Phidias Lounge Bar in Athens

9 July, 2017 | Restaurant reviews | 13 seen

Phidias lounge bar in Athens was mine second cafe / restaurant in Greece, as just early in the morning we arrived from Tbilisi to Athens and had a few hours before our connecting flight to Chania, Creete.

We used spare hours and from Athens airport went directly to the city center by metro. 

Phidias lounge bar in Athens

Since we hadn't been to Athens before and were kind of limited in time, we decided to visit only things that will be close to our route, that's how we turned out near to the Ancient Agora of Athens site, after wondering around (and not inside) for about 2 hours first cafeteria that crossed our route was Phidias lounge bar. 

Just now, when writing these lines and using Google maps to locate this place, I learned that there is actually a hotel Phidias, and lounge bar is just an extension. Maybe next time when going to Athens, it' s good idea to book hotel Phidias, price seems fair - about EUR 90 per night. And a lovely sight towards Ancient Agora of Athens site.

While I was bussy ordering cold frappe, my seat was already taken:

Greek cat

What a lovely mate to enjoy coffee…

How To Track Your CryptoCurrencies Portfolio Automatically Using Google Spreadsheets

7 July, 2017 | Macroeconomics | 217 seen

It was just recently I made my first investment in cryptocurrencies, I spent EUR 50 to acquire about 0.2 Ethereum. As I bought them for a long term (buy and hold) and actually I'm planning to acquire more coins every month using dollar cost averaging and decided to build a separate Google Spreadsheet to track value changes, gains, or losses.

For support please visit the Terramatris website: Custom Google Spreadsheet Development for Crypto Currency Portfolio Tracking

I see investments in crypto currencies as a great alternative to diversify my portfolio. Right now crypto currencies stand at about 0.8% in my portfolio and I'm looking to increase it to about 5% by the end of 2017. 

Update: This article originally was written back in 2017, the formula(s) listed in this article have changed several times. If not working look into the comments section for any help

The idea of the following spreadsheet was inspired from a regular stock tracking sheet, see: Simple Google Spreadsheet to Track Stock Portfolio Changes Using GOOGLEFINANCE

Here is a catch, to get real-time updates in Google…

First Investment In Crypto Currencies - Bought 0.2 ETH for EUR 50

6 July, 2017 | Crypto | 38 seen

It was in the late evening of July 3d, 2017 when I finally successfully bought my first crypto currency - I paid EUR 50 and get for that - 0.2 ETH. ETH stands for ethereum. Wonder what the heck is that? Don't worry, me neither.

Or let' s say this way - I know there have been bitcoin around for about a decade or something, though I don't see any practical reason for using that, while real money is in power. Right? It was so until about two weeks ago, while sipping freshly squeezed orange juice in rental apartment in Crete, a fellow affiliate marketer contacted me and we started to speak about investments, stocks, peer to peer lending and ... crypto currencies. My buddy told me he is doing some kind of arbitrage day trading stuff with crypto currencies. 

As I'm quite opposite - buy and hold investor, and since the start fo 2017 I've been building my wealth portfolio from scratch by investing in stocks and peer to peer lending, idea of having long term investments sounded very appealing to me and I decided to allocate about 5% space in my portfolio for crypto currencies. 

Investment Portfolio July 2017

About Tbilisi - Athens - Chania (Greece) flight by Aegean Airlines

4 July, 2017 | Travel guides | 8 seen

There is a pretty convenient option when traveling from Tbilisi to the island of Crete (Greece), probably there are some direct charter flights, but at the start of June we opted for a connecting flight Tbilisi - Athens - Chania by Aegean airlines. Bought online tickets about a month prior, and in fact didn't paid too much (about 200 EUR for two persons)

This was the first time for me traveling to Greece, and I quite enjoyed option to spend few hours in Athens and visit some of the Ancient world sites. Really cool.

Now, that said - I've another airline company on my radar, when traveling to or from Georgia. Aegean is is the largest Greek airline by total number of passengers carried, by number of destinations served and by fleet size. A Star Alliance member since June 2010, it operates scheduled and charter services from Athens and Thessaloniki to other major Greek destinations as well as to a number of European and Middle Eastern destinations. Its main hubs are Athens International Airport in Athens, Thessaloniki International Airport in Thessaloniki and Larnaca…

Simple Google Spreadsheet to Track Stock Portfolio Changes Using GOOGLEFINANCE

2 July, 2017 | Macroeconomics | 335 seen

There is a super simple and easy way to track your stock portfolio with real-time price, cost basis, market value, value gain, even individual stock weight in the portfolio, net yield on cost and current net yield from dividend payouts, and of course total gain values using Google Spreadsheets and GOOGLEFINANCE function.

