Ruins and gardens

 03-06-2022

I wake up early but before I finish my yoga, Ammar is up and moving, too.  He goes down to use the phone at the desk to call our favorite taxi driver and drink espresso while I go to breakfast.  I've finally zeroed in on the chocolate croissants and this morning they also have marinated mushrooms that are to die for and an interesting cheesy, meaty, pastry kind of thingie! Cappuccino is an extra charge!  But it's "free" in the casino! 

Can't start the day without my mountains!


The high point is the upper terminus of the cable car




Ammar says our driver will be here at eleven, so I have time to indulge my caffeine addiction and watch the pretty pictures spin around.  A little before eleven I go upstairs to retrieve our hats and jackets and await our driver in the lobby.  He is very punctual and I go extract Ammar from the evil clutches.


That colorful sheet on the Prius' console is the cheat sheet for choosing locations to visit!  Very clever, no English required, although he does speak quite well!

Our driver is such a delightful man!  He looks the perfect Georgian and is unfailingly polite and always smiling.  He has even brought us a bottle of water and another of Coke.  We discuss the plan for today and he suggests that we postpone the National Park because it might rain.  Instead he suggests the ruins at Petra (what is it with Georgia?  This isn't "our" Petra, either!) and the Botanical Gardens.  They are the second largest in the country.  Only those in Tbilisi are larger. I thought he also suggested the Sameba Church but somehow that one got lost in all the communications.

On the way out of town we stop at a Smart Shop so Ammar can buy some katchapuri.  He didn't come to breakfast with me and his casino let him down by not having any breakfast offerings! He offers me some but I'm still stuffed.  I never pass up free breakfast!

We start at Petra Castle and there are lots of photo ops in these thousand-year old ruins, by the sea. And we have the place to ourselves. We've dressed for the weather in layers and are quite comfortable!  In fact, i have to take off my jacket. The road to here was pretty twistie-turnie and I keep checking to make sure Ammar is okay.  He says he's just a little dizzy, so that's good!  The cold, clear air should take care of that.









Ammar is particularly fond of this one because it
is the shape of Palestine! That's the coastline you can see through it.






















When I've done as much photographic damage as I can, we're off to the Botanical Gardens. There is a main road that runs the length of the gardens and it's about three kilometers long.  Both Ammar and our driver suggest taking the electric car instead of walking.  He will meet us at the other end. There's only one scheduled photo stop and I'm a little frustrated but the magnificent camellia trees at the end make up for anything I might have missed!  So gorgeous!!

Can you read the part at the bottom which basically says the gardens are free for poor people?!


Can't have a garden without greenhouses!
























There's still some winter yet to come!









We're heading back into Batumi and Ammar asks that we stop to exchange money as we've finally blown through our laris.  Of course we paid for the room in Tbilisi in cash! Then we're back to our hotel and I don't quite know what happened.  I thought Ammar and the driver had discussed a new plan, since they were both sitting in the front seat.  Ammar does much better with the roads that way.  He hadn't quite picked up the church part of the plan and it's all a comedy of errors.  

At any rate, I've got time to edit and blog before we have an early dinner of real Georgian food! And tomorrow our driver will pick us up at ten for another adventure.  I'm thinking of Mtirali National Park with it's waterfall, but it's a two kilometer hike to the fall and, of course, two kms back.  We'll talk about it tonight, especially since the three kilometer walk today was vetoed.  Ammar says that the way I stop to take pictures it would have taken us two days to see the gardens!

On Tuesday we'll be picked up at seven to go to the train station for our trip back to Tbilisi.

Ammar comes back early!  I've already gotten us more coffee, tea, and creamer from one young man and told the young housekeeping ladies that we're fine. And assured their supervisor that they aren't shirking their duties!!  Ammar's phone rings (again) and this time it is bad news from home.  His older daughter's engagement has been broken.  We spend quite a long time discussing family before he tries to take a nap to clear his head from our morning's adventure.

When he wakes up we'll ask reception to recommend a good Georgian restaurant.  There are so many more dishes to sample!

Wow!  There's another demonstration in Europe Square!  I can hear the speeches and the music, and if I go down the hall to the window that faces that way, I can see what's going on.  Nothing at all scary, thank goodness!




This has nothing to do with the demonstration except I can
see these buildings from the same window and I like the
ferris wheel behind them!


Ammar wakes up seven minutes before I planned to rouse him!  We go down to reception and ask a very happy and helpful young man for a recommendation for a restaurant with really good Georgian food, and it would be great if it were close by!  And he's got an answer without even blinking!  He sends us down to the Piazza Square area to look for HB Munchen!  He even circles the spot on a map and sends us on our way with a story about his friend who thought he could easily eat ten Khilkali and found out that five was his limit!!

more great street art!

We know where the square is, the restaurant may be another story;  but we'll find out!  Along the way we stop into a couple of shops and even find that my "always closed" shop is now open!  I get the two items I had been coveting and now we're looking for the restaurant in earnest.  We start by following the directions from the shop girl and then ask a guy on the street.  Ammar says he thinks it's this way and by George, there it is!  HB on the door big as life!





The beer choices are filtered or unfiltered!






It's just so adorable inside and our little waitress if as cute as the place.  I even forgive them for having their menu on a QR code!  She helps us make some Georgian selections and we wait to see what the heck we ordered!!  I know I ordered this HB beer!  It's pretty wonderful and she tells me it's her favorite, too!  After a while several dishes appear!  I know the Georgian salad with walnuts and I recognize the Pkhali Asssortment from the photo in the menu, although it isn't until I've tried each sphere that I can guess what they are!  The orange one is mostly carrots, the beet-colored one is - you guessed it!  The green one is some sort of green vegetable with yummy things mixed into it;  and there's an eggplant roll topped with pomegranate jewels.  Oh, and there's a roasted red pepper stuffed with something else delicious!  And the other plate, which I don't find on the menu, is filled with cheese pillows!  And shortly the plate of Khinkali appears.  We've chosen the ones filled with beef and broth, although you can also get cheese or mushrooms or potatoes or several other things!  They are supposed to come in orders of five;  but we get six, which is much easier to split!  She also tells us that it's okay to pick one up, bite a hole into and suck out the soup, and then eat the rest! We almost eat everything!!  We leave just one Khinkali and some water!  Not bad!  And oh my goodness the bill is only 71 lari!!  (That's about $24) including the water and beer!!





It's a lovely night for walking and we talk about the five years that Ammar spent living in Germany.

We're home and after a shower I'm feeling the effects of the beer and the full tummy!  I'll just about get this entry posted before I turn into a pumpkin.  Our new best friend (I really need to get his name!) will be here for us at ten, for our last day in Batumi.  Sigh

Comments

  1. My head is spinning from all of your adventures today. What marvelous photos to accompany your exquisite descriptions. The botanical garden flowers are amazing, and I love the mountains, as you do, too. And the food!!! How do you stay so slim?? Must be all the exercise, especially walking.

    Sorry about the broken engagement. Hope it is for the best.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was a pretty full day! Glad you like the photos and the mountains!
      I usually lose weight when I travel and then gain it all back immediately, with some tto spare!
      I hope so, too! We'll see!

      Delete
  2. Wonderful day! Pretty much ditto what Courtenay said.
    Hugs!
    Ginger

    ReplyDelete

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