Batumi Old Town

September 3, 2023

We cycled down to the Old Town this morning. It was a mixture of building styles and varying states of repair but was still quite interesting. We had picked out a few landmarks that get visited on the various walking tours of the Old Town. We got to most of them but our jaunt was cut short by a thunderstorm which had us scurrying back to our digs meaning we missed a few.

Batumi is the second-largest city of Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara. This is where the Council of Ministers meet.

A bar with a name that some might consider to be misogynistic.

There was a service about to take place at this Georgian Orthodox Church. They are very fussy about dress (men in long trousers, women in long skirts with their heads covered) so I kept my distance.

One of the scruffy streets with some so-so street art.

The Old Town is not that old with buildings mostly dating from the last two centuries.

The Armenian Apostolic Church of St Christ the Saviour. It served as a planetarium during the Soviet era!

Europe Square, a snazzy plaza surrounded by coffee shops and Macdonald's.

At the top of a tall pillar in Europe Square is a statue of Medea holding the Golden Fleece. No sign of Jason.

Neptune. I'm not sure what the young ladies at the corners are up to.

Communication in Georgia can be a bit of a challenge due to their unique alphabet. Thank goodness most younger folk speak English.

Later in afternoon we finally got around to dipping our toes into the Black Sea before hurrying back to our digs as the weather started closing in again.

Not much more than our toes. The water was warm but the weather was too dodgy for a swim.

I snuck into a church on the way back and stole a photo.

Today's ride: 10 km (6 miles)
Total: 941 km (584 miles)

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