Even savvy world travelers are still just catching on to the pleasures that await discovery in modern Georgia. And Batumi, perched on the Black Sea just north of the Turkish border, has more than its fair share of them.

On this introductory tour of the city, you'll pass landmarks that range from ancient to ultra-modern, to just plain odd. You'll stroll a legendary seaside park locals simply call "the Boulevard" – where colonnades, musical fountains, bamboo groves, cypresses, sculptures, and an azure sea create a backdrop for stunning photos.

You'll visit a pair of churches, both restored as holy spaces after being taken over for State uses during the long Soviet era. The tiny Church of St. Barbara stands proudly in its fresh coat of white and blue. The triple-towered Church of the Virgin Mary is a larger, Gothic affair – complete with world-class stained glass windows and antique organ. A mass baptism of 5,000 people took place there during its joyous 1989 reconsecration ceremony.

You'll see the great archeological finds of Georgia on your guided walk through the State Museum of Adjara. Its collection of well over 100,000 artifacts includes priceless gold and silver handicrafts from the so-called "Gonio hoard" and an Antique-period ceramic vase ranked third in the world for its historic and artistic value. Other highlights include the recreated interior of a typical peasant’s home, antique household goods, and folk costumes.

Batumi's streets hold many other highlights to be enjoyed along the way, with the final one being our stop at a local cafe for complimentary coffee or tea. Like everything else in Georgia, it too is made with pride.

Joe was here

Georgia's most infamous son was a guy originally named Josef Vissarionovich Djugashvili. He later changed that… to Joseph Stalin. "Uncle Joe" grew up poor, organized strikes as a young agitator in Batumi, robbed banks to raise funds for his Bolshevik comrades, and eventually outmaneuvered his rivals to become dictator of the Soviet Union in the 1920s. His iron rule by terror and purge continued until 1953. Georgians have a conflicted sense of both pride and resentment that their land produced such an important historical figure.