Batumi, Zogdidi and Svaneti

Off to the airport we went again. This time to visit the seaside resort of Batumi.

We met our guide, John Wurdeman, and his helper, Nathan. John is a Renaissance man. He is an American citizen who has expatriated to Georgia. He married a Georgian woman and has two children.

At 16 John traveled to Russia to request a seat in the prestigious Surikov Institute of Art in Moscow. With little formal training, it was a very unusual situation. But, he arrived on the day the panel was interviewing. After the interview, he was the first and only American student.

John became interested in the traditional polyphonic music sung in the mountains of Georgia and went there in search of the choirs. He found them, and in addition to painting the beautiful scenes of the Caucasus mountains, he tapes the songs to save for posterity. He has also taken one of the groups he found on tour in the United States.

In addition to painting and taping polyphonic music, John is also a vintner. His label is Pheasant Tears. He ages his wine in clay pots underground instead of barrels and uses a natural process that eliminates the tannins that cause headaches. So, I was able to drink the wine there. Yay!

At the airport we met the Mother Superior or Abbottess of the local Orthodox Christian convent. She was escorting her mother to the airplane we were on and John introduced us.

In Batumi we stopped for breakfast at a beautiful restaurant. The food was delicious and the setting wonderful.

These women were polyphonic singers practicing for a performance. You can see their costumes on the chairs in the photo above them.

Next we drove to the Batumi Botanical Garden. It includes separate sections with plants native to the area they have designated: New Zealand, a rose garden, bamboo plantation, Mediterranean, Mexican, North American and a forest preserve. Lots of area to travel so we took the tour bus.

 

From there we drove to Zogdidi a city slightly north and inland of Batumi. More food. I don't have any photos of Zogdidi. But we started lunch with ChaCha. ChaCha is a local drink made in all the communities throughout Georgia. They also make their own wine. Almost every family has their own grape vine and makes their own wine as well.

The remainder of the day was spent driving to Svaneti. It was a beautiful trip up into the mountains along a river bed on winding roads littered with wandering cows.

Finally we turned down a rutted dirt road and past small homes with cows in the road (never did get a good photo of all those cows). As darkness fell we arrived at our hotel for the night the Grand Hotel Ushba at the base of Ushba Peak.

Dinner was ready for us and we were entertained by a group of traditional dancers who were using the restaurant as a practice facility.

Dinner was a feast, or so we thought at the time, with several dishes in each course.

The walk down the hill to our rooms was treacherous but we were all happy to be in the "plush" rooms that had private bathrooms. The other rooms were bunk rooms with shared bath facilities. By bath facilities, I mean an indoor outhouse. The shower came complete with a mop to keep the water from leaking into the bedroom area. Not quite up to the standards of La Maison Arabe in Marrakesh.