Wild Horses at the Lake Pape (Latvia)

Now, this is an interesting story - we didn't meet any wild horses tonight, but found some great information. At least I did. It turns out, wild horses have been living here just since 1999 when WWF-Latvia started to stimulate the return of wild horses in 1999 in Latvia. It was in the evening of my birthday when we finally reached the place called  "Wild Horses at the Lake Pape " - unfortunately, turns out, such wild places, just like humans, have a working time. And at time we arrived this place was already closed. The Large herbivore natural grazing area was established in the Eastern coast of the Lake Pape in 1999. Currently, the natural grazing area exceeds…

Latvia |

Europa City Amrita Hotel Review in Liepāja

Europa City Amrita Hotel is located in the centre of Liepāja. We booked this 4-star hotel in mid-August 2018 and stayed here for two nights in total paying EUR ~110.The 4-star hotel offers rooms with a flat-screen TV with cable channels, a minibar, and a private bathroom. Free private parking is available for hotel guests.A couple of years ago I stayed at another great Liepāja hotel - see: Hotel Fontaine Royal Review In LiepājaRoom at Europa City Amrita hotel in LiepajaThe 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…

Latvia |

Pape Lighthouse

The Pape Lighthouse (Latvian: Papes bāka) is a lighthouse located on the Latvian coast of the Baltic Sea. I paid a short visit here during my 33 birthday in August 2018.The lighthouse was built in 1910; in a place of a former lighthouse (which existed since 1887); on the southernmost tip of Latvia's coast to the Baltic Sea. Although this lighthouse doesn't impress as much as Akmenrags lighthouse located close to Pāvilosta, an interesting historical fact is that the lighthouse was known as a boundary beacon - by the border between tsarist Russia and Prussia.Pape lighthouseDuring its early existence (up until the end of …

Latvia |

Padure Manor in Latvia

I'm continuing to explore manor houses located in Latvia. This time a short stop at Padure manor near AizputePadure manor in 2018In 2018, there was located Laža special school in Padure manor. See: http://lazasskola.lv/

Latvia |

Unbiased Mintos.com Review - Results after 19 months

I've been investing in Mintos.com peer to peer lending marketplace since the beginning of 2017, or it has been already 19 months since I've been exposing my funds to this Latvian fintech platform. In the past 19 months, I've made a nice revenue of EUR 624.78 (before tax) from an investment worth little more than EUR 4,000I should note that I have been skeptical regarding peer to peer lending business in general and I when started my humble journey with Mintos.com I decided not to invest here more than EUR 5,000. In fact, Mintos.com is the only one peer to peer lending platform I have tried, and I don't plan to try any other platform (yet). I really…

Investing |

July 2018 Dividend Income Report - $202.84

Welcome to the fifteenth (#15) dividend income report, covering earnings I've made from dividend-paying stocks, peer to peer lending (both fiat and cryptocurrencies) in July 2018. In case you are wondering why I'm sharing online my earnings - the answer is pretty simple - I like transparency and these reports help me to observe my progress or bounces. Hopefully, my reports can give some inspiration to you as well.For the second year in a row - July is the best performing month in my portfolio, and this July did break all milestones and for the first time since tracking, cracked pretty impressive $200 milestone.Disclosure: This…

Dividend Income |

Let's Encrypt Fix for "produced an unexpected error: Problem binding to port 443: Could not bind to IPv4 or IPv6.. Skipping."

The other day I faced this problem - server was not automatically renewing Let's Encrypt certificate:  


produced an unexpected error: Problem binding to port 443: Could not bind to IPv4 or IPv6.. Skipping. 


It took me some time to debug and find a solution, which is as easy as shutting down nginx server and then renewing lets encrypt (Solution found here: Trying to renew cert on nginx but getting “Problem binding to port 443: Could not bind to IPv4 or IPv6”)


sudo /etc/init.d/nginx stop

then



sudo certbot renew


 

and finally


​sudo /etc/init.d/nginx start

Hope it helps!

