandered down from the Europe square,
in fact there's actually a protest going on outside the court behind me,
but on this side....
Welcome to the astronomical clock!
It's a cool clock, it's got extra faces and it tells you all about the constellations ...
The moon, the sun, the sunsets, the sunrises, the zodiac constellations ......
It's really cool !!
They've got a little sign here just showing all the information about it,
but how cool does that look!
We're right in the city centre and who would believe that in the undergrowth there are deer !
This is Neptune's fountain with his four mermaids !
It's right outside the big Georgian theatre just behind me there.
The original fountain is in Bologna in Italy.
One of the things walking around Batumi,
is the contrast between looking at the old buildings
and then looking at the modern buildings!
And it is a contrast, there's literally old and new all mixed in together!
It is so pretty walking towards old town,
you've got all these lovely balconies with the lovely metal work around them.
It's just so picturesque and feels incredibly continental.
Walking down these little streets,
they're lovely they've got nice old buildings,
little shops,
cobbled streets,
and there's a really nice atmosphere walking down these roads.
There's just character everywhere you go,
look, little alleys with little courtyards.
Marianne's found a door !
Oh that's a nice door! look at that ...
It's a little guest house,
Just walking along, there's an old turntable with records.
These streets are getting better and better.
There is a bit of greenery now ....
A really special place, it's got a really lovely vibe about it!
I really like Batumi
So behind me is the Piazza here in Batumi
and it's a square famous for its mosaic made out of marble on the floor.
And is the centre of old town.
You know how much we love old towns getting lost in all the little streets.
And if you do come here spend the time wander around the little streets as we've done.
Okay we've arrived at the cable car!
Last time I went in a cable car it was Antalya and it became very uncomfortable.
Just when you thought you're at the top Marianne you're not at the top ...
You're flying over a cemetery
It's in case you fall, they don't have to move you .... you can just stay there!
We're at the top, it was a a bit steamy!
Look at that!
And in fact from here you can see all the new the old.
Yeah that's where Trudy's parked down by the tower right down in the the spiral tower down there.
They've got this little church here,
let's go and see, i think you can go inside?
This is nice!
Lovely little altar,
it gets its light from the windows up there.
And then they've got little things for sale.
That was a nice cable car ride and we've come back down now
we're just walking along the coastline here back towards Trudy,
and there's a very cool statue down here in fact there's two that becomes one!
There you go more on that in a little bit
So we've come down to the area at the end of the little peninsula where we were parked.
There's a big ferris wheel there,
little bars, people all coming down hanging out.
We wanted to show you this statue,
which is the statue of love.
It's a love story and it depicts that even when you're separated,
if your souls are in love you can never be parted!
Oh i'm feeling the love!
And it's called Ali and Nino
And look how busy the beach is!
There's a lot of holiday makers here at the moment i think.
So Batumi city is definitely somewhere that you have to be seen, it's cool and trendy!
and hip and lots of people are here,
but also down in the beaches, it is super popular.
It appears that Batumi has everything for a holiday for any tourist.
Cheers cheers! A lovely way to end the day having a nice cold beer on Europe square!
And a bit of dinner and Georgian wine ......
which is very good!
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