Top Hotels in Liepāja, Latvia

30 November, 2018 | Hotel reviews | 9 seen

As a frequent guest to Liepāja, I decided to list top hotels found in the city.

So far I have stayed at two great Liepāja hotels: Hotel Fontaine Royal Review In Liepāja and Europa City Amrita Hotel Review in Liepāja

Disclosure: hotels listed below contain links to Booking.com, by clicking on links on this page and by making a reservation on Booking.com site, I might earn an affiliate income, at no cost to you.

Europa City Amrita Hotel

Europa City Amrita Hotel is located in the center of the town Liepāja, in Latvia’s Kurzeme region. The 4-star hotel offers rooms with a flat-screen TV with cable channels, a mini-bar and a private bathroom. Free private parking is available for hotel guests.

The rooms of the Amrita Hotel feature an elegant interior design with wooden furniture, which includes a work desk and a wardrobe.

The hotel’s staff is available 24 hours a day. The Amrita provides a shuttle service. Guests can rent a car directly at the hotel.

The hotel’s restaurant, Oskars, serves international and Latvian dishes. Grill bar Bruno serves barbecue dishes. In the morning a breakfast buffet is available.

A white sand beach is within 0.9 mi from Amrita. Daugava Stadium is within 1.4 mi and the Liepāja Railway Station is 0.7 mi from the hotel,. The Liepaja Olympic Center, a swimming pool and a spa center are within 2789 feet, while the Ice Hall is 50 m away. 

Price: ~ EUR 36 Book this hotel on Booking.com

Libava

This cozy hotel and recreation center enjoys an unbeatable location in the center of Liepaja, directly at the trade canal connecting the Baltic Sea with Liepaja Lake.

Originally built in 1772, Libava today offers comfortable rooms with individual colors, a café, a restaurant specializing in fish dishes, a banquet hall for up to 150 people, and a lounge with an open fireplace for up to 20 people.

The bath complex includes a sauna, a tonic steam bath and a spa bath.

The sea and the lake are both about an 8-minute drive away from the Libava.

Price: ~ EUR 63 Book this hotel on Booking.com

Boutique Hotel Roze

Boutique Hotel Roze is the only hotel in Liepaja that is located in the park and seaside area. The distance to the beach is 328 feet, and it takes only 3 to 5 minutes to get to the center of the city.

An Art Nouveau ambiance has been created in the antique detached house. Furniture, pictures and stained-glass windows - everything is in the classic style and conveys the atmosphere of the beginning of the 20th century.

There is a restaurant serving breakfast and various drinks. There is a tea room and the winter garden. 

Price: ~ EUR 52 Book this hotel on Booking.com

Royal Hotel Liepāja

Royal Hotel Liepāja is located at the canal front of the town center in an old factory building. It offers a health center and a swimming pool, as well as rooms with free wired internet.

The property includes a sauna and a steam bath. Massage services are also available.

There is restaurant to dine in, as well as a bar to have a drink or two.

The hotel has a 24-hour front desk service and is located 0.9 mi from the train station. 

Price: ~ EUR 52 Book this hotel on Booking.com

Hotel Kolumbs

Opened in 2007, the hotel is located in one of the most beautiful cities of Latvia - in the region of Kurzeme in Liepāja, and offers modern yet comfortable accommodations.

The hotel includes facilities to help you relax, work and entertain you. The hotel's leisure center includes a sauna, hot tub and solarium to help you relax. There is also a restaurant, bar and terrace, as well as a billiards room. In the surrounding area you will find a number of attractions and activities, such as cycling. 

Price: ~ EUR 48 Book this hotel on Booking.com

Liva Hotel

The centrally located Hotel Liva is Liepaja’s largest hotel and is within walking distance of Liepaja's main attractions. Liepaja’s sandy beach is a 10-minute walk away from the hotel.

The hotel's Restaurant Upe is one of the top restaurants in town. A healthy and hearty buffet breakfast is offered there. Delicious cuisine is served during lunch and dinner. The restaurant bar has the longest bar counter in the Kurzeme region and offers a wide assortment of beverages.

Hotel Liva's rooms are comfortably and individually furnished with a seating area and a work desk. The private bathroom is equipped with a hairdryer and toiletries.

Depending on the location of your room, you can enjoy either the view of the famous St. Trinity church or of the lovely Square of Roses.

The Liva's services include a guide service, as well as discounts for various recreation and leisure facilities, such as restaurants, cafés, fitness centers, beauty salons and a bowling club.