Servers & Config |

Dubulti Evangelical Lutheran Church

Dubulti church, the most expressive object and the visual dominant of the surrounding area is the most monumental and exquisite Art Nouveau building in Jurmala from the viewpoint of historical and sacral architecture.The size and details of the building clearly show the tradition of national romanticism that may be seen in the rich sculptural elements of the building in the placement of the elements, decor of ornamental sculptural details, as well as the diversity of the facade decoration with the smooth, corrugated and coarse plaster.Dubulti Evangelical Lutheran ChurchDubulti church with 750 seats as it is today, was built by Riga building contractor and manufacturer, master of masonry…

Latvia |

Pica Diāna - Pizzeria in Ventspils

Pizza Diana probably is the most popular pizzeria in Ventspils. This Pizzeria offers more than 25 types of pizzas and various second dishes at very friendly prices.Located on J.Poruka street in an old 5-story Soviet apartment house, the pizzeria is pretty close to the city center.Pica Diāna in VentspilsDespite you cannot compare this pizzeria with the famous Armenia Tashir Pizza - one thing is common, both pizzerias have very similar outdoor terraces. See: Tashir Pizza (On Mashtots Avenue, Yerevan)Pizza at Pica Diāna in Ventspils

Latvia |

Postcards from Ventspils

Ventspils is a city situated on the western coast of Latvia, on the Baltic Sea. Ventspils is one of Europe's busiest ports. It is also the city that honours the past, thinks of the future, and never stops working! In today's Piece of Life series - postcards from Latvian seaside town - Ventspils. Captured back in Summer 2017A cannonFound one at the inner yard of Ventpils Livonian Order CastleCow-traveler sculpture in VentspilsView towards Ventspils portShot from Viewing Platform In Ventspils​Blue cow at Ventspils Southern quayConcrete blocks at Southern quay

Latvia |

Viewing Platform In Ventspils

You can have a look at the city from the bird’s eye view from the 19 meters high viewing tower located next to the Ventspils Southern quay.When visiting a new place for the first time I'm always looking for some observation desk to make some great landscape photography, that's how I discovered this Venstpils viewing platform - offering great views across the Baltics and some urban cityscape.19 meters high viewing platform in VentspilsI have climbed in more dangerous constructions and this one located in Ventspils seems safe enoughConstruction of viewing tower in VentspilsAs it was a sunny Summer day back in 2017 when I visited this tower, there were a lot of folks in the…

Latvia |

Venstpils Livonian Order Castle

The Castle of the Livonian Order, which houses Ventspils Museum since September 2001, is the oldest preserved building in Ventspils, built in the second half of the 13th century (first mentioned in 1290).The castle was built as a convent-house type building with an inner yard and can be regarded as the oldest medieval fortress in Latvia to have retained its original form virtually unchanged.Indeed, after visiting a couple of Livonian Order Castle Ruins (Dobele Castle Ruins, Livonian Order Castle Ruins at Aizpute) Ventspils castle is a rare exemption of a surviving castle in the territory of modern Latvia.Back in Summer 2017, I spent a short visit to Ventspils and visited both this…

Latvia |

Rāmkalni restaurant near Murjāņi

Rāmkalni is a popular recreational area near Murjāņi (some 60km from Riga), this place features a traditional Latvian Cusine restaurant/bistroThe venue is on the edge of the Murjāņi-Valka road (A3) and in the Gauja River Valley. It offers Latvian and Western European cuisine, as well as a shop at which you can buy local goodies and homemade treats. An active leisure park is alongside the restaurant.Goodies at RāmkalniTypical Latvian cuisineInterior at Rāmkalni​

