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Greetings from Scotland! Over the past week, we've been making the most of the school break by travelling to this beautiful part of the world. We've explored Edinburgh…
As of October 16, 2026, our options-selling-powered dividend stock portfolio stood at $13,456, marking a weekly decline of 1.37% compared with the previous week.This…
As of October 9, 2026, our options-selling-powered dividend stock portfolio stood at $13,643, showing a decent weekly increase of +0.72% compared with the previous week.…
Looking for some incredibly fast machine?Think PC with Intel Core i9 processor and the powerful NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 graphics card.The GeForce RTX™ 3090 is a big ferocious GPU (BFGPU) with TITAN class performance. It’s powered by Ampere—NVIDIA’s 2nd gen RTX architecture—doubling down on ray tracing and AI performance with enhanced Ray Tracing (RT) Cores, Tensor Cores, and new streaming multiprocessors. Plus, it features a staggering 24 GB of G6X memory, all to deliver the ultimate gaming experience.Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links to Amazon.com, by clicking on links on this page and by making a purchase on the Amazon site, I might earn an affiliate income…
Beautiful Batumi from a bird's flight. DJI Mini Mavic 2.7K drone footage August 5th, 2020 Lovingly post-processed in Tbilisi just now Music by Scott Holmes, Driven to Success While shooting this footage almost crashed my little drone to the Alphabetic tower while doing circuit cinematic flight
Abano Mineral Lake Natural Monument is a small lake in Kazbegi Municipality in Truso valley on the left bank of Terek River, to the east of the village Abano at 2,127 m above sea level.
First discovered back in Summer of 2021, during the Kazbegi trip
The lake was created by a carbon dioxide filled underground stream flowing to the surface through carbonate rocks from the late Jurassic period.
The lake "boils" loudly with carbon dioxide bubbles bursting. The outflow of the stream is 2.5 million liters per 24 hours.
The total surface area of the lake is 0.04 ha. The emission of gas in calm weather causes carbon dioxide to accumulate in lower levels. Small animals suffocate when they…
Restaurant Nīcava is located in Nīca town, Latvia. some 230 km from the nation's capital Riga, sandwiched between Liepāja and Jūrmalciems.
We paid here a short stop in mid-July 2021, while traveling to the Pape beach
Turns out there is both a motel/guest house and a restaurant. Restaurant here serves typical Latvian cuisine.
Quite a nice place. We enjoyed here something from the grill menu and a few drinks.
Summer in Latvia 2021 or this is how we spent an awesome one month in Latvia.
From getting a vaccine at Akropolis shopping mall in Riga to wild beaches near Pape.
From a wooden boat in Pāvilosta to yacht in Ķīšezers.
Made a ton of hyper lapses, ate a ton of birthday cakes, and more. Enjoy the video!
Recently I faced an issue with a video uploaded to YouTube, the video featured parts that needed to be removed or pixelated. After a quick google search I found this awesome video tutorial, and here is how:
From the Effects panel search for 'mosaic' - > choose from Stylize and apply Mosaic to all clip
If you are looking to pixelate just a part of the video, say a face or body, from the effect Control window, under the Mosaic, select oval shape (or square)
To make it automatically track a person, from the Mask path, click the play button (but before that, make sure you are at the start of the clip)
Hope it helps!
Set some 3 km from the city center of Pāvilosta Butterfly House offers accommodation with free WiFi, BBQ facilities, a garden, and free private parking.
We booked this place for a 2-night stay in mid-July and paid EUR 266. We chose this hotel as we were looking for some nice place to stay and throw a birthday party for our 3-year-old daughter. It seems we booked the most spacious room, some 100m2 and were able to accomodate up to 8 guests, which we actually did, some of our birthday guess stayed overnight.
We had a chance to grill some meat in front of the house, which we bought at the local Pāvilosta shop
Turns out, the place is owned by the same guy, who…
Otrā Elpa is located in the center of Valka. Guests are welcome to use free Wi-Fi in all areas of this property.
I have stayed in this hotel a few times, and last time did it so back in the mid-July 2021, when had a quick trip to Valka and nearby area
Decorated in light colours, all rooms here will provide you with cable TV and a table. Private bathrooms also come with a shower.
For a stay here with some hearty brekfast I paid about EUR 50
Book on Booking.com
Gveleti waterfalls are located in the region of Kazbegi region near the small village Gveleti.
Outdoor lovers and hikers will enjoy this little waterfall a lot .
I first discovered this place at the end of July 2021, during a weekend trip to Kazbegi. As we were driving with a 4x4 SUV car, we drove most of the unpaved road to the waterfall and left our car parked some 30-minute walk from the waterfall.
The path to the waterfall starts from the semi-abandoned village Gveleti. You will go through the picturesque countryside and climb
The water here falls from the deep gorge of Mount Kazbek from the height of 25 meters and is divided into two streams. The width of the…
Terek Valley viewpoint is located along the Georgian military road, close to the border with Russia. Maybe not as impressive as Georgia - Russia Friendship monument located near the Gudauri, still, if you happen to be in this area of the world, give it a try, views are still quite spectacular.
