Colors of Georgia / Failed Attempt to Reach Betania Monastery

13 October, 2020 | | 11 seen

It was at the start of October, we decided to visit Betania monastery not far from Tbilisi. We took our almost SUV car - Volkswagen Touareg and started the journey.

The road sign said 6,7 km and we will reach the monastery.

Cool, I thought, I have wanted to visit this place for ages, let me make some cool drone video.

Colors of Georgia, on the road to Betania monastery

Little we know that the drive is not the best, and can take about an hour. it was getting dark, our toddler girl was crying, and it was decided to turn back the car and return here some other day.

Author of this blog captured in action

Piece of Life after all!

Seven Year Blog Anniversary

10 October, 2020 | Blogging | 9 seen

Today, on October 10th, 2020, the ReinisFischer.com website is celebrating its 7th birthday. Each blog anniversary is a huge milestone for me and the 7th birthday is no exception.

What has started as a simple experiment has turned out to be a successful online business venture!

In the past seven years blog has attracted more than 4.9 million users and generated more than 6.9 million page views.

Blog traffic October 2013 - October 2019 (Data source: Google Analytics)

Topics covered in the blog ranges from raw GDP data for different European countries, to detailed stock and options trading strategies. Also all of our travels have been covered (hotels and restaurants) in about 20 countries in the past 7 years

For the future, I can see that I will keep writing about my travels (in and out Georgia), investments (crypto, peer to peer lending and stocks), and some technical stuff, about Drupal website development, for example.

Reinis Fischer website frontage as of October 10, 2020

7 years in a blog writing…

Invest in The Small Dogs of The Dow with Covered Calls and Collect Dividend

9 October, 2020 | Options trading | 27 seen

The Small Dogs of the Dow, are the five lowest-priced Dogs of the Dow stocks. Currently (2020), these are the Small Dogs of The Dow stocks: DOW, PFE, WBA, CSCO and KO

In today's article, I will take a quick glimpse at a potential return from investing in these five stocks with options (covered calls) + collecting the dividend during the road.

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For this example, I'm going to virtually buy 100 shares at each company. All prices below listed as of October 8, 2020

Ticker

Price

Shares

value

Div

Yearly Dividend

Payout Ratio

Monthly Options

DOW

$48.30

100

$4,830.00

4.32%

$210.00

286%

$232.00

PFE

$36.47

100

$3,647.00

3.92%

$144.00

52.75%

$145.00

WBA

$36.49

100

$3,649.00

4.90%

$180.00

39.96%

$179.00

CSCO

$39.40

100

$3,940.00

3.73%

$144.00

46.86%

$135.00

KO

$49.56

100

$4,956.00

…

Ujarma Fortress from a drone flight

8 October, 2020 | | 9 seen

Ujarma Fortress is located some 45 km east from the nation's capital Tbilisi, in the Kakheti region.

We were off for a daytrip to Kakheti, and it was not planned to make a stop at Ujarma, but as I had a drone with myself I decided to take a better look on the fortress complex from above.

Here is what we got:

Ujarma fortress from a drone flight

The fortress consisted of two parts: the Upper Fortress (the Citadel) and the Lower City. A royal palace, consisting of a two-storey building, was located in the eastern part of the Citadel. The Upper Fortress was destroyed in the 10th century by the Arabian conqueror Abul Kassim but was restored in the 12th century by King George III who used it as a treasury.

Nearby road

According to Georgian chronicler Leonti Mroweli, the cornerstone of the Ujarma fortress was built by the Georgian-Iberian king Aspagur in the III-IV centuries. In the reign of King Vakhtang Gorgasali, the fortress was extended and used as a residence.

Ujarma was conquered in 914 when the Arabs invaded the Caucasus mountains, formerly dominated by the Persians. The…

September 2020 Dividend Income Report - $117.04

7 October, 2020 | Investments | 14 seen

Welcome to the forty-first (#41) dividend income report, covering earnings I've made from dividend-paying stocks and peer to peer lending in September 2020.

Just like in the previous months, we spent the last September here in Georgia. We did a few road trips across the country.

Also, I managed to crash and lose my DJI Mavic mini drone and had to order a new one, which got delivered at the end of the month, so more cool drone videos can be done.

Sapara monastery in Georgia

I had a chance to visit this monastery at the end of September 2020 and capture really awesome drone photography / catching colors of the fall

The baby girl attends her pre-school, she is doing great - talking, singing, dancing  Awesome. She started her singing and kickboxing training at the pre-school Quite fascinating what a two-year and 3 months old can do. Development is very rapid.

