Batumi & Tbilisi
March 21-23rd, 2010
Before we headed to Georgia, Naim had to get gnarly. He ollied over this Hubba over a Double Set twice... First for
the footage and then for this photo. Krasnoyarsk representing! He unfortunately left the trip after Sochi!
Kenny Reed loves McDonald's in the morning.
Dressing up dogs isn't just a stupid trend in the US... Dogs in the Caucasus are wearing some funky colors.
So they told us that the boat ride from Sochi to Batumi (Georgia) would take only a couple hours, ended up being
over ten hours... We arrive in Georgia and everyone is a little sketched out. Throughout our stay in Russia, people
were telling us not to go, because it would be too dangerous. Well we arrived and it was obviously the opposite!
During the fourth century, Georgia was one of the first countries to adopt Christianity.
Georgia has been under the Soviet wing since the mid twentieth century all the way till the collapse of the Soviet
Union. Georgia has its own unique language and writing structure, but the influence of Russian control can't be
overseen. Almost everyone in Gerogia speaks Russian.
While the older generation still have a grudge against Russia, the newer generation is open minded and have been
westernized in many ways. Georgia has two disputed states called Abkhazia and Ossetia, which tried to gain
independence for years. A recent war against Russia on the first day of the Olympic games in 2008, separated
Abkhazia and South Ossetia from Georgia. Now they are independent states, but not recognized as an independent
country besides Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela and some small country in the Oceania, Nauru.
Georgy was our Taxi driver for Batumi. He possessed inhuman powers. We arrived in Batumi at night, and he was
able to take everyone's luggage (around two to three per person) and load it into his trunk in his old soviet Lada.
There is no justification to this phenomenon with words. Too bad no one took a photo but it was abnormal. Us five
with bunch of luggage all fit into his car, it was really tight in space, but it was just insane. Best driver ever!
Georgy never seen a skateboard before, but after explaining to him that we were looking for unusual architecture
which would be skateable, he understood right away and took us around town. We found one really good spot in
Batumi.  Thanks Georgy.
Tanner liked the Georgian red wine... but so did we all!
We had a great day looking for spots in Batumi, but once the sun set, we were on our way to the capital, Tbilisi!
Waking up after a nice ten to twelve hour ride, seeing the urban parts of Tbilisi was great!
That train took the wrong track...
Alright so the first thing you need to know about Georgian pastry is that the bread is indescribably amazing!
Georgian people are awesome!
Sameba! More next week.