Zooming Through Days 39-45

Between unloading the pictures, catching up on our daily routine, hanging out with the visiting relatives, and taking care of Geogia's long cold, we did very little exploring in the last few days.

When we arrived last Wednesday we went to pick up Georgia from the kindergarten. Even though she hardly mentioned us during our stay in Israel she was really happy to see us and it was wonderful to be together again.

After Georgia's nap we went to Alicia and met up with Inga and Michal. Georgia had a great day because she also got to play with Aquelia while we were there.

Thursday was almost like a typical routine day again - we dropped Georgia off at the kindergarten and worked in the morning. Then I picked her up, we went to Double Coffee for lunch, worked more in the afternoon, and walked around in the evening. But in the evening Georgia's cold got worse and she was coughing during the day now - not just in the morning so we decided to have her stay home on Friday.

We walked around youth park on Thursday evening and Georgia got a baloon from some clowns advertising construciton company. For dinner we went to Gabi restaurant on St.Mikolo. Dan's mom ate there a few times and they also rescued her with an umbrella when she got stuck there last week. While they do have a beautiful courtyard and dining rooms, the service is way too slow. Lithuanian specialties are passable but worse than those at other places. Dan waited for the check for an hour.

On Friday we went to the playground in the morning and met with Inga in the afternoon. On Friday we went to Fortas for dinner with Inga, Michal, and t.Ira. Georgia had temperature in the evening. We decided to try to schedule an appointment with doctor at Northway on Saturday or Sunday. Dan's relatives from Ekaterinburg arrived in the evening - they would be staying at Alicia's.

By the time we walked over to Alicia in the morning on the following day Northway was closed. Georgia was cheeful and coughed occasionally. So we decided to wait till Monday.

Alicia had a full house staying in her two little rooms: Ekaterinburg crew: Isolde, Natasha, Andrei and their dog Dustin; Israeli crew: Inga and Michal. We stayed for a few hours and went home to get the dinner prepared for all - by the way of Hyper Maxima. In the evening everyone came over and we had a good time.

Andrei was talking about the excitement of traveling by car through Eastern European countries. The joy of being stopped in the middle of the road by robbers, corrupt cops who refused requisite vodka that they carry to appease in favor of a few bucks for "ecology" and to "feed the family." Totally brought to mind characters from Nasha Rasha (Elena is yawning). But he and Natasha were very good spirited and these issues never stopped them from their long drives including the one to Greece. They were contemplating going to Israel and were thinking of several different routes.

Isolde talked about the games she plays with her friends. One of the most popular ones a car-based scavenger hunt when groups of people drive around in cars to the destination with the clue (to the next destination). Their gas must be really cheap.

We could not decide whether to get the car for Sunday because the sky was overcast. Weather.com said 70% so we decided against it.

But on Sunday morning it was sunny and clear and we regretted. We went to Vingis park. They have a new attraction - go-boats. It is a shallow blow-up pool with little motor boats shaped like different things. Kid and parent get in and it is kind of like go-carts in water. Then she rode the horse on the carousel by herself and was very proud of it.

On Monday went to the doctor in the morning. Georgia was really good - she patiently huffed and puffed when the doctor was listening to her lungs. The doctor requested virus and bacteria bloodwork from the vein. We went to the lab and it was the same young nurse. Except this time her hands were shaking. Mine started to shake too. Georgia's veins were very hard to find and she poked her in three places before hitting the spot on the wrist. She filled about half of sample bottle before loosing the spot. She had to do the finger for the rest of the virus sample. Luckily half a bottle was enough to run the bacteria work. The doctor prescribed antibiotic which would take care of anything it could have been.

For lunch we went to Chinese restaurant on St.Mikolo. Despite the prime location, and having been in business it was surprisingly good. Fast good service and prices. The waiter brought little candle heaters to keep the dishes warm while we were eating from other plates. Dan did not like the egg fried rice - which was made by frying the egg and mixing it with boiled rice but it must the the local adaptation.

We spoke with Kostik and he told us that instead of miserably waiting for us to come back they have already seen three movies. So in the evening Isolde came over and we went to Acropolis mall to see a movie. Dan's mom was with Georgia. With so many friends and relatives visiting in the last few days Georgia's collection of toys increased at incredible speed. She likes everything and does a good job playing with most of the things through the day.

The process to buy the movie ticket is really complicated. Here is the conversation of us (US) with the ticket lady (TL).
(US) - 3 tickets for Kung Fu Panda, please (there was just one more showing on Monday)
(TL) - For what time?
(US) - Isn't there just one more showing left?
(TL) - I don't want to sell you the wrong one.
(US) - 9:30PM for today please, and here is our card
(TL) - Movie tickets are only for cash
(US) - Here is the cash ($25), is it in English?
(TL) - No
(US) - What do you have that is in English?
(TL) - Everything else is in English
(US) - How about Wall-E?
(TL) - Except cartoons - they are translated too.
(US) - That leaves Deception, 3 tickets for 9:30PM please.
(TL) - Pick your seats (She showed the screen with the seats in green, there were 3 seats in the middle in red and 3 other seats in the middle in yellow, seats in the back were green and had hearts next to them).
(US) - What do we do with this?
(TL) - It is like a traffic light
(US) - ???
(TL) - ???
(US) - (Dan just read out a green combination - and apparently it passed)

The movie sucked BTW.

On Tuesday Georgia was still at home with Dan's mom, we worked in the morning from the Double Coffee on Pilies. In the afternoon we visited Alicia. The whole crew went out and she was alone. Georgia is feeling better already.

Dan's mon was exploring the city and has got pretty cool pictures of Usupis. We decided to head back there tomorrow - on Wednesday to see in more detail what the place has to offer.