Last, but not least I won an online auction and bough a flat in rural Latvia: Today I bought my first flat on online auction site

From the perspective of dividend income -  last September was pretty…

How To Withdraw PayPal to Bank Account in Georgia

6 October, 2020 | Living in Georgia | 47 seen

Withdrawing funds from PayPal to a local bank account is a popular question in many countries, including Georgia.

As recently I had to renew my VISA card here in Georgia (Bank of Georgia) I decided to test - can I actually withdraw funds from Paypal to a Bank account in Georgia?

If you need consultancy or help with opening a bank account in Georgia, visit the Terramatris website: Opening Bank Account in Georgia

Turns out I can. And it is done at blazing speeds. Funds were transferred in seconds, Awesome.

For the test purposes, I decided to transfer $40 from my PayPal balance to my Georgian bank account. 

the transfer took about 3 seconds and cost $5. 

Not sure will the speed be as fast for larger amounts, say $1,000 also not sure about commission for larger amounts, but hey it works.

Remember, you need a VISA card, not MASTERCARD. VISA card cost about GEL 150 for two years, see:

If you need consultancy or help with opening a bank account in Georgia, visit the Terramatris website: Opening Bank Account in Georgia

Rike Park Concert Hall - Music Theater and Exhibition

3 October, 2020 | Entertainment | 117 seen

As the name suggests, the Rike Park Concert Hall is located inside the territory of Rike Park, Tbilisi.  

The other name Music Theatre and Exhibition hall

Rike park concert hall in Tbilisi

The project site is located inside the green area called Rike Park, in Tbilisi, Georgia.

The building consists of two different soft shaped elements that are connected as a unique body at the retaining wall. Every shape has its own function:

The north part of the building contains the Musical Theatre Hall (566 seats), the foyer and several facilities, together with technical spaces for theatre machinery and various storages. The Exhibition Hall opens its great entrance with a ramp that brings visitors from the street level. The Music Theatre Hall, on the contrary, soars from the ground and allows the users to stay in the foyer and in the cafeteria to have a view to the river and the skyline of the city. It is a periscope to the city and looks towards the river framing the historic core of the Old Tbilisi.

Source: Rhike Park / Music Theatre and Exhibition Hall

Italy/Switzerland Travel Guide

2 October, 2020 | Travel guides | 3 seen

This is yet another roundup post listing places from our latest trip to Italy and Switzerland at the end of 2019.

Long story short - we travel to Italy's Bergamo by Ryanair from Tbilisi airport, took a rental car, and went to cool places both in Italy and Switzerland. To make it more fun we traveled together with our 16 months old toddler

Also, see my notes from the 2015/2016 travels - My Italy Travel Guide

Paragraph Resort & Spa Shekvetili, Autograph Collection Hotel in Georgia

1 October, 2020 | Hotel reviews | 247 seen

Set in Shekhvetili, some 40km from Batumi, Paragraph Resort & Spa Shekvetili, Autograph Collection offers 5-star accommodation with an outdoor swimming pool, a tennis court and a fitness center. 

We booked this hotel for an about a 4-day stay in early August 2020, to celebrate my 35th birthday here.

For this stay here we spent GEL 3030 / USD 980. Arrived here from another great hotel in Batumi (Radisson Blu Hotel Batumi) using Bolt taxi application (About 40 GEL)

Family room at Parapgrahp Resort and SPA hotel in Shekvetili

As we were traveling with our 2 years old toddler girl, our room was upgraded (for free) to the family room. We saved at least GEL 1500 from this free upgrade. Which is a very nice perk.

Indoor aqua park

We spent most of our time at the aqua park / as our daughter just loves water. I even took her for a ride (twice from these big slides).  What an adrenaline!

Sunset views in the Black sea

Guests of the 5-star property enjoy sea views in the rooms, and can enjoy access to a hot tub. The accommodation features a sauna, free WiFi throughout the property and a 24-…

Rustaveli Borjomi Hotel

29 September, 2020 | Hotel reviews | 7 seen

Set in Borjomi on Rustaveli street this Hotel has a bar, shared lounge, garden, and free WiFi throughout the property.

This 4-star hotel offers a 24-hour front desk and room service. Free private parking is available and the hotel also offers bike hire for guests who want to explore the surrounding area.

We booked this hotel for a one night stay at the end of September 2020 and paid just GEL 88 (USD 26). Now that's definitely a bargain deal. From several hotels we have stayed in Borjomi, this stands out (budget friendly)

6 Best Value Hotels in Borjomi, Georgia

All guest rooms come with air conditioning, a flat-screen TV with cable channels, a fridge, a kettle, a bidet, a hairdryer and a desk. With a private bathroom fitted with a shower and free toiletries, rooms at the hotel also have a river view. At Rustaveli Borjomi Hotel, all rooms include a seating area.

Rustaveli Borjomi hotel

The accommodation offers a terrace.

