Wednesday, June 5 - Day 16

I went for a nice swim in the morning - just like the previous day, I was the only one in the water.

That day I was scheduled to meet Ella, who I met on an online forum. From the seafront, I once again took an Uber to the old town and we met Europe Square. We had coffee at a chic place called Blue Elephant - the center of Batumi is full of such cafés.

Ella is a Russian national, living in Batumi, she is a massage therapist. In her private life, she loves classical music and enjoys reading books, hiking and traveling.

We spent a very nice day in and around Batumi that day. As I had mentioned, on my first visit, arriving to the port, I immediately left town - this time, I had dome a bit of a walking around on the previous day and a half, but, with the guidance of Ella, my appreciation of the town definitely increased. We visited villas, one that was built by the oil magnate Rothshild, saw wonderful facades, discovered Georgian and Armenian orthodox churches and a cool tower.

Near the bus station where I had arrived two days prior, Ella showed a wine store, with around 2,000 (!) different types of Georgian wine! There were about 6 large racks, each rack had 4 floors, with 4 sections, each section holding 20 wines. As I had mentioned earlier, Georgia is the "mother" of wine-making.

Not far from town, on a steep, steep hill, is the Holy Trinity Cathedral of Batumi. As it was a hot day and Ella had to work in the afternoon, we did not hike up, but took a cab. Wow. The views of the city, with the sea behind it, was breathtaking, the church really impressive...and I had no idea about this beautiful sight!

Back in town, I was on my own for a while, as Ella has to work. I discovered a plaque - in Georgian and Hungarian - of Raul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who helped save thousands of Jews in Hungary during WWII - then, turning around, spotted a minaret. Interesting combination...

Late in the afternoon, I took a bus to same place as the previous day, towards the national park. as Ella told me she would pick me up there with her car. After reuniting, we drove towards the north on the coast, spotting soem beautiful beaches with wonderful views. We drove to Kobuleti, where Florian had stayed prior to us having met in Tbilisi.

In town, we had some café and desert, then went for a walk on the beach promenade. It was a wonderful sunset - as the star dipped into the sea.

Ella drove me back to Batumi and we said good-bye.

Spasiva, Ella., for the memorable day!