Last night, I got drunk enough that I allowed myself to be persuaded to go to the casino by one of our Turkish guests. Turks really seem to love the casinos here. And the prostitutes. The fact that going to a casino told me that I was pretty drunk but unfortunately not quite drunk enough. We had a guy from Turkey, Poland, Germany and myself (American) head to the casino.
It sounds like the beginning of a joke, doesn't it? Well, the casino was but it wasn't the funny kind.
The first thing that happened was that passports are required to gain admittance. I had known this while back at the hostel but had purposefully left mine behind. Perhaps part of me hoped I would not be granted admittance. Unfortunately (in this circumstance) I am really good at fast talk. I managed to talk my way in - and avoid the bag search entirely. As one of the guys was busy getting hassled over a multi tool he tried to bring through on his belt clip, I finished up convincing the security guards they didn't need to bother searching my bag which had a couple things in sure to cause consternation to the guards. Like a knife.
After we got in, we went around and watched the desultory gambling going on. I still remember the old fashioned slot machines. The noises and lights they had along with the clink of coins added to the festive party atmosphere. Gone. You give your money to the cashier and get a paper ticket you can feed into the slot machines. Gone are the happy clink of tokens or coins. Slot machines these days are all ugly computer games. It is difficult to tell if you are even winning. So, it is quiet and dull.
The card games, dull. The whole casino, dull.
For those of you wondering how much money the casino got from me, the answer is "I didn't visit the cash window to get money". Zero. I lack the strange obsession for gambling that many people seem to have. They use words to describe it like 'fun' but I have about the same amount of fun just handing over my money to a casino employee and finding a quiet corner to stand in for a couple minutes. The end result is the same, monetarily.
After leaving the strangely subdued and amazingly dull casino, we went to a bar, had a beer at 1.5 GEL then most of us called it a night. Well, me anyway.
PICTURE TIME!
We lost two guests down this hole in one of the rooms until it was noticed. It has since been replaced with a new floor. Ironically (or due to shitty construction) the 'soft spots' on the floor are in exactly the same area as before.
Yes - some people really do eat like this. I decry anyone who says "Oh, Logan loves to smoke!" I do like it but not THIS much!
Constipated?
The ragged edge - detail...
Katino, the wonderful woman who runs and cooks the White Room restaurant.
We had a dozen eating here but the room was too small to get everyone in the picture. This is the famous 'White Room' restaurant.
DU HAST
Thanks to Chris A for this interesting link.
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