We walked down to Budget Georgia Kutaisi around 7:15 to be there by 8:00. Nothing except Spar opens before 10:00 in Georgia, managed to find a coffee at Spar. Our guesthouse is at the top of Kutaise about 1km walk. Not looking forward to our walk back up after watching the rugby at an Irish pub.
I digress. Our first stop is Batumi, famous as Georgia’s premier seaside resort, earning the nickname "the Las Vegas of the Black Sea" for its bustling nightlife and casinos. It is also renowned for its historic 7-kilometer coastal promenade, subtropical climate, and striking modern architecture juxtaposed with its 19th-century Old Town.
Once we arrived in Batumi we started a walking tour in and around the city. Our first stop was Europe square and statue of Medea.
The Statue of Medea is a prominent, monumental sculpture located in the center of Europe Square.
The bronze sculpture depicts Medea, the legendary princess of the ancient Kingdom of Colchis (which covered much of modern-day western Georgia). In Greek mythology, Medea fell in love with Jason, the leader of the Argonauts, and helped him steal the Golden Fleece from her own father, King Aeëtes. The statue captures Medea holding the Golden Fleece high in her outstretched hand.
Afterwhich we went to Piazza square and to
Church of St. Nicholas.
The Church of St. Nicholas is one of the oldest and most historically significant functioning Orthodox temples in Batumi. Built between 1865 and 1871 by the city's ethnic Greek community, this landmark stands in the heart of the historic Old Town directly across from the popular Batumi Piazza.
A Greek delegation obtained construction permission from the Ottoman Sultan, but under the strict condition that the church bells must never ring.
Following the 1878 Russian annexation of Batumi, regional soldiers brought a permanent bell to the tower. Money raised in 1895 allowed for the construction of a dedicated bell tower, finally permitting the bells to ring freely.
Soviet authorities closed the church for over a decade in the mid-1930s. Following World War II, a persistent petition by local women successfully pressured authorities to reopen it in 1946.
Today, it functions under Georgian Orthodox Church, with services held in both Georgian and Russian. I had to wrap a skirt around me and a veil over my head to go in to the church.
The floor of Batumi Piazza features the largest figurative marble mosaic in Europe, covering a total area of 106 square meters. Walking along we passed the astronomical clock. A quick look at the face tells you the exact position of the sun and moon, moon phases, the current zodiac constellation sign, and precise times for local sunrise and sunset. It plays the Georgian national anthem on every hour.
From there we went to the Batumi port and had tea on a boat excursion of the black Sea.
Afterwards we visited the moving statue of Ali and Nino. It represents the famous 1937 novel Ali and Nino written under the pseudonym Kurban Said.The book details a tragic romance between Ali (a Muslim Azerbaijani youth) and Nino (a Christian Georgian princess). They struggle against heavy cultural boundaries and family expectations, only to be permanently torn apart by the geopolitical turmoil of World War I and the subsequent Bolshevik invasion.
It is a mesmerizing 8-meter kinetic sculpture that mechanically moves to merge and pass through each other every day, representing eternal love
The next stop was the alphabet tower of Batumi. A 130-meter-tall structure adorned with the 33 letters of the unique Georgian alphabet which is a restaurant and has a sign showing 'The One and Only', we assume it is going to be surrounded by a hotel of that name. Then we walk down boulevard and through the dancing fountains park.
The last stop of our excursion is The Drama Theatre of Batumi and statue of Neptune.
We go for lunch, Michael has chicken Kiev and I have a Georgian salad with walnuts.
We make our way to the National park. Once we get there we cross the river by the handmade cable-car and hike for 3 km up to the waterfall and 3km back down.
Once we're exhausted we drive back to Kutaisi. The tour finishes at 20:00 and we get dropped off at Mary's Irish pub, order a beer and try to watch the rugby.
They don't have the channel, so after finishing our beer we walk across to the beer museum.
Another beer and some kinkales (a dumpling with a spicy meat centre). We watch the rugby to just before the second half at which point the channel is switched to a Georgian game. Jacqueline and Elmarie play commentators so we know that the Springboks win convincingly against England. We walk back to the guest house..
