Around the Black Sea, in addition to Georgia where I live (still), I have also visited Armenia and Bulgaria. I have not visited Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania although I would love to do so and I may make a point of traveling about the region this summer. Last summer I took a two week trip to Hungary, Austria, Czechia, and Poland, and another trip to Hungary and Bulgaria on business — (and I took a bus through eastern Slovakia and Serbia on the separate trip to Bulgaria). If you are thinking about the Black Sea area I would come in Summer. It is the prettiest and the easiest to get around, particularly in Georgia. Some parts of Georgia become difficult to visit because the snow. Note, most of Georgia is just fine in Winter, and Tbilisi is actually rather warm compared to the more mountainous regions. If you are thinking about this region as a retirement location I would also consider the 4 countries I visited last Summer as well as Bulgaria. My favorite is Hungary, but Poland and Bulgaria are awesome and much cheaper. All are cheaper than Western Europe and in many ways much nicer, at least to me. Friends have told me that I need to visit Ukraine, but I am not overly excited about that. Moldova and Romania on the other hand I want to see as well as Serbia. People in the USA have a very bad opinion of Serbia, and just looking from the window of the bus I was in it was a lovely and modern country.