Living in Georgia

Yup, another hipster style article about actual prices for consumer goods at local Tbilisi market (Bazroba). It has been a while since I decided to measure how lari/dolar exchange rates influence actual prices, if you, just like me are an expat living in Georgia - you most probably have faced the consequences of weak lari against US dollar. Thus - I don't believe that foreign currency should affect local economy. National currency of Georgia is lari and lari we are spending in markets, metro…

On February 1st, 2016 the National Bank of Georgia issued upgraded Lari banknotes. It was mid February when first upgraded banknote ended up im my hands, I got it at local Procredit ATM.  My first thought was that I have probably by accident pressed EUR account instead of GEL and have taken my money from EUR account, but then I realized it's a new upgraded currency. After I took the following photo I shortly spent it on groceries at local Dezerteer Bazaar. New 50 GEL banknote According to…

Budget travelers - rejoice - 7 new routes will be launched from Kutaisi airport in Georgia. Berlin, Munich Memmingen, Milan Bergamo, Dortmund, Thessaloniki,  Larnaca and Sofia I believe it is just a next logical move from Wizz Air, after recently European Union agreed to lift Visa requirements for Georgians entering European Union. Could this possibly mean a new start of possible immigration wave? Wizz Air, the largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe, on February 17 announced…

December 18, 2015 marked another important milestone for Georgia - European Commission agreed to lift visa requirements for Georgian citizens entering European Union. According to record from European Commission visa free travel will enter in force in 2016. I have been following Georgia's aspirations and developments entering and joining European organizations probably since day 1, when first arrived to Georgia back in April, 2011, and I believe this is a very important step for Georgia. …

This post is a result of an experiment I performed for one month in October 2015, I counted my everyday expenses and summed it up to see how much actually it costs to live in Georgia. This information might be useful if you are planing to move to Georgia or just to compare how your country stands to Georgia. For tracking my (our) everyday expenses I installed Expense Manager Android app on my phone and entered spending just after purchases.  Total expenses in October 2015 In October in…

The Tiger Lillies performed on Tbilisi Concert Hall on November 8, 2015. I must admit I had no clue what this band is all about, but had heard that The Tiger Lillies are must have. And I'm glad I agreed to visit their show in Tbilisi. This was the second show in a row (previous one was Diana Krall's concert at the end of October 2015) I visited in Tbilisi concert hall. First surprise arrived when we noticed that our seats was just behind tuner control Tuner control in Tbilisi Concert Hall…

Right, this might probably sound as yet another hipster style article and probably you are right. The thing is  - during month of October I have decided to write down my everyday expenses and in the next month I will provide article on Cost of Living in Tbilisi (Georgia). Since it was start of October, I headed to Google Play store to download first expense tracking app and started to write down my expenses. I had to visit Tbilisi Dezerteer bazaar just to buy some groceries, and I decided hey…

On September 19th, 2015 First meeting of Georgia Expat Photographers Club happened. As some of you already know - in the middle of this Summer Johann approached me with his idea to create a photo/travel club, and back then we established a community on Facebook. Read more on that here: Georgia Expat Photography Club Since our community was established on Facebook (if you are up to for something in Georgia, then Facebook is your best friend) we quickly gathered critical mass of fellow expats…

Total lunar eclipse was fully visible in Tbilisi, Georgia on September 28, 2015 between 05:07 and 06:55 (Tbilisi time). I must admit that I really enjoy photography, but I had never ever done anything like this (photographing lunar eclipse) before. This night was one of the strangest and mysterious nights I have experienced this year (at least) - what was meant to be just a photography turned ou to be a man's rescue from cold waters of Mtkvari river. (Spoiler: This story has happy endings).…

Not much words today