The Trump Tower and Other Rising Structures in Batumi
I got excited when I saw the above image showing the Trump Tower that will soon rise in the Republic of Georgia‘s Black Sea coast of Batumi (for more details about this image, click this link). I was in Georgia in April 2011 and was fortunate to have visited Batumi. I have photographed almost the whole area and have witnessed the massive development that was underway to boost the tourism industry in this part of the world. I was also made aware that the Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has been personally leading the campaign to attract foreign investors into the country and had recently succeeded in convincing Donald Trump to build the two tallest towers in Georgia (see this story Trump Signs Deal to Develop Two Towers in Georgia, the Former Soviet State), one of which will be in Batumi. But since construction of the Trump Tower Batumi was still to start in 2013, there was no trace of this tower yet when I was there.
What got me excited was visualizing what I have seen and photographed and imagining these images in relation to the Trump Tower and Batumi’s rapidly-changing landscape. Here’s a photo essay of what I saw.
Photographing Batumi
Taking photos of Batumi was exciting and definitely one of my most memorable experiences in Georgia. We were blessed with a pleasant weather during our visit, literally the first day of spring with a good deal of sunlight and not a drop of rain, so we managed to gather photos of almost the whole city in one day.
Of course, the first thing I did was to savor the moment. The quiet beach and fantastic scenery by the Black Sea was almost like a divine experience. Then we explored miles and miles of the boulevard on foot and on bicycles, stopping to take photos of anything that caught our attention. At one point we took a ferris wheel not so much for the ride but for the chance to get a better view and photo opportunity of the surroundings. Luckily, my Georgian colleague, Amiran Chanchibadze, brought a point-and-shoot camera and took photos of me as I tried to capture the moment. 🙂
My Related Articles at HubPages:
- Batumi: Georgia’s Scenic City by the Black Sea
- The Black Sea and Georgia’s Beautiful Beaches at Batumi
Related Photos and Articles at WordPress:
- Boulevard by the Black Sea (travellingartist.wordpress.com)
- Black Sea (travellingartist.wordpress.com)
- Oak Barrels, a Street Sign, and a Staircase (travellingartist.wordpress.com)
- Faithful Wells and Distant Bells (travellingartist.wordpress.com)
- Still Life & Random Objects #5 (travellingartist.wordpress.com)
- Structures in Sepia (travellingartist.wordpress.com)
Una voz en el silencio reblogged this on " Una Voz en el Silencio ".
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Some great shots. Makes me wonder why such beautiful blue was called the Black Sea. Must look that up.
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Thanks Lilly. One of the first questions I asked too and I found two different answers: first that it came from the word ‘Kara’ (Black) which in Medieval Turkish also denotes ‘North’, as in the Black Sea being located north of Turkey. A different version I heard in Georgia was that the sea is so deep that when you dive into its waters, you will only sea ‘black’ in its bottom thus the name Black Sea. I’m not sure if there are other versions.
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Wow, a part of the world I’ve never seen. Talk about breaking up preconceived biases about a place – thanks for the photos of the area. Some pretty interesting architecture there and with more hotels it looks like the perfect “new” location for college spring break!
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Thanks for the visit, Mel. The place is beautiful and has a lot of history as well. A bit of difficulty there with the English language (Georgia has been under Soviet rule for a long time) but most hotels and public places would have English speakers. Would love to see your photos when you get to visit Batumi. 🙂
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Oh dear, I can’t get enough looking at these pictures, they are great and Georgia has such beautiful surroundings! Love the snowy mountains in the background! No doubt the country is developing rapidly! 🙂 Thanks for sharing these amazing images!
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Hi Kristina. I actually worried that I might be putting in too many photos in this post but I wanted to give the reader a good idea of the atmosphere in Batumi. Thanks for visiting!
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really nice blog…love the photography…… and thanks for ur comment too
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Hi, Ankur Verma. Thanks for your kind comments.
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Your photos are beautiful! Gorgeous city!
God Bless You,
Lady D
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Many thanks, Lady D. God bless you too!
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Thank you for sharing your beautiful pictures of a part of the world I have never seen before. I love the picture of the beach with the colorful buildings behind.
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Thanks, Jeanne. I love that photo as well.
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Enjoyed your shots of Batumi Beach.
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Thanks, Stephanie.
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Great shot. Enjoyed the scenery! Cheer!
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Thank you, mister240z..
