Mara eating one of her beloved Russian biscuits.

A visit to the Tbilisi Zoo.

Sleeping lions.  Mara pointed and said "shhh".

A white tiger!?

The zoo had an impressive display of big cats including the shot below of a lion.  It was REALLY hot and Mara seemed really uncomfortable so we cut our visit short and returned her to the foster home.

Honestly it is hard to return Mara to the foster home each day but we know it's best to engineer a transition plan that will minimize the disruptiveness and trauma for her.  We realized that her life for the past year has been the living room of the foster home.  Each day we hope to spend more time with her (and get her exposure to sunlight and the outside world).  

Even so, it was particularly hard to drop her off that day and our lovely team here asked to take us out for a traditional Georgian "supper" (which is our lunch) to cheer us up. 

To counter the heat this restaurant took advantage of Tbilisi's steep mountains and engineered an outdoor waterfall!

 
Some of Georgia's 520 varietals of grapes which also serves as good refuge from the sun and heat.

Here are Georgian dumplings filled with meat - Khinkali.  Our driver John demonstrated the technique to eat which is to bite a little hole to let out the steam and suck the juices out.  The top where the pleats meet are tough and not meant to eat.  It is discarded so you can count how many you have consumed.  John told us that some Georgian men can eat 15 of these along with beer! 

Georgian pizza - Khachapuri.   This is a staple throughout Georgia with different cheeses used throughout the different regions of Georgia.  Interestingly the price of it is a measure of inflation measured by the International School of Economics in Tbilisi. 

Both are very traditional Georgian fare (and was basically all that they had on the restaurant menu).  They accompany the meal with wheat beer, carbonated lemonade and tarragon soda.

John & Nino, our driver and translator.  Both are lovely people and have been incredibly helpful and gracious hosts. 

The restaurant also showcased how traditional Georgian wine is made - only through clay pots (versus oak or stainless steel), buried in the ground.  Yes, Nick and I have already narrowed in our favorite wine which is Saperavi Jakeli which is a fruit forward red.

Each night we walk to Old Town to enjoy dinner, drinks and live music outside. 

Here is the Peace foot bridge which we crossed to visit the Buddha Bar for dinner and drinks.  The restaurant just opened at the beginning of the year, was empty and had no wait staff that spoke English.  We doubt if it will stay open very long. 

I couldn't resist this shot of the bar - no love lost between the Russians and the Georgians.

Radisson's Daily Factoid:  Did you know that the Great Caucasas mountain range is the highest in all of Europe.  It stretches about 1200 km between the Black and Caspian seas and is considered the natural boundary between Europe and Asia, boasting summits over 5000m including Mt. Elbrus (5642m) - the highest in Europe.