It's a Vacation!

 02-25-2022

You can tell you're on vacation when you don't have to set the alarm! It was a lovely, leisurely start to the day;  but eventually we went down to the office and talked with our new best friend about a place for lunch and a massage appointment for tomorrow.

We followed her luncheon advice and discovered a lovely little bakery called entree that has baked goods, sandwiches, salads and coffee.  I chose a salmon sandwich with dill sauce on (honest-to-god it was) black bread!  So yummy!  

I just love our hotel's little office!

I guess if you get up on time you can have breakfast in here!

Look at all these glorious breads!

From there we wandered our neighborhood, eventually winding up at the Black Diamond Hotel, where Ammar spent the five days before I arrived.  It is on a main street with gorgeous old buildings and it was hard to quit taking pictures!  

While cruising we encountered an "Art Massage" place and thought we'd give it a try, since it was so much cheaper than tomorrow's plan.  Well, it was an adventure!  I though my experience was strange until we got out and Ammar told me about his!  I had a full-sized mattress right on the floor and my lady only gave ma about half a massage.  She did get points for using her knuckles, but she sure didn't go to massage school!  Just before we started Ammar looked in on us to be sure I was all right and that my masseuse was a woman! I was surprised but grateful. He didn't get much of a masssage, either, because part-way through, his woman (can't call her a lady!) asked him if he wanted a "body-to-body" massage!!  I'll let you figure out what that means!!  He said, "No, No!" and asked to use the bathroom.  That turned out to be a large room with several girls in their underwear!  He beat a hasty retreat and waited outside my room for me!  I always say there's no point in traveling if you don't have stories!!

This is as bright and a big as the room was!

And this is what you see if you look up!

We were ready to head home and recover for a while before setting out again in the evening!  We had walked about two and a half miles in the cold.  Yesterday was gorgeous and we walked about three and a half miles; but the weather turned over night.

Even the police station is spectacular!

Entrance to the Black Diamond

After some discussion we agreed to go to the Radisson Blu which had been recommended by our concierge at the Huling Hotel last time and by Ammar's friend at the Black Diamond.  But the concierge recommended the restaurant and Ammar's friend recommended the casino! After some negotiation we decided how much an evening's entertainment was worth and set out. What I didn't realize was that the food and drinks really were all free!  We had water and espresso and cappuccino and juice and Turkish tea, and Georgian salad and mushroom soup and shrimp soup and grilled shrimp and shrimp tempura, all free! And we won about eight hundred dollars!  We had taken a taxi because it was cold;  but we're so giddy that we walk all the way home and don't even feel the temperature!  

It would have been delicious even if we had had to pay for it!

Once home I start to blog and  Ammar calls his family to be sure that everyone is all right.  Life is good and tomorrow we will have real massages at three o'clock.

I check in with Ole and Stu every day and they are, of course, concerned about the war between Russia and the Ukraine.  Stu send the photo above! The Georgian people are all in support of the Ukraine;  but we don't anticipate any problems here for us.