My Barcelona Travel Guide - La Rambla, La Boqueria Market, Park Guell and even La Sagrada Familia
This happened at the last days of October 2014, when after a week long travels around Catalonia we finally returned back to our starting point - Barcelona.And so we decided to visit some local attractions. We all probably are familiar that one of the must have attractions in Barcelona is La Sagrada Familia cathedral, though we find this famous attraction, we refused to stay on a very long queue to get there in.Another attraction we decided to visit was something Park Guell (again, though we find it - there was no parking place to park our car, and a person guarding parking lot - ordered us to drive away - we did, and didn't returned. We had a chance to visit a market called…
TBSC consulting - upgrade from Joomla to Drupal
TBSC consulting approached me for help - to help them out to secure their existing site, which was built on Joomla.As a true Drupaller I offered them - can we switch CMS from Joomla to Drupal? And they agreed. Here is what we got:TBSC Consulting Front PageThis site is built with help of some standard Drupal modules, and is availiable in two languages (English and Georgian)TBSC GeorgianAlthough work on this site didn't request a lot of creativity - we were doing just migration of site, technical things were pretty harsh - main problem was to extract content and users from existing Joomla site, and then import it to Drupal site. But before that - here is a scenario which led me to suggest…
Autumn in Tsinandali - Alexander Chavchavadze House Museum
This was a great Saturday - our friend took us on a Kakheti drive - we went to Telavi (they have a great market there), Tsinandali (here is a house museum of Alexander Chavchavadze) and then we went to Royal Batoni near Ilia;s lake close to Kvareli. I decided to capture something from all of it - and in this post you will find pictures I captured at Alexander Chavchavadze house museum.
First time I was here around 3 years ago, also in month of November. Respecting traditions - then (first time) I didn't visited museum itself - just park, today we decided - why should we visit museum (what there might be so cool?), so just park, and some buildings we managed to get in :)
Autumn in…
Spontaneous Visit of Montserrat Mountain, Spain
Another spontaneous idea of visiting Montserrat Mountain arrived at our heads, after Google Maps misguided us from the main traffic road to Barcelona, and we went on the wrong direction - but hey - we noticed a sign directing to Montserrat.Signs speak themselves. Update: Visit of Mount Montserrat was a place from our about week long travels across region of Catalonia in Spain and Andorra. (Originally this article featured 18 bad quality pictures, 2 years latter since originally created this article, I reviewed both article and pictures and made some post-processing for photography in Adobe Lightroom). Now, I feel a bit sorry about myself I can't…
Hotel Gaspa Review in Ordino, Andorra
One thing I like about travel - is to choose hotels on site (who needs a booking systems? ).So did happen this time, when we chose this 2 star hotel in Ordino, Andorra. As you might already now, Andorra is a tinny micro state sandwiched between Spain and France, so if you travel here by car, it's nothing tragic to drive out of capital city Andorra La Vella to find your perfect hotel.After few minutes drive, we found ourselves in town/village called Ordino, and found a hotel just one the left side of high-way (I would call it street, rather a highway).In overall - perfect 2 star hotel, for nice price - got this for EUR 40 with breakfast included, and it has a free parking on site.Here are…
Andorra - First Impressions
Have you ever heard something of a tiny microstate of Andorra? I had, but my knowledge was short - so short, I didn't realize the precise location of it - I mean, I knew it's somewhere sandwiched between Spain, France or maybe France and Italy or even Spain and Portugal. In other words - yes I knew that such a place exists, but knew nothing more about it. Now I'm a little bit smarter in my Geography :)So, how I got there? It all went spontaneous - after a couple of days in Spain, we decided, hey let's drive to Andorra. And we did.My overall impression of Andorra right now - it's some tax haven, it's kinda outlet center (buy cheap - no or minimum taxes here).And yes, it's sandwiched between…
Road to Andorra
During our one week trip in Spain, region of Catalonia, we did a lot of driving. We drove almost all around Catalonia, stayed at lovely Costa Brava townlets - and you know what? It's more than enough with one week - and you are sick and tired of completely identical seaside town lets. They are nice, they are charming... but if you need more - go away from those charming town lets with beautiful seaside views.At least we did so - after another charming tay at lovely resort town of Sitges, we decided to head to Andorra. Drive to Andorra from Barcelona (or Sitges) will take around 2hours. Here is some picures I managed to capture:Road to AndorraSpectacular roads in SpainFlag of CataloniaRoad…