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These building are absolutely amazing. I love architecture on a grand scale. Just extraordinary. Thanks for posting this
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Thanks for visiting, Kay.
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It’s a beautiful part of the world. Looks as though you had a fantastic time
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Thanks stephanie, mister240z, Babygirl, and nuvofelt. Yes, the place is quite stunning — made my first visit to the Black Sea worth every penny!
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An extraordinary account of a great exploration! Beautifully captured photos. Such an inviting Batumi Boulevard, shores of Black sea and a marvelous sunset…! Great!
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Thanks a lot, firasz!
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A surprising view of a former Soviet state! It appears that Batumi is about to become a modern city, but what about any historical center or section? If there exists one, it is well-preserved?
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Hi, adrianoantoine. Yes, Batumi seems ready to take off as a major city along the Black Sea coast. The main pre-Soviet era historical sites I got a glimpse of in Georgia are its medieval churches and monasteries, ruins of castles and fortresses, and it’s old capital of Mtsketa (see my article at HubPages about Mtsketa). I was quite impressed at how these structures remain well preserved (see Churches and Monasteries in my WordPress blogpost categories) and how Georgian’s have kept a lot of authenticity in their culture despite Soviet occupation. Thanks for visiting.
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Thanks for making me aware of a place I didn’t even know exists.
Steve Schwartzman
http://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com
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Wow – really interesting and great pictures. Thank you for liking my post so that I could see this. I’ll have to follow now so that I can see more.
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Thanks, Shiela. Looking forward to reading more of your stories as well. Regards.
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That clock tower shot is awesome.
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Wow, what beautiful buildings!
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Thanks cds and DoingDewey.
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Great pictures! Really looks like an amazing place!
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Thank you joze perspective.
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really awesome photos… I am in miami and he has taking over the beaches you can count at least 7 towers that he owns in a few blocks…. they are so amazing and beautiful… I would have to hit the lotto to win hahahaha…. love your work amazing… nice…. check out mine if you want have a great day…
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Thanks for visiting. I he’s just everywhere.
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this is lovely! amazing pictures
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Thanks CandyLip.
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Fascinating to see a place about which we hear so little. Great photos too.
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Thank you very much for visiting, Stevie.
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I want to grab my camera and go there. I want to see what you captured here. This is fabulous.
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Go for it, Beth. I’m sure you’ll bring home a lot of gorgeous photos. I love your work. Thanks for visiting.
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Reblogged this on FilipinoFestival.com.
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Thanks for the reblog.
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I know Georgia is looking for people to teach English as a second language. I also had a pre-conceived notion of what it would be like. Thanks for the education!
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Hello, Travel Spirit. Yes, English speakers are very much in demand in former Soviet countries, including Georgia. Will be posting more about Tbilisi and other places in Georgia in the coming days. Thanks for visiting A Traveller’s Tale.
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OMG. It seems so that Batumi has been changed since we were there in September 1987. One excellent example is that cows were on runway. Believe or not.
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Reblogged this on A Traveller's Tale and commented:
This post has been on the top of the daily views of A Traveller’s Tale for almost a week now. The funny thing is, nobody of the viewers left a comment or a like. The most probable reason for the uptrend is Sunday’s unveiling of the tower by Donald Trump and so people have been ‘googling’ the topic.
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Thanks for including the map as a reference. Snow-covered mountains in the background and palm trees along the shoreline…interesting. It looks like the Radisson Blu Batumi could use a chiropractor – reminiscent of my spine after long trips. :0)
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It looks like a beautiful place. And great architecture.
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It’s wonderful to get a sweeping view of the city and its surrounding beauty all in one post! It sounds like Batumi is the next vacation spot and a doorway into Georgia’s culture and beauty.
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This is a treasure, my Captain.
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Thanks a lot, Kam.
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I like the buildings that have curves in their design, a slight imitation of the surrounding landscape.
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Thanks for visiting my blog! 🙂
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Great shots! Such a beautiful place.
And thanks for visiting my blog 🙂
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Pleasure is mine, Abinav.
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Great images and wonderful scene.
Thank you for visiting my infant blog. My life’s blog is at http://johnragai.blogspot.com
May you have a great day.
John Ragai
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Thanks for returning the visit, John.
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Excellent!
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Thank you, John.
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Pingback: Images of Georgia: Batumi and the Black Sea « A Traveller's Tale
Batumi is a city for fun, swim need a little outside the city, where very clean water and nature. and in general a beautiful city, it has romance and sex
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