For support with this Spreadsheet please visit the Terramatris website: Custom Google Spreadsheet Development for Crypto Currency Portfolio Tracking

Currently, I hold 9 stocks in the Baltic equity market (Nasdaq Baltics), I add about one or two new stocks each month, I started simple creating a really simple spreadsheet and manually entering stock data, I like to keep an eye on my stock portfolio few times during the week. For actual stock prices, I'm looking on Nasdaq Baltic's website. Though in my manual spreadsheet pretty much of the rest is automated, still entering the actual stock price is time-consuming and can result in an error. 

I decided to try GOOGLEFINANCE function and see if can Google fetch data for the Baltic market. It can. 

As…

June 2017 Dividend Income Report - $53.42

1 July, 2017 | Investments | 14 seen

Welcome to the second (#2) dividend income report, covering earnings I've made from dividend paying stocks and peer to peer lending in June 2017. 

I started my wealth building adventure (portfolio) in January 2017 with a simple goal to invest $8,561 this year in several batches. Now, six  months latter I'm publishing my second dividend income report. 

In this article you will learn both how much I've received in dividend income also I will publish my net worth, with few tables.

Make sure to check out first dividend income report: May 2017 Dividend Income Report - $65.45 and subscribe to the latest dividend income report updates at the end of this article

Most of my investments right now are concentrated in the Baltic states and Georgia. My portfolio consists of investments in Georgian Lari and EUR currencies. For the sake of this and all future articles I've converted all  final/total currencies to the US dollar, although currently there is no position in my portfolio with direct investments in US dollar. 

 At the end of June I've…

What to do and see in Istanbul in less than 24 hours

30 June, 2017 | Travel guides | 12 seen

So you have just 24 hours for Istanbul? In this short indie travel guide, I will list places you could easily manage to visit and see in less than 24 hours. 

My story short - at the end of May we booked connecting flight from Riga to Tbilisi, via Istanbul, we had an option to have a shorter waiting time, but we decided to spend one night in Istanbul's Sultanahmet area, which offers great access to the most of the tourist sights in Istanbul.

If you are traveling from Istanbul Ataturk airport, there is a metro system connecting to the City Centre, though you will need to make a transit to the line leading to Kabatas. Once you are in Sultanahmet your discoveries can start. We had a lovely hotel Dosso Dossi located just a few hundred meters from the Blue Mosque and The Grand Bazaar. 

Although we missed more cool sites to visit this time, like Galata tower or buying mussels from local fisherman, in just 24 hours to sites like the Blue Mosque and the Grand Bazaar are really cool to have on your to-do list.

Postcards from Istanbul

29 June, 2017 | | 5 seen

Istanbul has been on my travel radar since 2009, when I first visited it during a layover flight to Telaviv, Israel. Since then I've traveled countless times to and back from Istanbul. 

So did happened during our latest trip Riga - Istanbul - Tbilisi, we booked a lovely hotel Dosso Dossi in Sultanahmet district and spend one night in Istanbul, trying out local street food and visiting most iconic sites in Istanbul.

Street food in Istanbul

Filled potatoes. Yummy

Minarets of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul

Read more here: Sultan Ahmed Mosque

Blue Mosque

Istanbul Atatürk Airport

28 June, 2017 | Airports | 40 seen

Istanbul Atatürk Airport is the main international airport serving Istanbul, and the biggest airport in Turkey by total number of passengers, destinations served and aircraft movements. Opened in 1924 in Yeşilköy, on the European side of the city, it is located 24 km (15 mi) west of the city centre and serves as the main hub for Turkish Airlines.

The city's other, smaller, international airport is Sabiha Gökçen International Airport. As of 2017, 273 destinations are served from Istanbul-Atatürk, making it the airport with the second-most destinations worldwide after Frankfurt Airport.

I've visited Istanbul Ataturk airport several times, mostly for layover flights, with Tbilisi being the most conected flight.

Waiting area at Ataturk Istanbul airport

Istanbul Atatürk Airport features two main passenger terminals which are interconnected to each other:

Domestic Terminal is the older and smaller of the two terminals and exclusively handles domestic flights within Turkey. Until the opening of the International Terminal, it used to be the airport's international…

Dosso Dossi Istanbul Old City Hotel

27 June, 2017 | Hotel reviews | 17 seen

We booked this 4-star hotel in Sultanahmet district, Istanbul for a one night stay during a layover flight Riga - Istanbul - Tbilisi at the end of May 2017. 