Latvia |

Miciņi

Miciņi has a very special place in my heart. I spent a good time in my early teenage years living here together with my dear granny. In fact, she was born here in 1929. Back in these days, a life buzzed in this area. Now, little has left over from the past glory - our family even doesn't own the land plot here. This is the thing I'm planning to change.When I have a chance - I always try to visit this now almost abandoned place - it gives a good energy for me and of course a lot of good memories. For this article I'm attaching a few photographies I made at Miciņi in Summer 2017.Crop fields at MiciņiNowadays some large farmer is running a farm here.Chipped wood and crop fieldsMost…

Latvia |

Valmiera Market

Valmiera market is another market I've visited latelty in Latvia (See: Riga Central Market, Liepāja market and Kuldiga market). Though I believe some could buy here goodies grown by local farmers, last time I visited this market (July 2017) all I could find was just flowers and plants.Valmiera marketResidents of Valmiera come here every day for produce grown by local farmers, gardeners, ranchers and artisan food producers.Flowers and plants for sale at Valmiera market

Latvia |

Mazais Ansis Restaurant Near Valmiera

Mazais Ansis is a popular roadside cafeteria/restaurant located some 15 km from Valmiera town (if driving from Riga). This place serves a traditional Latvian cuisine.When traveling to the Vidzeme region in Latvia, I love to take a stop here and have a lunch. Here comes my latest review back from Summer 2017.The outdoor terrace at Mazais AnsisSeems that at the nearby lake there are some water attractions availableInterior at Mazais AnsisClassical Latvian decors with modern touchA meal at Mazais AnsisTypical "Latvian cuisine" - French fries with some salads and meat. Tastes good.Mazais Ansis near ValmieraWood carved sculptures are very popular across the Baltics (for sure in Latvia and…

Latvia |

Former bath-house of Emilija Racene in Jurmala

When thinking about bathhouses the first thing that arrives in my head is the sulphur bathhouses located in Tbilisi, should they be located in the Abanotubani district or the old and neglected Kiev's bath. Turns out there is not less interesting bath-house (though former) in Latvian Jūrmala - Former bath-house of Emilija RaceneAgain, when thinking about something former - I always remember the lovely former hotel London building in Tbilisi. Now, back to the subject, according to visitjurmala.lvThe building was constructed in the beginning of the 20th century and saw its expansion in 1914, for he first time ever in this part of Jurmala offering various – warm sea water,…

Latvia |

Lake Ķīšezers

Ķīšezers is a lake in Riga, Latvia, with a primary inflow of the Jugla River. The lake is 1,730 ha (4,300 acres) large, it has 2.4 metres (7 ft 10 in) of average depth and reaches 4.2 metres (14 ft) at the deepest point.Lake Ķīšezers is a popular recreation area both for locals and foreign guest in the Mežaparks neighborhood. Riga Zoo is located close to the lake. A recreational area near Lake Ķīšezers in Riga

Latvia |

Pontoon Footbridge Over Mill Lake In Kazdanga

The pontoon footbridge over Mill Lake in Kazdanga, Latvia is a recently built and opened for a public a really cool tourist attraction.Such tourist attractions seem is really gaining the momentum in Latvia, as in fact, this is already third such type of construction I've visited lately in Latvia. See: The Great Kemeri Bog Boardwalk and Hiking Trails in Kemeri National Park (Near Forest House)Kazdanga footbridge is 2 meters wide and 190 meters long, with a viewing tower 2.7 meters height it has been built with a support of funds by European UnionDiscovered by an accident, after wandering around Kazdanga Mill Lake in April. Pontoon footbridge in…

Latvia |

Eden Beach Hotel Review in Agia Marina

During our about a month-long trip around the island of Crete back in 2017, we stayed at Agia Marina twice -  for about 2 nights at trips start and about 5 days at the end of the trip. For the start, we chose Vergina beach hotel which was good and for the end, we stayed at Eden Beach hotel apartment  - which was amazing.Eden Beach Hotel is set in Agia Marina Nea Kydonias and provides air-conditioned accommodation with free WiFi, as well as access to an outdoor swimming pool.Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links to Booking.com, by clicking on links on this page and by making a reservation on Booking site, I might earn an affiliate income from…

Greece |