Here’s a bonus/leftover item from Batumi. I went to the Stalin Museum, he spent 66 days there organizing its workers. The museum is still supported by the state, and will be more fully described, I think, in one of the EurasiaNet stories.
Here is one of the guides registering me in front of the 8-foot portrait of Stalin.
And here is his towel, allegedly, although it would seem to take an enormous amount of foresight to keep a boarder's towel for 20-whatever years in case he became famous:
There was also a guestbook, which I leafed through for a while. (As I was doing this, and copying some of the entries down, the guide asked “Are you a journalist?”)
What do you write in a guestbook of a Stalin museum? Some people saw contemporary relevance:
“If you think about it the USA can use a modern-day Stalin. Think about it.” – a Canadian
“Interesting! But when shall we be done with sociopaths! Stalin, Bush?” – an Armenian
But most, including mine, were like this, polite and focusing on the positive:
“A fascinating tour – everything a museum should be.” – a Texan
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