Other Travellers

Besides the countries and their people I like travelling because I like meeting other travellers.

In Tbilisi, Georgia ordering one glass of wine is expensive, for just a little more you can have the whole bottle and take what don't drink with you. A couple of nights ago I ordered a whole bottle and as I was eatting my meal I saw two guys come in. I recognized their American accents. Note: They could have been Canadian. Before Obama I used to ask first if they were Canadian because if I asked if they were American and they weren't I would insult the Canadians. So after I finished my meal I took my bottle of wine to their table and shared the rest with them.

They were American students studying in Istanbul and were in Georgia during one of their breaks. I enjoyed their conversation.

The next night at another restaurant I met Elizabeth. She joined me at my table. Elizabeth was Austrian, spoke fluent Russian and English (of course). She getting her Ph'D in Russian political/social science in London. Her parents were both alpinist, although sadly her father died in Nepal while trying to attempt Annapura.

If it wasn't for Elizabeth I would have never gone to the Baths which were a short walking distance from both the restaurant and where I was staying (Nino's sister's).
It cost less than $2 to get in and use the sulfer showers and sauna. For less than $5 we got a 20 min. massage. All the women in the place were naked, most were pretty big. The woman who gave me a massage weighed about 300 lbs and she was naked. She rolled me around on a tile slab, then lathered me up with soap and rinsed me off.

I probably would have called it a night after that but Elizabeth asked if I wanted to have glass of wine some place. At the restaurant where I met Elizabeth I had a beer not wanting to get a whole bottle of wine so I thought why not? We went to this hip place and got a bottle.

While we were sitting there one Georgian guy tried to have a political conversation with me but when I told him I was a leftist he cut it short. Don't start a political conversation with me unless you're on my side and don't bad mouth Obama. I'm highly emotional.

We were left in peace to talk about ourselves and listen to the jazz music, which I thought was pretty good, especially the Billie Holiday type singer. I can thank Elizabeth for this great night.