So we enter into Georgia and our taxi guy is waiting for us wearing a red scarf as promised. Well its more like a neckerchief but lets not split hairs here. The guy has made an effort to be noticed so leave him alone.
It is about 4:30am by the way but our man,whose name I instantly forgot, is happy to see us and then wants to know where we want to go despite me having let his firm know twice. I show him the Google maps link using the free airport wifi and he seems to know where to go.
But he gets there eventually thanks to, or despite, using Google maps. He seems quite enamoured by England and is hoping to visit later this year for a works meeting. Not sure therell be anything left by then with Truss at the helm but we can but hope. Im guessing he wont be allowed in now Braverman is trying to Patel but I hope
He dropped us off at Nonas (or it could be Nanas) guesthouse at some time after five and made a lot of noise to rouse the host. out, briefly shows us our apartment and goes back to bed after telling us to get some sleep.
Well, its all interesting of course, but Im hoping this will appeal to people who think I just waffle and moan. Neckerchief man drove us past a huge, elaborate, glass building and told us it was a police station. The reason it is glass is because prior to 2004, the cops were rather corrupt (not as bad as our government) but pretty bad. The new PM sacked all the baddies and said the police stations should be glass to show their transparency and that they have nothing to hide (something we can only dream of).
Our apartment is on two floors with some steep wooden stairs separating the There is a double bed downstairs, another upstairs plus two single beds and an armchair. The miniscule
bathroom is downstairs and is basically a wetroom as the shower is pretty much over the toilet and the sink. We have all this room yet they squeeze the facilities up the corner!
We wake at about midday and head into town, no doubt for a gentle first day. We find a cashpoint and get out some dosh before heading into Spar to find something to eat and drink.
Next decision is whether to walk up to the fortress atop the hill or take the cable car. It takes a while to work out paying as you need a metro card but we can buy these at the ticket office. A trip is less than a quid but grumpy sells me a puts enough money on the card for a return anyway. We can use this credit on other transport so its okay but this wasnt the last of the miserable cashiers today.youre working
The cable car trip is good and we are soon up top. There was a guy at the bottom who told me I am Russian as I have a Russian face..and a few more people have spoken to me in Russian too.interesting..
There is a huge silver statue at the top which symbolises Georgia (if you want details, read Claires blog) and it looks out over the city. There are some pricey tat shops with no prices on and the one thing Claire asked the price of would have been cheaper in Venice.
We decided to visit the botanical gardens before storming the fortress and descended lots of stairs to get to a ticket office. I sorted out the correct money (just over £1 each) and proffered it through a small hatch to an angry person. They didnt even speak and I couldnt even determine what sex they were but they definitely didnt smile and just handed me a receipt without even taking the money I had left in the tray.
an hour, smooch through a greenhouse or two and that would be it. These gardens are huge and any greenhouses are closed to the public but there are a number of waterfalls. We were in there about hours and there were lots of hills and some steps that Claire enjoyed making me climb.
They seem to be doing a good job of preserving species and looking after trees and stuff but the Japanese garden was absolute pants and the orangery wasnt accessible. It wasnt what we expected but it was cheap.
