Can You Buy a Good Life in Tbilisi With $500 as a Foreign Expat?
A time ago I did an experiment - counted our (two persons and two cats) daily expenses for a month to find out that our monthly expenses have been at about USD 1,800 for that month. You can see my findings with detailed positions in this article: Cost of Living in Tbilisi (Republic of Georgia).
I have counted for a few more times - and very often the amount we spend per month in Georgia is more or less the same. From my side I should add we travel a lot across the country and spend many evenings at the fancy Tbilisi restaurants. My spending habits have helped me to build a pretty popular blog about food and travels in Georgia.
As my blog gets older, and hopefully…
Lintel Installation & First Coffee Break
If you have been following my blog and in particular home remodeling series you are already familiar with our construction works at our rural country house we started back in 2015. In the Summer 2016 we started another major reconstruction project - demolished old log walls for bricklaying new aerated concrete walls, I have been documenting most of the construction works on blog. In today's home remodeling series - installing a lintel and enjoying first coffee break at upcoming bathroom (we are building a bathroom here).I bought a special lintel to install over window opening - I had to hire two guys today to help me install it over. It wasn't so bad after all - we might get…
Another Day, Another Wall
Today was another lovely day to excel a little bit as a constructor. Today we continued to construct walls from aac blocks.It's fun, easy, like everyone could do this. As long as you keep it all leveled.See part 1 Remove a Wall to Finish Foundation Concreting and part 2 Constructing Wall From AAC blocks + Finishing Foundation Concreting Works for BathroomBricklaying aac blocksToday we are going to finish the end wall and construct four rows on front wall. We are building a bathroom here.Bathroom from insideCan't wait to install sinks and mirrors here.View toward house from gardenToday we did another great thing - planned a place for a window. Admit - really lovely bathroom we…
Georgian Enamel Souvenir Shop in Batumi
I tried hard, but couldn't locate precise location or name of this Georgian enamel souvenir shop in Batumi. What I know, most probably it's located on Zviad Gamsakhurdia street in Batumi, in the Goodwill shop area.Why I believe it's worth to mention this shop? It's very good souvenir shop filled with interesting Georgian enamel art. We bought here lovely ashtrays and decided to return here one for time to buy some cool Georgian interior elements for our rural house.Georgian enamel dishThey glove in dark- I was especially invited to the dark room, and yes I can confirm these plates glove in the dark. Cool.Georgian souvenir shop in GeorgiaWide selection of interesting enamel and…
Anker Hostel in Oslo
Think hostels are cheap? Think twice.Anker hostel officially is the most expensive hostel I have stayed so far, and there is no surprise about that. Located in Oslo, one of the most expensive cities in the World (yes, I know one of the best salaries as well), you should expect to pay about USD 100 for a hotel and remember - linens are not included. You can get linen for additional about USD 10 price.We were returning from Malaga to Riga, through Oslo, and had to spend one night in Norway. We booked cheapest available property in Oslo a day before, still sunbathing near Malaga. Arrived here from Moss Airport, Rygge by a very expensive coach (about 70 EUR per person round-trip…
Constructing Wall From AAC blocks + Finishing Foundation Concreting Works for Bathroom
In today's home remodeling series we are continuing to build bathroom from scratch.The other day we removed walls and finished foundation concreting works for one part of house, today we re going to start construct first wall and finish foundation works for another wall, yes still some wall demolition works involved for today. A few days ago construction materials arrived and today it was just a a matter of tools and two men power (I had a helping hands) to start some actual works for upcoming bathroom.Ruberoid coating for hydro isolation Before bricklaying we must install a hydro insulation - ruberoid is glued with special mastic. Bricklaying first row of aac…
Sputnik Hotel in Batumi
