St. Nicholas Church, Tbilisi
The chances you have seen or even visited St. Nicholas church, if traveled to Tbilisi, are huge - located on the lower court of city's most famous landmark's - Narikala fortress.This Church has been "recently" restored. Newly built in 1996–1997, it replaces the original 13th-century church that was destroyed in a fire. The new church is of "prescribed cross" type, having doors on three sides. The internal part of the church is decorated with the frescos showing scenes both from the Bible and history of Georgia.St. Nicholas church in TbilisiLocated in the Narkala fortress complex, from here a lovely view towards Tbilisi is seen. The little church/monastery up in…
How to replace all "http" hyperlink with "https" Drupal
Recently I made a switch from http to https. I was pretty pleased with results, and started to wait for possible SEO boost from Google. As time passed, instead of boost some traffic drop started to appear in my Google Analytics account.
I cannot say for sure is this because of https thing or some major update in Google Search algorithm (Penguins & Pandas) , I just wanted make sure everything works right on my site.
Traffic dropped to 0 (hourly view)
Most probably it is just some glitch in Google Analytics (it happens time after time), or my server was not accessible, but maybe it was some Google Algorithm update. I'm not sure what was that, but that was the reason to…
Eldar's Bike Workshop at Kidobani Market (Tbilisi)
Eldar's bike workshop is a place where back at the end of 2013 we bought two mountain bikes as a Christmases gift for ourselves.Take a look of my riding experience in Tbilisi: First ride, Cycling to Tbilisi sea or alternatively check out cycling topic.At Eldar's place you can fix leaky tires, fix brakes order new details and of course to buy a new or used bicycle. It was at the start of March, warm weather approached Tbilisi and I decided to change the leaky tire for one of our bikes, so I went to Kidobani market and searched for this workshop. Eldar's bike shop in TbilisiEldar asked me 8 lari for changing tube, he is a very nice and enthusiastic guy, can speak about bicycles a lot -…
Postcards from Mtskheta
Mtskheta is small and lovely town located some 20 km from nation' s capital Tbilisi. Some will find a lot of similarities in Mtskheta with town of Sighanghi, while others will enjoy architectural and religious pearls of Mtskheta. Svetitskhoveli church, Jvari monastery or Samtavro are just a few to name. In today' s Piece of Life series - Mtskheta as we saw it on International Women' s day (March 8)Cobbled street in MtskhetaWith the famous Svetitskhoveli cathedral at the end of the streetSvetitskhoveli cathedralMtskheta and surrounding mountainsMtskheta definitely is a photographers paradiseGroup of tourists gathered near cathedralPanorama of Svetitskhoveli cathedralIt is…
Samtavro Monastery
Samtavro Monastery together with Svetitskhoveli cathedral and Jvari monastery are one of the main sights of historical town of Mtskheta, located some 20 km from nation's capital Tbilisi. Official nam of this place is Samtavro Transfiguration Orthodox Church and Nunnery of St. Nino in Mtskheta, Georgia. It is believed that church were built in the 4th century by King Mirian III of Iberia. Nowadays Samtvaro is very popular tourist destination in Mtskheta with much greater popularity among Georgian believers - it's always crowded here. The nuns living and praying here speaks very good English, and don't allow photograph inside.Samtavro…
Guest House / Restaurant 'Āķa Gals' in Pāvilosta
If there is a reason I would love to return to Latvian coastal town of Pāvilosta - cuisine served at restaurant Āķa Gals will be probably at top of my priorities. Cozy tavern located in the dunes of Pāvilosta, only 100 meters from the sea, is a great place for celebrations, relaxation and recreation with family and friends.Guesthouse / Tavern Āķagals in PāvilostaVisitors both of simple and refined tastes will enjoy traditional Latvian dishes and international cuisine served in pleasant atmosphere by kind staff.Salmon cream soup - a traditional Latvian dishHere you can taste dishes cooked from the local fishermen fished fishes.Potato pancakes with salmonOne…
Pāvilosta piers and Lighthouse
If planing your trip to Latvian coastal town of Pāvilosta don't forget to plan a trip to Pāvilosta piers, grab your camera and make some stunning sunset photography here. I first visited the piers of Pāvilosta and the town at the end of Summer 2015, and let me express my desire to acquire a small summer cottage here, thus I you plan to make some investments here - hurry up, a lot of foreigner have already bought real-estate at this Latvian coastal town and the prices might be up (haven't checked actually).It might sound a little bit overstated, but allow me to say - Latvians have their own Portofino (hmm, should we call it part of Latvian Riviera?)Pāvilosta pierPāvilosta is a popular…
Gujari Restaurant Museum in Mtskheta