Liva Hotel is a certified 3-star superior class hotel and a member of HOTREC organization. 

Price: ~ EUR 50 Book this hotel on Booking.com

Fontaine Hotel

Fontaine Hotel is a charming wooden hotel housed in 2 historic, renovated houses in central Liepaja. It offers rooms with private bathroom facilities and a TV.

Fontaine Hotel is located on a small cobblestone street, 100 m from the canal and 400 m from the beach. It has a garden where kids are welcome to play.

Each room at the Fontaine Hotel has its own design. Internet connection is available in public areas. There is a restaurant and bar called Valhalla Wine&Coffee at the hotel.

Price: ~ EUR 58 Book this hotel on Booking.com

Hotel Vilhelmine

The Hotel Vilhelmine offers cozy and spacious rooms with a historic atmosphere in the historic quarter of Liepaja, only a short walk from the main tourist attractions and the beach.

The hotel is located in an over 100-year-old renovated building, which is included in the Historical Heritage list of Latvia. In the interior of hotel you can see original stairs, paintings and maps of Liepaja from that time.

Sights nearby include the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Jurmala Park and the beach promenade. Hotel Vilhelmine is easily accessible by public transportation. 

Price: ~ EUR 65 Book this hotel on Booking.com

How To Install XTRF 8 on Ubuntu 18.04

29 November, 2018 | Servers | 44 seen

XTRF is a Polish translation management system available to install as SAAS or on your own server (both Windows and Linux). In today's article, I will keep notes on how to install XTRF 8 on Ubuntu 18.04

Our company has been using the XTRF translation management system since 2011 (if not earlier) and recently we opted for a major upgrade (from version 2 to version 8). The previous version was run on Linode VPS (Debian). For the latest version, I decided to go with the same VPS from Linode (to make it work I chose 8GB RAM Linode), but instead of Debian, i opted for the latest Ubuntu 18.04 LTS release.

Insert the following line into the /etc/apt/sources.list file:

then

Run the command to insert XTRF package signing key into the database:

Enter the following command:  

Run the following command 

To start xtrf jboss service:

Documentary about The Winter War 1939 (Soviet Union vs Finland )

28 November, 2018 | Documentaries | 11 seen

A very well documented documentary about the Winter War fought back in 1939. About defensive war and great guerilla tactics to fight a more powerful army.

The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland in 1939–1940. It began with the Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, and ended with the Moscow Peace Treaty on 13 March 1940.

Watch it on YouTube

Documentary about Kazakhstan: The new green superpower? Oil giant tries to wean itself off the black stuff

27 November, 2018 | Documentaries | 4 seen

An interesting documentary from the Guardian. About Solar panels, renewable and green energy. Kazakhstan should be on every investor radar.

See also: Invest in Kazakhstan - Peer to Peer lending loans up to 21% Yield from Kredit24 on Mintos.com Marketplace

Kazakhstan is rich with oil, gas, and coal but Nursultan Nazarbayev, its president for life, has committed the country to a dramatic shift from fossil fuels to green energy. Is this huge nation, which is beset by rural poverty, major infrastructure challenges and environmental crises, able to realize his vision?

Phoebe Greenwood from the Guardian travels to the Kazakh capital, Astana, and the Aral Sea region

Watch on YouTube

Tbilisi TV Tower in the National colors of Latvia

25 November, 2018 | | 2 seen

The Tbilisi TV tower was lit in the Latvian nation colors on November 18th, 2018, to celebrate a 100 year anniversary since the Republic of Latvia was proclaimed on November 18, 1918

As I had the great observation point I made a quick long exposure and decided to share it via Piece of Life series.

Tbilisi TV tower in the national colors of Latvia

Happy birthday Latvia!

How To Sync Files Between Samsung Galaxy Phones (Smart Switch)

24 November, 2018 | Gadget Reviews | 37 seen

Samsung Smart Switch seamlessly transfers contacts, photos, music, videos, messages, notes, calendars and more to virtually any Samsung Galaxy device.

After we bought a new Samsung Galaxy A6 phone I thought it will be a pain to transfer files from the old and broken Samsung Galaxy A3, as I thought it will involve cables or at least a lot of e-mailing files and folders (not the best backup, right?)

Huge was my surprise and excitement after I found Samsung Smart Switch app, which seems works not only for the phone to phone file transfer but also for the phone to pc and phone to Mac file transfer. Amazing.