I now have a new favorite hotel in Batumi - Sputnik hotel. Surrounded by a garden with tropical plants and trees, this 4-stars Sputnik Hotel & Spa Batumi is nestled in Batumi Hills with a stunning views of the city and black sea. Hotel boasts an outdoor pool and is just 12-minute drive from city centre. There is a restaurant, bars, swimming pool, terraces, and free WiFi at the property.We stayed at Sputnik hotel for three nights at the end of November 2016, and paid about 300GEL (about USD 100),we got a lovely value deal at local Georgian Groupon clone site, but looking now on Booking the price doesn't seems much higher about $50. That's what I love about good (decent) hotels…
Postcards from Oslo
Seems Postcards from series are one of the most featured at Piece of Life project, and there is no surprise about it, we travel a lot, and visit many interesting cities around the World. So did happened during our latest trip to Norway, what was meant to be just a night in Olso, between layover flights turned out to be a mini postcards from Oslo.Skyscraper in OsloWhy doesn't I feel surprised seeing Radisson Sas hotel among one of the tallest buildings in Oslo?A typical day in OsloA channelOslo
Remove a Wall to Finish Foundation Concreting
Some build home by pouring in foundation first, we started by replacing roof, removing walls and then pouring in foundation. Sounds intrigue? Continue reading to learn more.In today's home remodeling series a day when we removed first wall and finished pouring in concrete for foundation for our upcoming bathroom. I had a handy hands today, Guntars, we started our cooperation already last year, he helped me a lot with roof replacement works. The plan for today was following, to demolish old log wall and pour in the final layer of foundation.Removing first decks from the wallIt might sound as a complicated task,but in our case it was not, as most of the log and decks were rotten already…
Chiatura Cable-ways Central Station
If you have a chance of visiting remote Georgian city Chiatura, make sure you take a free ride at one of the famous cable ways. Also don't forget to take your camera and make one of the interesting photos you will make in Georgia.Some call them Stalin's cable cars, I prefer to call them - the rare chance to return to the year of 1954.As I have been told, most of the cable cars have been in service in 1954, and most of them seems haven't been repaired ever since. I remember, few years ago a friend of mine sent me a preivev of Georgian documentary by Gabriel Razmadze Black Mulberry / Shavi tuta about miners in Chiatura, after watching that short, which was mainly concentrated…
Oslo Bus Terminal
Oslo Bus Terminal was our second stop from our first time short trip to Norway,we arrived here from Moss Airport, Rygge, in June, 2016 and left back from the same terminal to airport in the next morning.Oslo Bus Terminal is the main bus station serving Oslo, Norway. Owned by Vaterland AS it is located beside Oslo Central Station and serves local buses to Akershus as well as domestic and international coaches.Oslo Bus TerminalThe station was built by the Akershus transit authority Stor-Oslo Lokaltrafikk as a bus station for their routes to Downtown Oslo. The station is five minutes walk from Oslo Central Station as well…
Foundation From Fibo Ceramsite Blocks
It happened a a few weeks ago, when digging a trench around the existing foundation I discovered a missing foundation for one part of our rural house.Back then I quickly realized I will use Fibo ceramsite blocks to boost construction works. The other day I poured in concrete footing, and today was the day to add first Fibo ceramsite blocks over footingHardened foundation footingIt rained for the last two days, I was a little bit worried, could too much rain could make some damage for footing, but it was just perfect - rock solid foundation footing to put Fiblo blocks over.Fibo ceramsite blocksI bought few at local DIY store and transported with our Honda CRV car. A reliable…
Postcards from Chiatura
Chiatura is an amazing and worth to explore city in the Imereti region, Georgia.
Famous because of manganese and iron ores. What makes this city special - cable cars, it's believed there are some 17 cable cars / lift systems in operation in Chiatura.
Chiatura have been on my travel list for a very long time already - first visited and documented in November 2016. Yes, we took a ride in those old and neglected, but awesome cable cars. Taking a ride in cable cars here is completely free (as of November 2016)
Soviet era monument in Chiatura
Amazing, charming and unique.
Old and neglected
Due to the steep sided river valley, production workers spent a large amount of time walking up…
Road To Million Dollars in Saving Account
I'm 31 now, I have a goal to save one million dollars by the time I will be 60. That's 29 years. That's $34,482.75 I should save each year, next 29 years in the row. That's a lot.