Gujari restaurant - museum is another absolutely brilliant restaurant I have lately discovered. Located in the historical and picturesque town of Mtskheta, some 20 km from nation's capital Tbilisi.Discovered again - by accident - after just wandering around town of Mtksheta, After visiting Svetitskhoveli cathedral I decided it would be great to walk around Mtskheta and find some non-touristic places. And wuola - instead of tourist attractions - another great restaurant.Giraffe at Gujari restaurant in MtskhetaThis restaurant features a very good landscaped territory, equipped with a lot of interesting garden elements - I had a chance to take some ideas for our upcoming home…
Georgian Yard (Kartuli Ezo) in Mtskheta
Restaurant "Georgian Yard" is located in the central part of Mtskheta - the ancient capital of Georgia, near the Cathedral Svetitskoveli in the territory of the central square of parking.This restaurant is famous among tourists and guests serving delicious traditional Georgian dishes, medium prices, interesting and pleasant environment.Georgian Yard in MtskhetaRestaurant "Georgian Yard" unites few companies - "Fast Food," where you can enjoy delicious meals as well as hot and cold drinks; "Wine shop" where you can taste for free and purchase the desired type of alcoholic beverage - wine, brandy and "Chacha"; 3. The most important thing - the restaurant, which is famous…
Saka Baptist Church
An interesting church I discovered driving Aizpute - Pāvilosta road, back at the Summer 2015 - Meet Saka Baptist church in the middle of nowhere. Thus the church was closed, I was amazed of how well the territory around Saka Baptist church was landscaped. Saka Baptist churchThere is an inscription plate above the main entrance doors at church saying this church was built in 1888, although there is written in strange (old?) Latvian - Bap.Basniza, which would translate as Baptist church, thus there is no such word as Basniza in modern Latvian, instead there is Baznīca.Priest's house at Saka churchWe didn't met any people here today, but as I told above, I was really surprised…
Awakening garden in Aizpute
Almost in the city center of Aizpute, on Atmodas street is located Awakening garden (Atmodas dārzs, in Latvian). It's created by group of people from cross-art organization 'Serde' ('Core')The second life is given to empty water bottles in which tomatoes, cabbage, strawberries, mint and many other popular plants are grown. Awakening garden in AizputeI really love such sustainable development ideas, Less is more. Some time ago we planted veggies at our rural house in wooden boxes and got really good harvest.Veggies in plastic bottlesDirt cheap way to have a mini garden. Each plastic bottle is with a little tube at the bottom, making it effective way to water…
Svetiskhoveli cathedral in Mtskheta
Svetitskhoveli Cathedral is an another must have tourist attraction site not to miss when traveling to Georgia. Located in historical and picturesque town of Mtskheta some 20 km from nation's capital Tbilisi.It is the second largest church building in the country, after the Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi (Sameba), and is listed as an UNESCO World Heritage Site along with other historical monuments of Mtskheta.Rumor has it - Jesus robe (mantle) is buried exactly here - well, there are at least three official church versions of Jesus robe destiny, and among them Svetitskhoveli stands out as well:According to the tradition of the Georgian Orthodox…
Plaza Hotel in Batumi
Are you looking for a budget friendly hotel in Batumi? I can highly recommend one - Plaza hotel, located next to the Batumi bay.Plaza Hotel is located close to Batumi Port and in very short distance from city center. We booked Plaza hotel using local Georgian coupon site - hotsale.ge and got a lovely room with balcony and access to the Olympic swimming pool for just 50 GEL per night (with breakfast included). We stayed here for two nights at the start of March 2016.It was already late night when we arrived to Batumi (with rail from Tbilisi) - and just shortly we checked in to our room I decided to make a lovely night photography - so I installed a tripod (on balcony) and got…
Meet the New Roof (Pictures Before and After)
Yesterday we told Goodbye's to our old roof by setting up a large bonfire. Today we are saying hi to the new roof. Although officially major roof works were done a few days before - today is the day when final images of new roofing appear.We still have some unfinished roof related works to do, but the final roof construction is here. To make a better understanding what's going out - see before and after.What we got (before)Moss covering the roofNot only moss is covering roof, the construction is skew and what's major the right side of roofing is leaky. For a complete photo story of what we got, please see: home remodeling - how it all startsWhat we turned to (After)Metal roof…
How to Make Traditional Italian Pizza
An Italian pizza was the reason for our latest travels to Italy, it was at the start of November 2015, I was kneading dough for pizza, when my beloved told me - hey, we should visit Italy and try real Italian Pizza. So we did - we spent about a week in Italy, traveling a lot and trying real Italian cuisine.
