8/6/22
After a breakfast of tomatoes, cheese and bread, we headed out in the opposite direction from the day before along the beach. We were eventually going to go to the fish market to eat at a fish restaurant. It was only an hour or so in the hot sun along the beach front to get there! We stopped at a Ukrainian beach cafe for iced coffee before continuing on. We past a few bar/restaurants and then a whole lot of boats in the harbour and then ships in the port. We seemed to have left the city centre and started walking over a flyover with very fast cars before we eventually reached the fish restaurant, Taverna Balagan. The fish market was big, but by this point we were starving so we headed straight into the restaurant and ordered a glorious fish platter with veggies and wine. It was divine!
After a very late lunch, we got a Bolt taxi back to the centre to a coffee shop much like Damascena for coffee and cake. Then we had a mooch around the old town. It had beautiful architecture, some old, some new and some very Soviet!! I bought some baklava and we walked through Europa Square, which had both an indie market going on as well as a ‘save Ukraine’ protest and then we arrived at a square that looked very Venetian, only to find that it was called Venice Square and that they had purposefully copied Venetian architecture in the noughties because they liked it!
From there, we walked back along the beach homeward bound. We walked through a bustling park, filled by evening strollers, ping-pong players, snooker souls and general moochers. It was thriving! There were various street vendors selling things as well as stalls with things to punch and kick to win prizes. We passed by some fountains that were dancing in colourful light before I heard live music featuring saxophone in a fancy looking bar. Paulo was pretty tired sand carried on home while I went to sit at the bar (after being vetted by security and being escorted to a seat) to watch the band. I drank a margarita and enjoyed those tunes. A girl was happily dancing on her own in front of her group of friends who were all seated. After a couple of sets, I headed home.
9/6/22
Today we had another tomato ‘tostada’ breakfast before heading out towards the old town. We went for a mooch about, got a very Georgian lunch of khinkali (dumplings), with a tomatoey sauce and Adjurian khachapuri, which is cheesey bread with a egg baked on top. I had tried one before and thought it was rather unpleasant, but someone had told me to retry it in Batumi since it is from the region that Batumi is in. I’m glad I re-tried it as it was infinitely than the first one, and actually pretty darn delicious! Afterwards, we mooched round an Orthodox church and then headed off to another mosque which you could supposedly visit. From the outside, it didn’t look anything special, so we didn’t try to go in. It was interesting to walk there though as it was surrounded by a few Turkish streets giving it a different feel than the other areas of Batumi – you could almost be in Istanbul, with its many bustling cafes and baklava shops! Afterwards, we went to an artisan coffee shop for great coffee and cake.
Since we had spent our day eating, we decided to go on a boat to wake up a little for the afternoon. In the end, we decided to hire a boat privately, since the big boats only did thirty minute tours and we wanted at least an hour! Since it wasn’t Western Europe prices, we went for it and even enjoyed wine onboard as well as a combination of our songs and some Georgian classics from the driver! The views back over Batumi were lovely, along with the views of the distant mountains round the bay and, best of all, the jumping dolphins, playing in the waves. Paulo swam from the boat, but I just basked in the sun on deck! After our boat trip, we sunbathed on the beach before beginning to walk home along the beach.
We stopped at a bar for sunset cocktails and snacks, watched a fountain light show timed to music, and then got a curry at a curry house that smelt glorious and at which many Arab people were eating. I assumed that both of these things would mean that the curry would be good, if not highly delicious, but ohhhhh, how I was wrong!! Our ‘butter chicken’ arrived looking like vomit and it tasted like Heinz cream of tomato soup, which is one of the few foods in the world that I strongly dislike!! The paratha did not look right and the naan was very thin. It was not worth eating for me. Paulo was hungry so ate it anyway, but I would’ve gladly sent it back – it was worth than school dinners (before Jamie Oliver had a pop at them too!). We headed home after that and I was sad about how crap the curry was, alongside the thought of how good a curry I can get at home in Birmingham! Maaaaan!
10/6/22
Today was my final day in Georgia before I flew to Kosovo to meet Amanda, my Coloradan friend, who I had met while we were both volunteering in Edna’s hospital in Hargeisa.
For my final day with Paulo, we were first going to go for brunch. Paulo had found a place that did Eggs Benedict and it did not disappoint! Afterwards, we headed to the beach to chill for a few hours. I swam, read and watched the dolphins jump about once again. After a few hours, we went for a last coffee before I headed to the airport. We past some street art on the way to get my bag.
I got through check-in and security toot-sweet and then I sat in a bar eating truffle and parmesan fries after trying to order them off the menu. They told me it was an ‘either paramesan or truffle’ situation but unfortunately for them, their menu stated ‘truffle + parmesan’ which I pointed out in true Vinestock fashion! This benefitted me as then I was able to order the extra delicious combo fries. I thanked them before leaving and boarding my flight.
My stopover in Istanbul was pretty ordinary aside from the fact that one, they are now so tight that no WiFi is free anymore, (not even one hour!), and two, an adult had a very lifelike toy cat on a lead. I was so intrigued that I took a photo!!
wanderingwelshie travels 