Last Day in Tbilisi - at least for now!

02-27-2022

Note to self - cappuccino is delicious;  cappuccino is filled with caffeine;  sleep is better than cappuccino!

We had promised to come down to breakfast around ten, which requires an alarm for me and some less- than-gentle awakening for someone who shall go unnamed! As it is I go down just a little after ten and am joined eventually.  We had ordered breakfast for one and what arrived, in stages, was easily too much food for two!  I kept saying, 'Are you done?" and our charming hostess would just smile and make another trip from the kitchen! Ammar isn't much of a breakfast eater anyway and his tummy (and to some extent) mine aren't quite up to snuff.

lovely tea

OMG! two kinds of meat, cheese, couscous with veggies, katchapuri, bread stuff with bean paste, 
apple butter, more bread, and tea!

When we've done as much damage as we can we go back upstairs to consider the day's plans.  I would like to take the cable car back up to Mother Georgia and the fortress that we basically skipped last time we were here.  Ammar wants a pharmacy, so we start out on foot to accommodate that need and then take a taxi to the Peace Bridge and the cable car station.  Turns out that the cable car is out of operation!  Still the park is lovely and we spend some time wandering and talking before going to Plan B.

Sleeping in the sun

Part of the new normal landscape

Where's Waldo?

As you might have guessed, that involves the casino since we still have credits that we can't exchange for cash.  It takes quite a while to blow through all that, which means we first have time for espresso and Turkish tea, and then for lentil soup, mushroom soup, and Georgian salad before we leave to come back home.  

We're both pretty sleep deprived and while I make a reservation for a Georgian cooking classs in Batumi, Ammar falls asleep.  I'm also looking for other fun things to do and considering just how much stuff I need to bring for eight days away.  We think we can ask our host to stash our big suitcases while we're in Batumi for eight days.  It would make traveling on the train so much easier and Ammar has conveniently brought two little bags in case one or both of us needed them to go home.                                                 

Look at all the electric-car charging stations!

Hmmm.  Where to have dinner before an early night?  Well, we know a great restaurant that has free food! On our way out we stop at the office and talk with the owner.  He is so charming and is happy to sttash our luggage until we come back.  It's a delightful hotel and we feel like family here!  We also take care of oour bill so that's out of the way.  It takes three people counting to make sure I've gotten it right (I had!) 

Back at Iveria, I'm content to drink delicious wine and munch macadamia nuts for long enough to burn through our credits before dinner! It still fascinates me that they are paying Ammar to play! Maybe this wouldn't have been so much fun if we hadn't won that first night!  But we did! Anyway, I have grilled salmon with teriyaki sauce and Ammar opts for grilled shrimp and lentil soup!  Hard to beat it!  

Along our walk we pass a lady who had fashioned a kind of
cloak out of blue and gold fabrics to resemble the Ukrainian flag.

Taped in a window

Whoever cleaned our room last saved my flowers from the indignity
of being in a water bottle!

We walk home because walking is good for us!  (I've taught him well!) There is plenty of time to pack and organize so that we're ready for that six a.m. wake-up call!