Transferring files from broken to new Galaxy phone

- Galaxy S7/S8/Note8/S9/Note9 owners: Tap [Settings] > [Cloud and accounts] > [Smart Switch] to open Smart Switch Mobile.
* Smart Switch Mobile is already preloaded on Galaxy S7/S8/Note8/S9/Note9 device. 

▣ Smart Switch gives you the freedom to move your contacts, music, photos, calendar, text messages, device settings and more to your new Galaxy device. Plus, Smart Switch™ helps you find your favorite apps or suggest similar ones on Google Play™. 

▣ Who can transfer? 
• Android™ owners 
- Wireless transfer: Android 4.0 or higher
- Wireless transfers from a compatible Android device to Galaxy device: Android 4.0 or higher (Note that non-Samsung devices with Android versions lower than 6.0 can only connect with Galaxy devices that support a mobile AP.) 
- Wired transfer: Android 4.3 or higher, charger cable, and a USB connector 

• iOS™ owners - use the option that’s best for you: 
- Wired transfer from your iOS device to your Galaxy: iOS 5.0 or above, iOS device cable (lightning or 30 pin), and a USB connector 
- Import from iCloud™: iOS 4.2.1 or higher and Apple ID 
- PC/Mac transfer using iTunes™: Smart Switch PC/Mac software – Get started http://www.samsung.com/smartswitch 

• BlackBerry™ owners 
- Wireless transfers: BlackBerry OS 7 or 10 (Mobile AP) 
- Wired transfer from your BlackBerry device to your Galaxy: BlackBerry OS 7 or 10 for transfers via USB connector

• Windows™ Mobile owners 
- Wireless transfers: Windows OS 8.1 or 10 
* Note: For more information and step-by-step directions, go to http://www.samsung.com/smartswitch

▣ What can be transferred? 
- Contacts, calendar(Device content only), messages, photos, music (DRM free content only, Not supported for iCloud), videos (DRM free content only), call logs, memos, alarms, Wi-Fi, wallpapers, documents, app data (Galaxy devices only), home layouts (Galaxy devices only) 
- You can send app data and home layouts by upgrading your Galaxy device to M OS (Galaxy S6 or higher). 

▣ Which devices are supported? 
• Galaxy: Recent Galaxy mobile devices and tablets (From Galaxy S2) 
* Note: For Galaxy S2, old OS (GB/ICS) version can cause incompatibility. If your S2 does not work properly, please try after firmware update. 

• Other Android devices: 
- HTC, LG, Sony, Huawei, Lenovo, Motorola, PANTECH, Panasonic, Kyocera, NEC, SHARP, Fujitsu, Xiaomi, Vivo, OPPO, Coolpad(DazenF2), RIM(Priv), YotaPhone, ZTE(Nubia Z9), Gionee, LAVA, MyPhone(My28s), Cherry Mobile, Google(Pixel/Pixel2)

* Note: For reasons such as compatibility between devices, it may not be possible to install and use Smart Switch on certain devices. 
1. To transfer data, both devices must have a minimum of 500 MB free space in their internal memory.
2. If you are using a wired connection, your device must support a 'Transferring media files (MTP)' USB option to allow content to be transferred.
3. If you have a non-Samsung device that constantly disconnects from the wireless network, go to Advanced Wi-Fi on your device, turn off the “Wi-Fi initialize” and “Disconnect low Wi-Fi signal” options, and try again.
(The options described above may not be available, depending on your device manufacturer and OS version.)

※ Application permissions
The following permissions are required for the app service.
[ Required permissions ]
. Telephone: Used to transfer call log data
. Contacts: Used to transfer contacts data
. Calendar: Used to transfer calendar data
. SMS: Used to transfer SMS data
. Storage: Used to save the files necessary for data transfer
. Microphone: Used for high-frequency audio when searching for Galaxy devices.

If your system software version is lower than Android 6.0, please update the software to configure App permissions.
Previously allowed permissions can be reset on Apps menu in device settings after software update.

Get the app for Android here

Samsung Galaxy A6 32GB (2018) Review

23 November, 2018 | Gadget Reviews | 16 seen

Samsung Galaxy A6 was first released in May 2018. We bought it as the replacement phone for Samsung Galaxy A3, to whom glass cracked on the rocks in Georgia (in the yard of Iosebis Duqani) while we traveled to the region of Kakheti.

As the repair cost was about the half price of a new one, we decided to go for a brand new and more powerful phone.

2 year lifetime is good for a phone, at least that's what I believe so.