How Amazon Affiliates get paid in Republic of Georgia - Part 1
How participants of Amazon Associates program are getting paid in the Republic of Georgia by a bank check is a blog series I originally made at the end of 2014 / start of 2015 while struggling to redeem my first bank check issued by Amazon,
Although it's still technically possible to withdraw bank checks in Georgia, at the end of 2016, I flew to the US and opened a bank account there, see: How To Open A Bank Account in the U.S., As A Non-resident Non - citizen, Wells Fargo Bank
For complete series of my adventures while living in Georgia with Georgian banks and checks from Amazon, please see:
How Amazon Affiliates get paid in the Republic of Georgia - Part 1
How Amazon…
Sitges - a Popular Resort Town in Spain
During our Spain trip, we visited many interesting towns and places, like town of Girona, Salvadors Dali museum at Figueras, charming stone building town Peratallada, Begur, Roses and Cadaques and other. Now was turn for a popular resort town of Sitges, located close to Barcelona.As usual I don't pay much attention for a new exploring object before visiting it - and it was fun latter to learn that Sitges is not only popular resort town in Spain, but it's a very popular destination for gay and lesbian travellers from all over the world. Well - quite an interesting fact about this town :)I didn't pay much attention is there much gay/lesbian travellers (Seen some of them - like men kissing in…
Hotel Globos Review in Sitges, Spain
One of the things I like about hotels is not to plan a stay at hotel before. No bookings, no planning. Just pass by, if you like it - go into it, and ask for a room and price. The best of this is bargain.So did happened this time, after we arrived from Peratallada, a nice medieval town to resort city of Sitges, close to Barcelona. Turns out with spontanous decissions I have not only stayed on hotel I liked, but I have visited one of the most gay resort cities in world. Price for a room at this hotel: EUR 55Here comes the pictures of Hotel Globos, hotel we find close to sea:Bedroom at Hotel GlobosBalcony at hotel GlobosBedroom at hotel GlobosBathroom at hotel GlobosSeaside view from…
Peratallada - a Charming Stone Building Town in Catalonia, Spain
When we left a charming hotel in Begur, we straight headed to a little and charming medieval town of Peratallada, which is located some 22 km east of Girona, and some 15 km west of Begur.
Here are 22 pictures I made at this lovely town:
Road to Peratallada
Peratallada
Medieval streets of Peratallada
Medieval streets of Peratallada
Medieval streets of Peratallada
Catalan flag on streets of Peratallada
Peratallada
Bicycle on streets of Peratallada
Property for sale on Peratallada
Peratallada streets
Peratallada Town square
Restaurant at Peratallada Town square
Restaurant at Peratallada Town square
Balconies at Peratallada Town square…
Hotel Es Cel de Begur Review in Begur, Spain
On our third Spain trip day we stayed overnight at one of the interesting hotels I have ever stayed - Es Cel de Begur Hotel at Bergur.We booked this hotel on Booking.com it offered a huge savings, instead of paying EUR 400 we paid for room with partial sea view and bed with baldachine EUR 81.Well I doubt the actual value for this room is EUR 400, it's more some booking.com neat marketing trick. But price EUR 81 for such a hotel room in such an amazing place with partial, but still sea view - is a value deal.Well we ordered few coffees con leche (Coffee with milk in Catalan) and a supper onsite's restaurant, so total bill was EUR 131. No regrets at all.N.B. Though this place offers free…
Salvador Dali Museum in Figueres, Spain
In our second day trip to Spain we visited Salvador Dali Museum located in town of Figueres. I can tell you just one - This has finally happened - had heard so much about this great place before and now I actually visited it.There are not much words I can use to describe this fabulous museum in Figueras, instead I can offer you 16 pictured from this place (Originally there were 43 pictures, but 2 years latter since originally created this article, I reviewed both article and pictures and made some post-processing for photography in Adobe Lightroom). Now, I feel a bit sorry about myself I can't travel back in time and capture much much better…
Hotel Tarongeta Review in Cadaques
