So, my main goal today, as it was my one tour free day, was to hit a sulphur bath!  With suggestions from my tour guide I googled the best locations.  I found one and put that location into my GPS….and I was off!!!

Now, I will say that I, at this time, had no idea my hotel was a half hour walk from the center of the city.  Nor did I know that the sulphur baths are generally (I think) in one area of town.

So I set off….and the lovely receptionist lady took my picture by the tree!!

Gas station right on the side of the road!

Sights along the way…

A small bakery just getting ready for the day – not one person spoke english! I think that pinkish colored ceramic dome with the blue handle is the oven!

This is the Sculpture of the actors of the “Mimino” movie:

More cools sights:

I turned a corner and there before me was what looked to be the hub of the city! First I come across a piece of the Berlin Wall…

A statue of the founder of Tbilisi, Georgia, King Vakhtang Gorgasali:

Okay!!! Michael brought one of these hats back with him from Georgia, called a papakha sheepskin hat, and I just loved it and had to have one too!  This is the first item I bought during my wandering around into the city center!!!  They’re for sale in almost every souvenir shop – but no one was wearing one!  Except me!  I LOVE this crazy hat!!!

I have a bit of a funny story! Not only did these hats catch my attention – so did these weird, waxy looking food items, hanging in bunches like homemade wax candles…

So into the little shop I went…I wanted to buy two of the bright red ones – pomegranate and hazelnut. I had 100GEL on me and the young shop owner who spoke english couldn’t make change. I said I would come back!

I returned, but the young shop lady who spoke english was gone. The shop lady there was much older and didn’t speak english at all!  Using the universal language of my hands to point and do the talking…..I bought two of the sweet treats then asked her to take my picture because I was wearing a papakha, a traditional Georgian sheepskin hat and was purchasing a traditional Georgian sweet called churchkhela!! Churchkhela is a fruit or nut on a string then dipped in fruit juice and dried in the shape of a sausage!  It’s very sweet and has a waxy texture!

Anyway – this old woman didn’t have clue how to use my camera!! Her finger kept missing the shutter button!!  It was pointless explaining how to use the lens to focus….and the minute she started taking pictures, she was hooked!!!  She laughed while taking them!!!  Here they are!!!

Pretty funny!!!!! That was a wonderful moment!!!!

More sights along the way!

Stray dogs in Tbilisi are vaccinated and tagged to indicate so! You’ll see the tag in the dogs right ear.

Here are the famous sulphur bath houses!! This was my original destination – but it was just too crowed and I was too takin in, interested in the city to go in the baths at this time!

The above mosaic, Turkish looking bath house has been recently renovated – and is the most popular, expensive one to visit.  I’ll have more information about the sulphur bath houses as the week goes.  I’m planning on visiting one early tomorrow morning before my first tour of the week!

This is a side view of the above mosaic bath house and a cool looking church on the hill:

It was time to eat!!!  I was starving!  I picked a popular restaurant in this trendy bathhouse, tourist area to eat called Terrace Gorgasali. When I settled in, I noticed that most of the dining room was filled with Russians. When I asked my server about the sulphur bath houses, she said now is not a good time to go – New Year’s Eve day and tomorrow – too many Russians here filling them up!

View from my seat in the restaurant that is located next to a sulfer bath house.  The brick domes are, I think, vents to the bath house rooms!  Steam was coming out of them!

Menu:

Water bottle and glass!!  Great colors, ‘eh!!!

I ordered the cucumber and tomato salad with nuts!  Possibly the BEST salad I’ve ever enjoyed!!

Next I had a very traditional and popular Georgian dish – Khinkali Kalakuri (with beef).  These are dumplings!  I had no idea what to expect on the inside….

They arrived…I started to eat with a knife and fork….

But that isn’t how you eat them!!  The server came over and told me I was eating them wrong (in a nice way!)!  You turn them upside down, bite a hole in it, drink the juice inside, then eat!!!!

Local musicians, busking, stopped at my table because I took a picture of them as they sang at another table!!

Here is video of them singing to me!!!

I wanted dessert, but I was denied it because…well I was told they didn’t have any….but I think it was because they needed the table….there was a line-up out the door…..so I paid my bill and left.  Maybe I’m wrong in my disbelief that they didn’t have any desserts, but for a restaurant as popular as that, with tables held with reservations….. me thinks I was a turnover!!!!

So I paid my bill….bill was equivalent to $10.00 CAD!!  Very awesome!!!

So off I went….I was getting tired so I decided to make my way back to the hotel…

More sights along the way:

Yes, that is a peacock on the wall!

Hey, someone painted Michael and I!!  🙂

Well, that was my day!!!  It’s time for bed!!!!  Tomorrow is going to be a full day!!!

S, xo