Rustaveli Borjomi Hotel provides an ironing service, as well as business facilities like fax and photocopying.

Bakuriani is 29 km from the hotel.

Carved Stone Sculptures near Sno - Akhaltsikhe - Juta road

26 September, 2020 | Tourism objects | 11 seen

Driving into the village on the winding Sno-Akhaltsikhe-Juta road, just before the entrance, you pass a collection of massive stone heads, somewhat reminiscent of Easter Island, carved out of granite.

It was in mid-August 2020, we took a day trip to Juta village to fly drone when our guides told - hey look there are these cool carved stones, let's take a stop here. I thought cool, I will google this place later, but for now, will just take some photos with a drone.

And so I did

Carved stone sculptures near Sno village in Georgia

It took me some time and technical knowledge to find more information about this place using metadata  for photos from my DJI Mavic Mini drone (Adobe Lightroom metadata to find GPS coordinates)

Sno village in Georgia from a drone flight

Doing my research on this place it was fun to learn that the village of Sno is famous not only for mineral water but also is known as the birthplace of the current head of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Ilia II.

Carved stone sculptures near Sno village

I was able…

Orio Center Shopping Mall in Bergamo

25 September, 2020 | Shopping Venues | 130 seen

Located next to the Bergamo airport, Orio center is one of the largest shopping centers in Italy.

We visited this shopping mall in mid-November 2019, a day before departing back to Tbilisi from the Bergamo airport.

Arrived here from Hotel 'Castello Visconteo' in Cassano dʼAdda, Italy in the late evening, some 2 hours before the mall was closing. Bought some goodies and ate at KFC

Orio Center in Bergamo

In front of the Orio al Serio international airport you can find one of the largest shopping centers in Italy, the Oriocenter.  With over 200 stores distributed on 2 floors, you can find everything you’re looking for in this mall.  You can spend an entire day window shopping or walking through the numerous food stops like ice-cream parlors, delicatessens, cafes.

In addition to clothes and accessories, you can visit the Apple store to see the latest in technology, or stop at the Lego store and its thousands of small colored bricks. You can see the many events organized in the Mall, with the presence of famous people such as singers, actors and TV celebrities and maybe take a selfie with your favorite star!

Samsung Galaxy A51 6GB RAM 128GB Review

24 September, 2020 | Gadget Reviews | 52 seen

Samsung Galaxy A51 was first released in December 2019. I bought this phone as a replacement phone for the Samsung Galaxy A50, to whom glass cracked on the tiles at the Champions Academy in Tbilisi after a good workout, at the start of September 2020

My previous Galaxy A50 had served me for about a year and was still a very decent phone, to avoid dealing with repairs I decided to take a new one. I was very happy learning that there is the same version but an upgraded model for my phone. Without much thinking I just took it. 

I'm not the phone photographer/videographer (for that I have a DSLR camera and a drone), but the phone has a very decent camera and plenty of storage (extendable up to 128GB). Taking videos for Facebook is quite good, so do share pictures on Whatsapp. 

I'm using this phone together with my DJI Mavic Mini drone controller, works awesome

Samsung Galaxy A51

It works very well together with my Samsung Galaxy Fit activity tracker

Bought this phone at the AltaOk store in Eastpoint Tbilisi. The price was GEL 999…

And We are Back / DJI Mavic Mini drone

19 September, 2020 | Documentaries | 13 seen

The wait is over - today I picked up my already second DJI Mavic mini drone here in Tbilisi.

See how I crashed the first one at the Jvari: Jvari monastery from a drone flight / DJI Mavic Mini crash

We headed straight to the Tianeti / Khatsiri Forest Park
And we are back - short drone videography from drone 2.0
Khatsiri Forest Park near Tianeti
Music by: Scott Holmes - We made it!
 

Today I bought my first flat on online auction site

18 September, 2020 | Real Estate | 10 seen

On September 18, 2020, I won an online auction for a property in the countryside Latvia.

This was the second time me using E-izsoles platform, and the second time winning an online auction (for the truth I won the first time a plot of land, but that place turned out not good for a house building and I revoked it, back in Summer of 2019)

In total today, I agreed to pay EUR 3,760 for a 53,7 m2 flat in a 3-storer building in rural Latvia. The name of the village is Vilgāle, and it's located some 171 km from Rīga. There is a huge Vilgāle lake located nearby the property. Can't wait to fly a drone nearby

wow what an adrenaline, there was more competition than I thought,with 2 additional 5min overtimes but I won this auction and now we have a flat in Vīlgāle. average buy price EUR 71/per m2. at the start i was looking to get this for EUR 45/m2

Can't wait to visit the place, invest some additional 5k and trade stocks from the Vilgāle