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Batumi’s amazing, quirky architecture

The city of Batumi, on the Republic of Georgia’s southern Black Sea coast is truly the Riviera of the country. Home to numerous casinos, it is a hugely popular destination for holiday-makers.

Aside from the parks and walks, many hours can be spent day and night (in complete safety) walking the inner city marveling at some great, odd and downright quirky architecture.

Pictures tell a thousand words, so here are – twenty-one thousand words 🙂

Selfie

Only in Georgia ;)
Only in Georgia 😉

source : www.arch2o.com

Source:nycitynewsservice.com

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Walking the Batumi foreshore

A walk along the foreshore of the Black Sea city of Batumi on a sunny day provides a wonderful experience for any traveller.

The waterside walk extends from the northern end near the port, around the coast for a distance up to seven  kilometres if you wanted to go all the way. My walk of three  kilometres started beside the hustle and bustle of the main highway coming in from the north near the large glass cable car station.

Batumi's cable car station, just some of the amazing architecture
Cable car station – just one of many great architectural examples
Batumi port
Batumi port

Fishermen dotted the shoreline casting with long rods to catch small fish. If you are a fisherman and know of the small yakkas or yellowtail used for bait, these were the targets for these fishermen who would take them home as a food fish.

Fishermen Batumi
Fishermen

The path passed the small boat port on the right with the din of boat skippers seeking passengers, while on the left was an eclectic set of structures that of the ‘Miracle Park’. These included a large Ferris wheel and the Alphabet Tower (so named due to the Georgian alphabet appearing helix-like curling down its sides).

Batumi Alphabet Tower
Batumi Alphabet Tower
Batumi's Ferris Wheel
Batumi’s Ferris Wheel

At the ‘point’ where the shoreline curved to the left I came across the famous moving statue. Taking 10 minutes to complete its move to depict the love story of “Ali and Nino”.  The statues are inspired by a love story between a Muslim boy and a Georgian princess who come from different religious backgrounds. embrace, before passing through each other.

From here the Promenade stretches away straight for as far as the eye can see.

Batumi promenade - south
Batumi promenade looking south

The Batumi promenade intersects the walk (it is really part of it as the walk expands into three separate walks at this point). A pier extends out to sea here, with a bar featuring comfortable seating and great views at the end and a range of restaurants along the shore.

Foreshore looking north, Black Sea, Batumi, Georgia
Foreshore looking north from the pier

Here the main Promenade walk is right at the back of the wide pebbly beach. In summer it is crowded with beach umbrellas, plastic beach lounges and crowds of Russian, Polish and Ukrainian (and of course Georgian) tourists in various stages of sunburn, from almost translucent –“we arrived today” to those who should have covered up because tomorrow is going to be sooo painful. Today there was just a smattering of early seasonal arrivals.

Climb the steps - paving pattern
Climb the steps – paving pattern
Black sea beach - Georgia
Late spring ‘crowds’ – packed during full summer
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Cruise boat on a mirror sea
Public Service Hall - Batumi
Public Service Hall

The other walks run parallel but are well shaded and provide ample opportunities to stop and another path painted a dull orange provides a route for cyclists and roller skaters.

Batumi parks
The parallel walkway – workers doing maintenance just before main summer season
Batumi cycleway
Cycleway

On the return leg a deviation can be made to head over the road and pass by (or visit) the Dolphinarium and further on the Batumi Zoo (most items can be seen for free for the park by looking through the fence) and the large lake and other gardens.

Batumi Ppromenade
Batumi promenade
The floating rock
The floating rock
Batumi Dolphinarium
Batumi Dolphinarium