Tbilisi Part 4

Last Part
After lunch at Wendy's, we decided to walk to the funicular because it was just over a kilometer away.  We walked and we walked and we walked.  We had the funicular located on our map and kept walking and our little dot moved closer and closer to the spot on the map.

Random nothing on our walk

One of many homes we passed on our walk.

Justin half dead on our walk.

We somehow ended up at the mid point funicular station.  There is a bottom, a halfway point, and the top. We arrived at the halfway point, wondering WHY they have a stop there, but so glad that they did.  We had a card for it, but didn't know how much money was on it because the friends who gave it to us hadn't known.  The kids were free, I got through, but there was not enough left on it for Rob.  Yes, they have a cashier there.  No, it wasn't open.  The employee took pity on us and told us to pay the extra at the top.

There was a group of three people there waiting for the funicular already.  They seemed to have been at the middle stop on purpose though.  Heaven knows why.  A couple arrived at the stop and evidently they had been trying to find the bottom station as well.  They had no card at all.  The group already there swiped the card for them.  Guess we weren't the only idiots that day.  Seriously though, we followed the map AND signs that said funicular.  You would think that if they are going to put signs up for tourists they would try to get them right!

At the top, we tried to pay and the cashier said she couldn't do that.  Okay.  On we went then to the amusement park.  Evidently Mtatsminda Park (also known as Bombora) was the third most visited park in the USSR back in the Soviet days.  I think that is just so sad.  It is a pretty bleak park.  It makes me think of the kind of place you would pick for a creepy movie set.  My kids don't know any different though, so they were happy.

Haunted House

Coming out of the Haunted House.

 Rob went into the haunted house with the boys.  They loved it and even wanted to go again.  I asked Rob if it was scary and he said no, but that it was highly inappropriate.  Nice.  Oh well.  I am happy to report that they did not have any nightmares.

Many of the rides were closed.  Much of the park was just strange.

What exactly is this and what is it holding?

See what I mean?  What is it and why?

Decorative or scary?

So this is cool because...

 Justin got to go on this swing ride, but they said Ryan was too short.  Too bad because he really likes this ride.  He was a good sport about it though.

One of the nicer looking rides.

Oh look!  My family in a weird sculpture.

 Ryan had to go to the bathroom while we were there.  We found one that was really well marked.  We went in and Ryan was horrified to discover the toilet was squashed.  I told him it wasn't squashed, it was a squatter.  Why a boy who can pee outside has so much trouble with a squatter is beyond me.  He had the worst time and wanted to know where to stand, how to aim, etc.  I should have just had him go in the bushes.

The entrance (which is at the opposite end from where the funicular pulls up) has a funky structure that is fun to climb on.  What a cool tree house.

There they are!

 The regular bumper cars were not a choice for my kids, but the junior ones were a go.  They were fortunate that they were the only two in there at the time because they were not the most coordinated people you have ever seen in your life.  Oh my.  They had fun though.

Junior bumpers were the perfect size and speed for them.

Down we went once we were done.  We rode from the top to the bottom this time rather than walking halfway. :) Nice view of the city from the top and as we went down.

From the bottom we caught a cab because we were tired!  We got some ice cream and then slowly walked back to our hotel.  I had the best pistachio ice cream I have had in a long time.

Ryan is trying to make a cute face.

Random pic by the ice cream place

Restaurant where we had our huge meal the day before.

 We doubted that we would be hungry for dinner.  The boys were up for a little cotton candy though.  We picked up bananas and a few other odds and ends to snack on later.

 The next day we started home.  Here is a fairly decent stretch of the road.  There are no potholes as big as our car nor are there cows in the road.  If only the roads were this nice the whole way.  Oh, and love the bus in front of us.  We passed as soon as we could see around it or we would probably still be driving.

Home again with laundry to do and bags to unpack.  Sigh.  The part of the vacation I don't enjoy.

August 25, 2013

We had a good week.  Justin and Ryan absolutely LOVE Jack and Charlie and I couldn't be happier.  They are the nicest boys you could ever hope to meet.  Monday they came over here to play and everyone had a great time.

On Wednesday we went on the CLO trip to the Children's Railway.  Jack and Charlie were on the trip as well as Cyrus.  I was glad that we were there with someone who spoke Armenian because I would have thought the place was closed.  We arrived at 11:00, an hour after they supposedly opened.  There were some workers loitering around by some of the rides and sitting on benches, but no children in sight.  We headed over to start at the train and it took a good ten minutes to find out where to buy tickets and how to actually get someone to run the train.  Once that was done, we settled in and waited for the ride.  We went about twenty feet and stopped.  The driver got out, counted us, and said that he had to talk to a manager because they are supposed to have ten or more on to run the train and we were only nine.  Really?  I would have paid the extra 75 cents if that's what it took to get going, but permission was granted and we took off.

The ride was okay.  It wasn't very scenic and it was a bit bizarre to come to an end and then back up to the station again.  I guess you make do with what you have when you are using a former railroad station and track.


The stairs down to the train platform.

Fortunately, the ancient train in the background was not the one we were riding on. 
The boys wanted to explore it, but mean old mom would not let them. 

 



The station might have been beautiful at one time, but
now it has fallen into disrepair.

Lights on the ceiling of the train station.

Waiting for the train to start.

Colorful engine next to ours.

After the train ride, we went over to the other part of the park.  The kids chose some rides and we bought tickets.  They enjoyed bumper boats, bumper cars, the family coaster, and the elephant ride.

Bumper boats are always fun!

The boys paired up in the bumper cars and were ready to go.  The ride attendant was ready to start it up, when a co-worker started to talk with him.  Evidently, they decided that Ryan and Justin were too small to go in bumper cars without an adult.  Justin was upset that he wasn't one of the "big" kids.  Siena was already with Cyrus.  The attendant decided that Siena, Nune (Jack and Charlie's nanny), and I could ride in the bumper cars for the cost of one additional ticket, which Nune hurried over to buy while I settled in with Ryan.

 

 

Before we had to rearrange the bumper car seating.

 

I just couldn't get a good shot of them on the roller coaster.
It was the boys' first time on a roller coaster and they LOVED
it.  Had to at least put some sort of pic up for it.

Elephant ride!

 

After the park, KFC with Cyrus and his mom. :)

 We went to KFC for lunch and the boys enjoyed the special treat.  It was the first time we ate at a restaurant in Armenia.  I know that KFC is not in any way, shape, or form an Armenian restaurant, but it was something that we all enjoyed.  I know my boys ate a lot more than they would have in an Armenian restaurant or little café.

 

On Thursday we had Jack and Charlie over to play.  Whenever that happens it is a good day for the boys.  On Friday they went over to Jack and Charlie's to play.  So excited for the boys to have people they enjoy playing with so much.  It's great that we can walk to each other's houses too!

 

I picked up the boys and got home in time for the movers to bring us our consumables and our other supplemental shipment.  That was my project for the rest of that day and I'm still not done with it.

 

Kind of like our own little store.  Just a little bit more to put away.

 

On Saturday it was hard to tear myself away from my organization, but I had plans to go to the vernasage with Siena.  It is high tourist season, so prices are higher than they will be in the Fall.  It was nice to get out of the house, look around a bit, and meet a few of Siena's friends.  They have a lot of interesting things, but I don't know that they had a lot that I personally want.  It might be fun to get a hand carved chess set while we are here and a few other things.  After that we had a nice lunch at a little café and headed back home.



I thought that some of these were really well done,
but I have no idea what I would do with one.

 

Internet was horribly, horribly, slow so I haven't been able to get the blog up until now.  Guess I should post before it ends up being next week.