There is a little altar of sacrifice built at the viewpoint
At the start I mistakenly thought this is a Darial gorge, just later thanks to the drone's built-in GPS I was able to narrow down this place on the map and learn that this place is called Terek Valley Viewpoint and the actual Darial gorge is located on the border between Georgia and Russia a few kilometers further away.
Andrejsala is an area located in the Pētersala-Andrejsala neighborhood of Riga, Latvia within a former territory of an industrial port next to the city center.
Andrejsala is a chich, urban place to visit.
It is currently developed into a significant art, culture, and entertainment center featuring exhibition halls, clubs, workshops, studios, a cafe, and a hotel.
As the Riga passenger port is in a close proximity, Andrejsala is popular destination for alko tourists, as there are several liquor stores
Could be a nice dininig with a view.
Kazbegi trip - or searching for hot pools at Truso Valley, wandering at Darial gorge near the Georgian - Russian border, reaching Gveleti waterfall, walk in the clouds at Gergeti..
and of course a lot of offroad driving. Thanks, Ralph Schmidt and Rosemarie Rivera for making this trip happen.
July 24-25, 2021
At the end of May 2021, we traveled Tbilisi - Batumi (and back) for the first time with an airplane. And let me say - this is the best option to travel between these two Georgian cities. In the past, I've tried a train, marshrutka, and private vehicle.Flight is only 50 minutes and you don't feel tired not at all. i first hear about Vanilla Sky (back then it was called Service air) back in the Summer of 2014, when planned a trip to Mestia, but at the end in that year we traveled to Yerevan in Armenia instead of Mestia, because I find it complicated to book tickets online.Now it was much easier and we were able to book flight some 2 weeks advance, paying GEL 125 per person one way (kids…
Ērģeme castle is located in the parish of Ērģeme, Valka county, some 170 km north from the capital of Riga.
Ērģeme castle served as a powerful fortress for the protection of the Livonian Holy Order eastern border and as a castle-front for the Cēsis castle of the Livonian Holy Order master. The castle was mentioned in 1422 but it was built already around year 1320 under the ordinance of the Order master Gerhard von Jocke. Masters used castle as a storehouse, point of support and shelter for the night. Planning of the castle is clearly legible. Nowadays still quite impressive castle ruins with the round corner tower in the height of five stories can be viewed.
Outside stone wall of the…
Truso Valley is known for its mineral water springs, white/yellow travertines, mineral lake with bubbles, towers of middle ages, -most notably Zakagori castle, villages on a very high altitude such as Resi (2350m), tasty cheese and Ossetian Khabidzginas (khachapuri with cheese and potatoes) and nice people.
I first visited this area during a weekend trip to Kazbegi (Stepatsminda) at the end oh July 2021. To get there, we took a left turn in Kobi village, passing Kobi Cable car station. The road is very much an offorad, but not extremely complicated.
It's said the area is nice for hiking, and that what I would advice, but we actually traveled here by a Nissan Xtra SUV car and…
November has started with some cool 4K cinematic drone videography at Laidi manor / Valtaiķi church / Rudbārži manor.
All places are great and highly recommended to visit, all places share some great history, starting Baltic - German nobleman Manteuffel at Laidi Manor, or some of the most beautiful stained glass windows in Latvia at Valtaiķu church, made in Italy at the beginning of the 20th century according to sketches by Vilhelms Purvītis.
Or Rudbārži manor, about a century ago, back in January 1919 Colonel Oskars Kalpaks "started" Latvian War of Independence / no wonder there is planned to establish a cadet school at Rudbārži manor soon
Filmed with DJI Mavic AIR 2 / post-processed in…
Georgia - the land of many wonders
A drone flight around Georgia - Russia Friendship Monument near Gudauri
DJI Mavic mini, August 16th, 2020
Music by Scott Holmes - Epic Cinematographic
Khertvisi fortress is one of the oldest fortresses in Georgia and was functional throughout the Georgian feudal period. It is situated in Khertvisi village of Aspindza Municipality, Southern Georgia, in Meskheti region. The fortress was first mentioned in the 10th-11th centuries.The church was built in 985, and the present walls were built in 1354. According to a local legend, Khertvisi was once destroyed by Alexander the Great, though it has then been reconstructed and invaded on numerous occasions through the centuries.I first discovered this gem back in 2014, when Khertvisi was used as a starting point for our two-day rafting trip, see: …
Autumn feeling or fun with a drone near Oberliani square / Alexander Garden in Tbilisi. (The former and famous Hotel 'London' is located in this area) Music by David Hilowitz - Equilibrium I Cello version
Salty Garden Tavern is an awesome place located in Mlashe village, some 60 km from the nation's capital Tbilisi near the Bazaleti lakeWe discovered this place at the end of May 2021 and were surprised to learn that the owner of the tavern - David speaks some Latvian.Mlashe villageOur mission is to support the development of our village Mlashe, protection of its ecosystem. Salty Garden provides working places to local people, therefore they won’t leave the village in search of the other job.Traditional crafts are valuable resources that need to be protected. We have already employed two Mlashe’s families and some more are providing us veggies, fresh milk and meat.All veggies…
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