We stayed at hotel Tarongeta in Cadaques in our second day trip to Catalonia, Spain.You can read my photo article - covering Cadaques here.Choice of Tarongneta was made spontaneous and all agreements regarding accommodation was made on site, not using any third party booking services (thus, I must admit I found this hotel on booking.com before we arrived at Cadaques)This hotel offers few benefits - free parking on site, located in centre of Cadaques. The price? EUR 55 per night (I guess could bargain it down to EUR 40 with ease).Nothing fancy - just great location and free parking.Bathroom at Hotel TarongetaBathroom at Hotel TarongetaBedroom at Hotel TarongetaBedroom at Hotel…
Exploring Catalonia: from Roses to Cadaques
On our second day on Catalonian trip, we left Girona and headed to Roses (Girona municipality) and after a short 5 minute stay at Roses we headed to Cadaques (Girona municipality).I decided to stick with motto: one picture can say more than 1000 words, and here you have - 30 pictures I took during our trip Roses, Girona - Cadaques, Girona.Beach at Roses, GironaRoses, GironaLiterraly after 5 minutes here at Roses beach we decided - there is no need to dig deeper in this beautiful Spanish/Catalonian seaside town, and we turned our car around to head to Cadaques. I guess it's all about spontaneity. Sorry Roses in Girona - I will come back some other day.On the road to CadaquesScenic…
Hotel Ultonia Review in Girona
During our first day on our Catalonia trip for a first night, we stayed at Girona - Hotel Ultonia.
For a start I must admit - I wanted to book another less expensive hotel, but that was out of city center - so hell, for a sake of a couple of bucks we decided to book something valuable in the city center.
But to keep up with the costs - I found it's more affordable if you are using hotelclub.com rather booking.com. Basically, it works like this - what on Booking costs in Euro's, the same on hotelclub costs in dollars. And if you are a currency geek - you will understand me - it's 25-30% cheaper.
Now - enough talking, show me the pictures:
Corridor at Hotel Ultonia Girona…
Catalonia: First impressions of Girona - Cathedral of Girona, Jewish Quarter
This probably will be a long photo article, with few comments on each of the photo.It was my first time visiting Spain, and stop of Girona came just right after we landed in Barcelona, rented a nice Renault Megane car from Fire Fly company. During this trip I only started to recognize what is Catalonia - not any more an abstract term for me - it's real place with real folks and attractions there. So here are few shots from Girona, Cathedral of Girona and Jewish Quarter (probably last two are main attractions of Girona)Scooters on streets of GironaGreen OverpassFunny Vehicle on streets of GironaBalcony with flowers at GironaView to Girona CathedralGirona street viewGirona Events desk (…
Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport
Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport is located some 32 km southeast of the city center, airport serves as the hub for AnadoluJet and Pegasus Airlines.The facility is named after Sabiha Gökçen, the adoptive daughter of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and the first female fighter pilot in the world. Although Istanbul Airport, located 63 km (39 mi) west of the European side of Istanbul, is larger, Sabiha Gökçen is still one of the largest airports in the country.I have been traveling via Sabiha Gokcen Airport several times flying in and out routes like Tbilisi, Trabzon, Izmir, Barcelona, and more. Most of the time flying Pegasus Airlines.The airport was built because Atatürk International…
Drupal module: User Picture Field - A Brilliant Solution for Styling forms With Display Suite
Working with complex Drupal projects I'm always trying to escape many rewrites of existing Drupal built-in functionality.
This time I got a client's request to have a user edit form with two-level admin: One for username and password information - the second for custom user profile fields, like occupation, location, gender, etc.
At the start I said - well, let's use the Profile2 module, to handle this task, but soon I found there are bugs, and we all hate bugs, so I found a brilliant solution how to get rid of the Profile2 module, but to keep existing functionality.
Now arrived another problem - how to display the default Drupal user picture ($picture) using the Display suite module on…
Shota Rustaveli Tbilisi International Airport
Shota Rustaveli Tbilisi International Airport is the busiest international airport in Georgia, located 17 km (11 mi) southeast of capital Tbilisi. Tbilisi Airport is home to Georgian flag carrier Georgian Airways and MyWay Airlines. The airport is served by approximately 30 airlines, mainly from Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia serving roughly 30 destinations out of Tbilisi. Due to the increasing popularity of Georgia and the city of Tbilisi as a tourist destination, the number of travelers grew since 2010 from 1 million to almost 4 million until the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Tbilisi International Airport is operated by TAV Urban Georgia since October…