I currently make less than $20,000 per year, by US standard I'm the one who falls into the category - working poor. However, unlike my colleges in US, I live overseas (see living in Georgia) where standard of living in much much lower if compared to US , and in fact with funds I have here in Georgia I can afford pretty decent life style - travel a lot, spend evenings in fancy Tbilisi restaurants and even build a rural country house in other country.
I have some hopes for the bright future and…
Moss Airport, Rygge, Norway
Moss airport Rygge officially marks my first entry point to Norway in Summer 2016. Unfortunately, or for good, Rygge airport has been shut down to all civilian traffic on November 1, 2016.We arrived here from Malaga by Ryanair cheap flight and stayed overnight in Oslo, to return back and have a flight to Riga next morning.Moss Airport, Rygge was an international airport serving Moss, Oslo and Eastern Norway. It is located in Rygge, 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) outside Moss and 60 kilometres (37 mi) outside Oslo. It also served as a regional airport for Østfold county and owned and was operated by the…
Construction Materials Arrives (aerated concrete blocks and other goodies)
That day finally came - construction materials arrived. We paused our construction works for about a month, because of a simple reason - lack of funds, or more precisely slow bank transfers, we did spent a lovely July harvesting mushrooms and even spent three days traveling around neighboring Lithuania to celebrate my birthday.One thing made me worried - it was already second half of August and we still hadn't started works on rebuilding walls for our old log house. Haven't I mentioned - we are replacing log walls with aerated concrete blocks) I ordered these blocks at the first day I got money transferred to my bank account and today was the day when construction materials…
Katskhi Monastery of Nativity of the Savior
Don't be surprised of the name Katskhi, this is a church located some 2km from the famous Katskhi pillar in Georgia.The Katskhi Monastery of Nativity of the Savior, more commonly known as the Katskhi Monastery is a medieval monastery in Georgia, located in the village of Katskhi near the town of Chiatura. It was built at the behest of the Baguashi family in the period of 988–1014. The church building is noted for a hexagonal design and rich ornamentation. Closed down by the Soviet government in 1924, the monastery was revived in 1990 and is now operated by the Eparchy of Sachkhere and Chiatura of the Georgian…
Málaga–Costa del Sol Airport
Málaga Airport, officially Málaga–Costa del Sol Airport is the fourth busiest airport in Spain after Madrid–Barajas, Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca. It is an important airport for Spanish tourism as it is the main international airport serving the Costa del Sol. It is 8 km (5.0 mi) southwest of Málaga and 5 km (3.1 mi) north of Torremolinos. The airport has flight connections to over 60 countries worldwide, and over 14.4 million passengers passed through it in 2015.Our latest trip to Spain (region of Andalusia) started an ended here at Malaga airport. We arrived here from Berlin Schönefeld…
Pouring Concrete Footing
Right, today I found a fix to the issue we discovered earlier this summer - missing foundation for the some parts of our rural house.Some few days ago I bough a concrete mixer, gravel was already waiting to be mixed with concrete, now it was time to pour in footing for the missing part.All setupConcrete mixer, wheelbarrow with gravel, a shovel. yes pretty much the basics for mixing the concrete.Simple template for foundationNow its time to pour in a base footing, itš a bout 90 cm width and about 30 cm height. Latter on that we will continue to pour in foundation.It's just a footing to make things rock solid.Pour in concreteadd some reinforcement from metal rods.Concrete foundation…
Christmas Cooking Photo Session in The Kitchen - Olivie salads, Pirozhki and of course Pizza
That time of the year have come and for the rare time this year I was actually operating with camera in our kitchen - in today's special Christmas menu - our "traditional Georgian Christmas" table - salad Olivie, pirozhki and of course that tasty pizza.
It was that time of the year when again I installed a tripod, put a telephoto lens and decided to shoot macro's.
Christmas time during our expat time in Georgia have always marked two essential things to do - first to visit annul Christmas charity fair and second, on Christmas eve to cook something cool. Like we have baked gingerbreads, pirozhki and of course pizzas.
Dough is been…