Bought this phone during Black Friday sale in Georgia (Tbilisi) at AltaOk store in Eastpoint. The sales price was GEL 599 ($225.61), and it said it's discount from GEL 749 ($282.11). Though on Amazon you can get brand new unlocked Samsung Galaxy A6 phone for $214.99

Samsung Galaxy A6 sealed and sold in Georgia

The model we bought today in Georgia, seems is manufactured for the market of Russia and CIS, thus there is an international version available (I'm bad at gadget model numbers).

Samsung Galaxy A6 unpacked

Here is what comes out of the box - a phone, USB cable, and an electrical cable for faster charger, earphones and a special pin to remove sim card holder

Technical details

Data source: Samsung Galaxy A6 (2018)

Ordering Goodies From Amazon - Baby Play Mat and more

21 November, 2018 | Laptop Reviews | 12 seen

It has been a while since I made my first international Amazon delivery to Georgia, using parcel delivery and forwarding service USA2Georgia. See how I ordered and installed new hinges for my old HP laptop back in 2014. 

How To Order Goodies From US to Georgia - Usa2Georgia.com

At the end of 2018 we ordered some goodies for our little baby girl - unfortunately, I haven't saved exact names for the items, so I will try to guess their actual names in this photo post.

Goodies delivered to our Tbilisi apt

Very neat shopping, and actually pretty fast - our order was fulfilled (since ordering online) in about a week (delivered to doors in Georgia)

Goodies for baby

Play mat, water mat, and socks for crawling

Play mat installed

Top Dividend Paying Stocks from Nasdaq Baltic I'm Planning to Acquire in 2019

20 November, 2018 | Investments | 11 seen

I've been investing in the Baltic equity market since April 2017, currently (2018) my capital has been exposed to 16 companies listed on the Nasdaq Baltic stock exchange giving a combined dividend yield (after two years) on cost 7.99%.

On the other hand, the total value for my Baltic holdings has been down -21.56% (without dividends) and -9.76% (with dividends). The drop has happened in 2018. As there have been drops anywhere else this year, I'm not too concerned regarding this. 

In fact, it has been a while since I bought my latest Baltic stock, in 2018 I'm more focusing in the US stock market, see: Dow Jones Companies By Yield 2018

Also see: Top Dividend Paying Stocks In Nasdaq Baltic I'm Planning to Acquire in 2018

Now, when planning investments for 2019 in Nasdaq Baltics, I did a simple research, based on historical data and my own experience to list stocks I'm looking to acquire next year. 

Stocks In NASDAQ Baltic I'm Planning to Acquire in 2019

Please remember: your capital is at risk when investing in stocks and you could actually lose some, if not all money, as stock prices might drop. invest only money you are comfortable to lose.

Stock prices for 2018 as of November 17, 2018

2018 has been a bad year for Baltic stock investors, most stocks have lost a lot from their value in 2017.

Nasdaq Baltic Stock Market Biggest Gainers / Losers 2017

As you have seen, I have listed just 6 stock names I'm planning to increase my stake in 2019. If prices will stay as they are or will keep even dropping - I would say - it's a bargain deal.

DEL to TBS: Cheap Direct Flights from Delhi to Tbilisi From February 2019

18 November, 2018 | Airports | 7 seen

Starting February 2019, the largest Indian airline, Indigo, will operate daily Delhi-Tbilisi direct flights.

The following was reported on November 14, 2018, by the company TAV Georgia, which owns the Tbilisi airport. (Source:Из Грузии будет летать прямой рейс в Индию ) 

Direct flights will be carried by aircraft Airbus 321.

Airline Indigo was established in 2006, it operates flights to 59 destinations, from where 48 local and 11 international. The company's fleet is 195 aircraft.

According to the NewsGeorgia:

The Indigo airline company became interested in flying to Georgia this summer and since then the parties have already held two meetings where they discussed technical details.

Drupal 7 Rules: Send E-mail to User Referenced by NID After Saving Content

17 November, 2018 | Drupal Development | 15 seen

A time ago I started to work on a custom Drupal powered translation management system, unfortunately as I didn't have much spare time and actually there are really great alternatives (paid) out there - I decided to postpone this project.

