Day 3 Amazing Iberia now Georgia ( February 13,2019)

I volunteered to plan our day, much to the chagrin of most of my patrons who were impatient when we got lost and turned in circles. They demanded to know my plan. I assured them…we didn’t get lost on our way to the Sts. Peter and Paul church… “trust me,” I asked…but, the rose garden in the map was no where to be found, nor the library/bookstore café. Hmmm….And so, Ruel took over the planning and decided to go for the zoo.

Our 10 minute fast paced walk to the church was interesting. It reminded me of similar roads back in the Philippines. I kept saying this part reminds of Kalentong or that place is like some other place. The only difference- it was more grey and cold. School children with their  rushing parents offered the splash of  bright colors from their winter coats while they hurried off to school at almost 9am.

Sts. Peter and Paul church is beautiful. Although Mass was scheduled to be in English, the Italian priest said it in Georgian. Still, it was beautiful and we were happy.

So after walking a bit more and getting to a main road, taking more photos with a very friendly stray dog..we hailed a cab.

In hindsight, I never once saw a stray cat…it was mostly dogs and most of them were friendly and had a yellow round tag on their ear telling you that they have been properly vaccinated.

The zoo was a pleasant surprise. We had fun discovering animals we have never ever seen before. Marcelina was so happy to see a small white pony and didn’t like to leave it. Our encounter with a tiger was amusing. It didn’t mind us as it was busy drinking water near the glass window. So, it was a 3 feet distance view of the beautiful wild animal. But…when Ruel joined us…the cat got startled and got mad..and almost charged us..but remembered perhaps it was enclosed and it was futile and walked away instead.

We kept teasing Ruel about it.

The huge grey elephants were a sight to behold.

The lioness didn’t give us any much view and went back into their hide away after a few seconds of exposure.

 The leopards were about to offer us a National Geographic like opportunity at mating. Unfortunately, the girl scratched and hissed the boy away.

The bald eagles didn’t mind us watching though. Marcelina kept asking, what is happening mama? Humping as an answer I hope sufficed for the time being.

The vultures on the other hand were hawked eyed at Marina and their piercing looks gave us the shivers.

Oh, it was a wonderful two hours and we didn’t mind the long walk and the various smells  from the poop of the Rhino and the donkey and decaying meat and carcasses of their food.

The Llamas were fun to tease.

We had lunch at the nearby Wendy’s. It was about 50 meters away and the walk was a bit uphill. It was beside the Georgia Technological University and Holiday Inn.

Again, it was fun to watch people. I raved about how fashionable most of them were in grey and black winter wear.

Upon Marina’s insistence, we were about to go to Tbilisi Mall, but when the taxi driver gave us the price to get there, we thought we were to be taken for a ride and opted for a much nearer mall. He brought us to Pixel Center Mall.

Lo and behold, I was so taken by the Alter Socks.  They were such a novelty! No wonder Marina was pushing for it. I wanted to have all the designs but the purse said a strong and vehement “No!”

We bought new gloves for our trip the following day…and the made in South Korea label gave us more confidence for our next adventure which proved to be wise! Very wise indeed!

Once at the apartment, Lilli and I stayed behind while Ruel and Marina ventured off to buy our Subway sandwiches for breakfast and  Dunkin Donut snacks for the next day… and the teen had to have some more silver rings that she said was so cheap.

That my dear is such a  relative statement!