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…
Invest in Georgia - Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lending - Mintos.com
After almost five years spent as an ex-pat and passive investor (savings accounts only) in Republic of Georgia, time after time I'm looking for some other liquid investment opportunities in Georgia. Mostly I end up with stock exchange, but for now Georgian Stock Exchange market doesn't seems transparent enough and easy accessible.
By saying - not enough transparent I mean - I haven't find yet a broker offering real-time stats.
Time after time I end up in official Invest in Georgia website www.investingeorgia.org, there are good information provided for investment opportunities in this country. If you have spare few millions you might end up investing in energy, hospitality…
The Roof Works are Done (Almost)
That August, 2015 day was a huge day - we finished roof covering works in our rural country house. It took us about a month as we launched roofing works, and it will take us few more days to complete roofing completely.I didn't photographed today much, or day before (when most covering were done), in fact I didn't photographed at all, my better part did. Here is what we got:Almost done hereJust three more roof plates (int total for both sides its 26 plates) and the large roof works are officially doneCouple of hours latterIts done!Few more boltsNow, its time to add roof ridge, wind boards and chimney ridge. More on that in upcoming posts in home remodeling.
Aerial photos from rooftop
Today we continued covering roof with metal plates, in a short break I took my DSRL camera a top on the roof and made some aerial photos.You won't get here views as nice as you could get from Tbilisi or Batumi aerial trams, but taking into consideration that we are speaking of an old rural house - these views are as much great.Roof masters a top on the roof (Edgars and Guntars)Aerial view to our veggie gardenFew months ago we planted some goodies in the wooden boxes - and look what a harvest we have. Yes the new roof cover looks great as well.Skewed barnOne day I will fix this tooAt the edge of roofview towards apple orchard
Intelligentsia Coffee Bar Tbilisi
I have spent countless hours at Intelligentsia Coffee Bar near Turtle lake in Tbilisi - this place has been my offsite office in hot Summer days (see: Turtle lake - my working place for today) or starting point before taking a hike (see: Hiking in Tbilisi - Turtle lake (Kus Tba) - Vake Park) As the name of this place stats - it's a coffee bar, but you can order delicious meal here as well, starting Panini ending French fries.Intelligentsia Coffee Bar near Turtle lakeStylish interiorCoffee bar Intelligentsia is a super place whether just to chill out or take your laptop with you and work. Cozy sofa and great view towards Turtle lake
Azerbaijani Restaurant Agha in Tbilisi
Azerbaijani cuisine restaurant Agha is located near Heroes square (access is from the Circus side) in Tbilisi. After a meal here - I'm already planing my next trip to the land of fire - Azerbaijan. At this restaurant I tried something new for me - Dushbara soup, piti soup and veal saji on Fire.Lately I have tried a lot new non-Georgian cuisine places in Tbilisi, see Turkish restaurant Karabak, Chinese restaurant Dzin Chao or French Tartine Brasserie are just a few to name, now it was time for Azerbaijani cuisine. Thus this is not the first time I'm visiting Azerbaijani restaurant, I have tried Shirhan in Riga. But speaking of Shirhan, sorry - I cannot even compare…
How To Change a Flat Car Tire
Last summer I learnt not only how to change a roof for old rural house, also I excelled as a tire guy. During last summer I changed tires for our old junk car at least six times. To this day I still don't know why we got so many flat tires (most probably, because I bought cheap used tires at local tire workshop). Anyhow, it was the next morning after we added first metal roof plates a top of our house, when I noticed a flat tire has happened again (without any reason). I was already equipped with leg pump (and luckily I had bought a spare tire just some few days ago)N.B. By living in rural area - a spare tire, tools and basic know how is required to survive.at first I pumped in…
Roof Works, Part 6 - Finishing lathing and adding first plates of metal roof
Today was a big day, we managed not only to finish lathing works, covered roof with cross wind sheet but actually installed two plates of metal roof.Today was a very long working day also, by now I feel excelled a lot if roof works and home renovation.We started early in the morning (around 7:30 AM) as I knew this will be a very long day, and I really wanted to start cover roof with metal plates.Construction workers stretching cross wind sheetI hired two local craftsmen to help me out in roofing works - the most awesome guys I have met so far. Improvised outdoor workshopWhile guys were on the roof, I was sawing laths from the ground. Synchronized teamwork.Leisure timeWe…
Dzin Chao Chinese Restaurant in Tbilisi
Dzin Chao is among my latest discoveries from Tbilisi restaurants. I discovered it after paid a visit to Tbilisi zoo, its actually located just at the front of entrance into Zoo.Now I know at least three Chinese restaurants in Tbilisi, see: Oriental Pearl and New AsiaDzin Chao restaurant interior Spacious premises, I believe you can throw your next meeting with pals here with ease. As a pleasant surprise we got a gift - a large teapot with green tea for free.It's great, because it's rare to get green tea in Tbilisi, and if, then such pot will cost some 7-12 GEL. Here you get it for free.Menu at Dzin Chao in TbilisiPretty much the usual stuff you can get at Chinese restaurants. For…
Tbilisi Zoo
Tbilisi has many cool tourist attraction sites, but there is one, which is rarely mentioned in official guides or Tbilisi reviews - meet the hidden pearl of nations capital - Tbilisi Zoo.On the other hand worldwide coverage Tbilisi Zoo got after Tbilisi floods on 14 June 2015, leaving many animals dead or on the loose. See: Zoo animals on the loose and deaths feared after Georgia floodsTbilisi Zoo is located in the Vere valley just next to the Heroes square. There is a symbolic 2 GEL entrance fee in Zoo's territory. In park there some additional attractions for kids, like Ferris wheel and other carrousels. There is a terrarium with separate 1GEL ticket for…
About FireFly Car Rental in Italy
Searching for a budget friendly car rental in Italy? Look no more - I can highly suggest FireFly car rental. We used Firefly during our recent week long trip in Italy, prior to that I have used FireFly Spain (see: My Spain and Andorra Travel guide).
We booked our economy Volkswagen Polo car online and picked it up at Milan-Malpensa airport (you must call to FireFly office upon arrival, after then they will send a shuttle bus to pick you up and will take you to the office, our case it was located in town of Case Nuovo).
Unfortunately we hadn't roaming enabled, so our phones were useless at this stage. After some 10 minutes wandering at the Terminal 1 exit in Milan-…
Kiwi Vegan Cafe Tbilisi
Kiwi is a vegan non-profit community cafe located on Vertskli street 41, in Tbilisi Old Town. It is stated that all of their proceedings are donated to good causes related to animal rights. Kiwi provides a free social meeting space for organizations who are working for important change in the society, events can be arranged.Kiwi vegan cafe is the second socially responsible cafe I have found so far in Tbilisi (I don't search for them specially, they just pops in front of me). See Art Cafe Kamara - a social enterprise art cafe which employs rehabilitated persons from different addictsThat was on sunny February afternoon, I decided to head to the…
Beautiful morning mist
It was an early morning of August, back in 2015, I was still sleeping, tired of yesterday's hard work of unloading few tones of sand from our rural house's loft, probably still dreaming to finish anytime soon roofing works, when my better part took DSLR camera and went out shooting - look - what a beautiful mist she captured today:Morning mist Mist in our backyard territoryMist in apple orchardmist over pine coppice