Despite the project wasn't actively developed, it was though running a separate Linode VPS for it (which costs money), I decided to delete this instance to save money, but before that, I decided to keep at least one interesting feature I figured out - how to send e-mail to the assigned user (not user but node reference, in terms of Drupal) , after saving new project (node)

I had 2 content types - Translators and Projects, in the Projects content type I created a custom field ( field-assign-to) where with the help of node references I referenced username from Translators content type

Node Reference in Drupal 7

Learn more How To Reference Nodes in Drupal 8 + Views Relationships Display

Actually, a couple of years ago I was working on a similar assignment but less complex, see: ​ Drupal Rules - How To Configure Journalist and Editor roles to Unpublish/Publish Content

Here I will paste plain Drupal 7 Rules export (working)

Works for Drupal 7

Documentary "The Black August. Default" About Russia's Financial Crisis in 1998

16 November, 2018 | Documentaries | 31 seen

20 years ago, Russia experienced one of the most devastating crises in its recent history — on 17 August 1998 the government defaulted. 

Today I watched an interesting documentary in Russian - Черный август. Дефолт, documentary tells about events and causes which led to the default.

What really caught my attention was the GKO, or  Государственное Краткосрочное Обязательство

GKO are short-term zero-coupon government bonds issued by the Russian Finance Ministry and trade on the Moscow Inter Bank Currency Exchange (MICEX), as well as on five other currency exchanges connected with the MICEX and located in large regional cities. The last GKO auction was held in February 2004

The initials became synonymous with the 1998 Russian financial crisis when the state defaulted on its "GKO obligations" (bonds). The GKO crisis, the most significant financial crisis in post-Soviet Russia, caused turmoil amongst both foreign and domestic investors and creditors. The crisis led to the abrupt devaluation of the Russian ruble in several steps in August and September 1998. (In fact, the ruble first fell about four times, then after some oscillations stopped at that level.) The crisis severely undermined confidence in the ruble's stability, although such dramatic drops did not happen again until 2014.

After 1998 a new series of state bonds were issued. On 1 November 2006, the volume of the GKO-OFZ market reached 850.7 billion rubles at face value, having exceeded by 17.9% the volume reached at the beginning of the year. The market volume is growing as a result of the implementation of the Russian Finance Ministry's policy of substituting the external debt for the internal debt and developing a liquid internal government-securities market, which must give market participants effective instruments to manage liquidity and form benchmarks for risk-free ruble interest-rates for all economic entities.

Watch it on Youtube: Черный август. Дефолт.

Rainy Day in Tbilisi

13 November, 2018 | Living in Georgia | 2 seen

Less than a month ago, we changed apartment in Tbilisi and got one with really cool views towards mount Mtatsminda.

I've been playing with a tripod a camera here ever since. See: Tbilisi by night (New apartment version) and Tbilisi by day (New Apartment Version)

Despite my forecast, that next version probably will be an HDR photography, it turned out to be a Rainy day. Actually, about a year and a half ago, I made a cool time-lapse video from our previous apt, see: Rainy day in Tbilisi - Time Lapse Video.

If you are into the rain photography, I could also offer a trip to Verona on a rainy day, see: Rainy day in Verona

Lonely tree

I believe this tree will be featured in another future time-lapse series, like Last day of April (complete Time Lapse)

Rainy day in Tbilisi

Trinity Monastery of St. Jonas in Kyiv

11 November, 2018 | Churches and Monasteries | 24 seen

The Trinity Monastery of St. Jonas is a Ukrainian Orthodox monastery in the Kievan neighborhood of Zverinets, a short distance from the medieval Vydubychi Monastery.

We discovered this monastery back in 2017 when visited Hryshko National Botanical Garden

Trinity Monastery of St. Jonas

It was Jonas, a Vydubychi hegumen, who founded this monastery in 1864. Princess Vasilchikov, the widow of Kiev's Governor General, decided to support the undertaking and presented her dacha to the brethren.It was on these grounds that the katholikon was constructed.

The monastery's bell tower

The monastery's bell tower, at 110 meters, was to be the tallest in the Orthodox world. Its construction was halted due to the outbreak of World War I. As many as 800 monks resided there at the time.

The monastery was closed in 1934 and its grounds were taken over by the M.M. Gryshko National Botanical Garden.The monks of the recently revived monastery now help to restore the nearby Zverinets caves.

Postcards from Mtskheta 2

10 November, 2018 | | 9 seen

Mtskheta is a small and lovely town located some 20 km from nation' s capital Tbilisi. Some will find a lot of similarities in Mtskheta with the 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 in early November 2018 (from the small balcony of hotel Gino Wellness) 

Also see: Postcards from Mtskheta

Mtskheta in HDR

I've managed to capture two UNESCO sites actually in this one HDR image. Awesome.

Jvari monastery in night