Third Time's the Charm!! Georgia, Here We Come!

 Monday, August 8, 2022 The plan is to get up early and have breakfast, then go to the fortress before the heat of the day.  Have I mentioned the weather? The beginning of the trip it was much cooler than we had expected in Tbilisi and even nicer in Batumi, and it never rained out any of our plans! It has gotten progressively warmer and it is now two-showers-a-day weather!  Anyway, best laid plans and all that...we didn't leave for the fortress until after noon.  It's a short cab ride and we know exactly where we're going. It's our old stomping grounds but something has always prevented us from getting there until today. We queue up with all the other tourists for the tram ride over the river and up to where Mother Georgia welcomes visitors with a bowl of wine in one hand and threatens invaders with a sword in her other hand. She is made of aluminum and is twenty meters tall, and was designed by the famous Georgian sculptor, Elguja Amashukeli.  She was erected in 1958 t