Day 10

Today was a rather uneventful day as most of it was spent driving from Mestia to Batumi.  We were so sad to leave Nino Ratiani's Guesthouse. She was so incredibly hospitable! For every meal she would come over to each guest and talk to them for a bit.  She made sure that everyone's needs were met, had delicious food, a clean house, and even maps and advice for her customers who intended to travel.  Our only problem was that it was noisy in the mornings and the evenings as people went up and down the stairs.  However, because she closed everything at 10PM, the noise died down at around 11PM, which was pretty good.

She also had remarkably quick and attentive staff, which is rare in Georgia. Georgia is a country that hates to hurry, and coming from fast-paced America, I had difficulty waiting half an hour for a cup of tea. Nino's staff was able to give us a full course dinner in five.

After staying at a variety of places, I've noticed that guesthouses are the best to stay at.  They're always clean and have hospitable and helpful owners, much unlike hotels which tend to be dingy with unpleasant staff.  The only hotels that I liked were the Gora hotel in Kutaisi and the VIP hotel in Tbilisi.

We left Nino's lovely guesthouse to go to the nearby museum which was owned by a lady named Larissa.  She was one of the most extraordinary people I had met. I can only describe her as a fountain or an explosion of life and excitement.  I could practically feel the energy radiating from her.  She came to Georgia from Siberia because of her husband and not only managed to learn the language and culture, but started a guesthouse, made a small museum, built a tower, raised several children, and became incredibly well-known and respected.

Her museum was a replica of a Svan house and she explained all the furniture and all of the history behind it with great care.  Apparently most villages in Svanetia had a Svan tower which demonstrated the strength of the family and served as defense against nature and wars.  The house itself was 2-3 stories and had a special level for winter time and one for summer time.

 In wintertime, the Svans would keep the animals inside for warmth in special pens right underneath their beds.  In summertime, they would kick all the animals out and live on the upper level, which was used to store hay in the winter.  I was really amazed by how well the Svans planned out everything in their house. Everything seemed there for a reason.

We then went to a museum on Svanetia and I was really impressed by the emotion depicted in the icons. Most of the Russian Orthodox icons that I had seen had very stern faces.  However, the ones in Georgia looked incredibly kind.  I really wish I was allowed to take pictures there.

After that we drove to Batumi, which had really unusual architecture.  I'm still not quite sure how I feel about it.

I have one last thing to say about Batumi.  Dont eat the pastries there.  Georgians dont eat dessert for a reason.