Speaking of Italian pizza in Italy, here is the craziest pizza topped with a lot of prosciutto I ever have tried - Restaurant Antica Drogheria in Lucca, Italy, those guys just rock, if you are in vicinity of Lucca (the most famous landmark of that area probably is the leaning tower of Pisa), make sure you check this place out.
We returned home back to Georgia with…
Vake Park in Tbilisi
Nestled in the Vake district of Tbilisi, Georgia, lies a historic recreational area known as Vake Park. Since its opening to the public in 1946, the park has undergone numerous transformations, becoming a popular destination for both ex-pats and locals.Visitors can enjoy various free and paid kids playgrounds, carousels, ice cream shops, upper-end restaurants, and cafes located near the park. Vake Park is home to significant landmarks, such as a monument of Victory built during Soviet times and a beautiful staircase with cascading fountains. The park's beautiful landscapes, including hundreds of thousands of conifers, fruit trees, and shrubs, make it a green oasis in the heart of…
Fire, Water, Burn - Goodbye Old Roof!
It was time to make a bonfire and burn wood shingle (what use to be a roof cover). At the end of Summer (2015) our bonfire place ready to be set on fire, also it was very large. I still decided to wait for a rainy day, to minimize fire risks.I negotiated with our construction worker, who turned out to be a semiprofessional industrial burner (10 years in forestry), called to the local fire station and asked for permission, informing about precise location. They have local watch towers, and just to make sure there is no misunderstanding it's good to inform local authorities (it might be even requested by law).For me, it seemed like a simple task - pour with petrol that large…
Building a Dog house
Recently we inherited not only a bad managed rural house, but also got a German shepherd dog Bob. I have posted a lot about our home remodeling works, and in one article you can see Bob.Bob is very scared dog, he doesn't trust people, as his owner passed away, he haven't approached any people, even me. After a summer spent in our rural house, the best we could achieve - Bob laying in front of house and observing us. We feed Bob well and during our absence we have negotiated good people to help us out to take care of Bob, thus Bob doesn't approves any help, just a daily dose of dog food. The real owner of our house is Bob. To make at least some better life conditions for…
Shooting Hanheld HDR Photography
As some of you already know lately I'm a lot into HDR photography. For most of the times I'm shooting from a tripod, but sometimes (just sometimes) I'm lazy enough to take tripod with me. In most cases I end up damning myself for not taking tripod this time and most often avoid HDR shooting. Also in a lot of popular tourist spots (churches,cathedrals) it's forbidden to use a tripod - so you are left with handheld and no flashlight photography.
Thus, that doesn't mean you cannot shoot HDR without a tripod, you can actually make really striking HDR photography handheld. You don't need flash neither.
Here’s a three-exposure shot with bracketing set to +/- 2 increment.
Canon…
Otium Restaurant in Tbilisi
Otium restaurant is a very stylish, but what's interesting not at all expensive venue, located in neighborhood of Vake in Tbilisi (uphill on the Turtle lake road).I have dozen of times passed by this restaurant during some of mine hiking trips around here (See: Hiking in Tbilisi - Turtle lake (Kus Tba) - Vake Park) but I always refused to visit it, because I thought it should be out of my league (all those SUV cars parked in front of the entrance, with CD number plates). I usually avoid too much extravagant places, but I was wrong - I really enjoyed Otium restaurant, and as said - I was surprised of relatively low price for their lunch menu.In short - Otium rocks, their lunch…