We paid about EUR 50 for one night stay at this hotel

Located in Sultanahmet district, Dosso Dossi Hotels Old City is within a walking distance from historical sites such as Hagia Sophia Museum, Basilica Cistern and the Blue Mosque. Sultanahmet Tram Station is just a 4-minute walk from Dosso Dossi. The property offers facilities including a Turkish bath, a sauna, and a fitness centre. The rooms of the hotel are equipped with soundproofing. 24-hour front desk, concierge service and free WiFi is also available throughout.

Dosso Dossi hotels in Istanbul

Featuring a stylish décor, all rooms at Dosso Dossi Hotels Old City are equipped with air conditioning, an LCD TV with satellite channels, minibar, a safe box, electric kettle and a private bathroom with shower. Some rooms also have a desk, sofa and a coffee machine. All rooms are soundproofed.

Our room at Dosso Dossi hotel

Dosso Dossi Hotels Old City is a unique child-friendly city hotel. The hotel…

Grand Bazaar, Istanbul

26 June, 2017 | Shopping Venues | 14 seen

The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with 61 covered streets and over 4,000 shops which attract between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily.

 In 2014, it was listed No.1 among world's most-visited tourist attractions with 91,250,000 annual visitors. The Grand Bazar at Istanbul is often regarded as one of the first shopping malls of the world.

During my latest trip to Istanbul, which was actually a layover flight connecting to Tbilisi, I stayed for a one noght in Sultan Ahmet district and decided to photograph some cool sites in Istanbul, unfortunately during my trip to the Grand Bazaar in early morning hour it was still closed, so all I could get - just closed gates. On the other hand I've been to this market several times already, and trust me, if you haven't been here, it' s a must have while in Istanbul.

Rooftops of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul

The Grand Bazaar is located inside the Walled city of Istanbul, in the district of Fatih and in the neighbourhood (mahalle) bearing…

Sultan Ahmed Mosque

25 June, 2017 | Churches and Monasteries | 12 seen

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque  is a historic mosque located in Istanbul, Turkey. A popular tourist site, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque continues to function as a mosque today; men still kneel in prayer on the mosque's lush red carpet after the call to prayer.

The Blue Mosque, as it is popularly known, was constructed between 1609 and 1616 during the rule of Ahmed I. Its Külliye contains Ahmed's tomb, a madrasah and a hospice. Hand-painted blue tiles adorn the mosque’s interior walls, and at night the mosque is bathed in blue as lights frame the mosque’s five main domes, six minarets and eight secondary domes. It sits next to the Hagia Sophia, another popular tourist site.

I visited Sultan Ahmed Mosque at the end of May 2017, during a layover flight staying in Istanbul for one night, though I've visited Blue Mosque several times already in the past.

Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque has five main domes, six minarets, and eight secondary domes. The design is the culmination of two centuries of Ottoman mosque development. It incorporates some…

Summer Solstice 2017

24 June, 2017 | Home Remodeling | 6 seen

This is already fourth Summer Solstice featured on this blog. see how three years ago we made a barbeque on our Tbilisi's balcony and how we celebrated our first Summer Solstice in our newly inherited house two years ago. Also compare how did it go last year. This year we celebrated Summer Solstice already for the third time at our rural country house, see home remodeling. 

This year it was just us two and cats. Nothing fancy.

Improvised DJ Remote control and some snacks 

Fireplace

Golden hour sunrise during Summer Solstice 2017

Abava Rumba Waterfall

23 June, 2017 | Tourism objects | 17 seen

Abava Rumba is the second widest waterfall in Latvia (after Venta Rumba) ,up to 1 m high and 35 m wide.

I had a chance to visit it and spend some hour in lovely photography session at the end of May 2017, just after our Germany trip in the Mossel Valley. There is a camping area located just next to the rapid. 

Abava Rumba in Latvia

I find such places tranquil and quite inspiring for my photography. 

Hiking trek near Abava Rumba

As an active outdoors fan I could resist to go deep in the "jungle"

Camping area near Abava Rumba

3 day leisure trip to Germany (The Mossel Valley)

21 June, 2017 | Travel guides | 16 seen

This is a round up post about our latest travel to Germany, at the end of May 2017. Our trip started at Dortmund airport, were we got a nice Nissan X-trail rental car from Hertz (about EUR 250 for 4 days).

Although I've traveled to Germany countless times in the past, this is just third recap featured on blog, in fact about 2 years ago we made a similar trip to Germany but extended it it by visiting the Netherlands, see: My Germany and The Netherlands Travel Guide, also I briefly visited Berlin last Summer between layovers to 7 day trip to Spain

This trip was interesting because of this time instead of choosing hotel rooms we opted for apartments, though it costs about twice to have a lovely apartment as a hotel room, I now have pretty ambivalent feelings regarding apartments. We got two really amazing apartments, but there was one that almost ruined our trip. 

Anyhow - this time more castles and lovely views from the Mossel Valley in Germany.