Georgia: Feverish Batumi

From Trabzon, it's a scenic bus ride along the Black Sea coast to the Turkey-Georgia border at Sarp, except it was rainy for us. This is only our second land crossing of the trip and it seemed particularly bustling to us. We later figured out that a lot of the Georgians were doing their Sunday shopping in Turkey. Since Turkey is much more developed and has a much higher per capita GDP, that's like Mexicans crossing the border to do their grocery shopping in the US! 





Batumi is an old resort town on the Black Sea. The waterfront promenade, laid out in 1901, has been expanded over the years. The whole city has been expanding, moving from 3rd to 2nd most populated city in Georgia. There are many new buildings, some rather feverish, if not garish - Skopje would be jealous. The soon-to-open Marriot Hotel is however tall and elegant.



















John liked our room overlooking Batumi Port. I was enchanted by the Ali and Nino statue. The book Ali and Nino inspired me to come to the Caucasus, never mind the book didn't take place in Batumi - Ali and Nino were from Baku, Azerbaijan.













There are several Art Nouveau buildings in Batumi.