How To Disable / Enable Windows 10 Update

8 January, 2019 | Servers | 26 seen

Windows 10 updates might get annoying, and though they are much needed and it's not recommended to turn them off, in this article I will show one easy method how to disable and later enable Windows Update.

For other methods please see: How to Disable Windows 10 Update in Every Way

Understand the limitations of this method. While disabling the automatic update service will temporarily halt any Windows 10 cumulative updates, the service will re-enable itself after a certain amount of time. Here are the directions:

1. Press the Windows logo key + R at the same time to invoke the Run box.

2. Type services.msc and press Enter.

3. Scroll down to Windows Update, and double-click it.

4. In Startup type, select Disabled. Then click Apply and OK to save the settings.

To enable windows update, repeat the steps above and in startup mode chose Manual…

Bolnisi Sioni Cathedral

6 January, 2019 | Churches and Monasteries | 13 seen

Bolnisi Sioni Cathedral is a Georgian Orthodox basilica in the Bolnisi village of Bolnisi District, Georgia. The cathedral was built in 478–493. It is the oldest extant church building in Georgia. Bishop David was the overseeing church leader for the construction of Bolnisi Sioni.

It took me more than 7 years of living in Georgia to visit for the first time Bolnisi and Bolnisi Sioni at the end of December 2018, though I was familiar that there are one of the oldest historical documents of the Georgian alphabet.​

Bolnisi Sioni

Bolnisi Sioni Cathedral is known for its Georgian inscriptions. These are one of the oldest historical documents of the Georgian alphabet. This church is the first Georgian building to have a completion date on the exterior. Bolnisi Sioni’s decorative scheme was a Sasanian style. The southern and central parts of the church are adorned with curling vine scrolls, arabesques, and foliate motifs. Uniform masonry blocks were used to build on to the original building’s late antiquity remnants on the southern façade

How to get on one photography Tbilisi TV tower, Narikala and Tabor Monastery

5 January, 2019 | | 7 seen

Simple - panoramic photography.

It was at the end of 2018, we were wandering around Tbilisi botanical garden, to discover Zip Line, when I thought - hmm, there is a good observation point from which we can see Tbilisi TV tower, Narikala fortress and even Tabor monastery. 

I decided to make a quick experiment and was shooting panoramic photography. The result? 

Here you go

Panoramic photo from Tbilisi

I love experimenting with panoramic photography and I love doing it in Tbilisi, see for example Panoramic Photography From Tbilisi Holy Trinity Cathedral or How to take and create HDR Panoramic photos

Well, I agree - the blog post is not the best solution for sharing a panoramic photo - it might be a good idea to build a simple panoramic photography plugin for Piece of Life.

Panoramic photography from Tbilisi

P.S. Happy New Year (Happy New Year! Fireworks Photography from Tbilisi)

2018 in Review and Financial Goals for 2019

4 January, 2019 | Investments | 19 seen

I'm 33 now and I have a goal to save one million dollars by the time I will turn 60. That's 27 years to go. I've been documenting my journey towards financial independence for the past two years already

In today's article, I will review the past year of 2018 and take a quick glimpse at the New Year of 2019.

Just like in the previous year, 2017 for me was a year of peer to peer lending, dividend-paying stocks and  - cryptocurrencies. Speaking of cryptocurrencies 2018 was really bad for my long-term crypto holdings and whipped out all the great gains we made in 2017.

2017 in Review and Financial Goals for 2018

Structure of Investment portfolio at the end of 2018

At the start of 2018, I planned to invest about 42% of my annual net income, the planned amount for 2018 was $10,700.18, I managed to invest little more ($11,066.07) at the end of the year. I exceeded my initial plan by $365.89. In 2018, on the average I was investing at the pace of $922/mo, that's slightly less than back in 2017 ($1,000)…

Zip Line Tbilisi (Georgia)

2 January, 2019 | Outdoor Activities | 30 seen

Zip Line Tbilisi is another cool thing to do while in Georgia.

I might be late to the party, as discovered Zip Line Tbilisi just at the end of 2018, but seems it was first opened for a public already back in June 2017. It was during our latest trip to the Tbilisi Botanical garden when I noticed strange cables going from Narikala fortress into the botanical garden.

Zip Line Tbilisi

Visitors and locals of Georgia's capital Tbilisi can now enjoy the scenery of the city's popular botanical garden from a bird's eye perspective after a zip line running above the park was launched at the location earlier today.

Zip Line Tbilisi

Strung from the hilltop Narikala Fortress overlooking the city, the line is suspended 30 metres above the park and runs 270 metres to its destination platform. (Source)

Investment Goal #5 - $100,000 by the end of 2021 in Savings Account (Stocks, Cryptocurrencies, Peer to Peer Lending)

1 January, 2019 | Investments | 58 seen

This article has been in my blog drafts section since January 2018. With the New Year fast approaching, I took another look on it, and despite the goal sounds a bit scary to me now, I decided that January 1st, 2019 is a great day to publish it. As they say, there is no better date to make a wish. Here you go - my New Years resolution - a plan for the next three years.

I'm 33 now, and I have a goal to have in saving account a million dollars by the time I will turn 60, in 2045. I started my wealth building journey just two years ago in 2017, and by now I've managed to save ~ $20,000. On average that's about $10,000 a year.

To make it to $100K in the next 3 years, it would ask me to save $80,000 or about $26K a year. With my current savings rate, I could barely reach $50K by the end of 2021.

Now, that's why I decided to boost my goal (Which is just a small step from the bigger goal) - frankly speaking, from today's perspective, looking - I have not a single clue, how to double my savings rate on a yearly basis. 

On the other hand, there are a couple of options I'm considering…

The Botanical Garden of the University of Latvia

30 December, 2018 | Tourism objects | 25 seen

The Botanical Garden of the University of Latvia is located in Pardaugava (Kandavas 2), just a 10-minute ride from the central part of Riga. The garden was founded in 1922.

Over 15ha visitors can explore hothouses and outdoor collections with some 6,000 different plants. It is one of the most well-loved recreational spaces in Riga - you can slowly walk the garden’s compact yet informationally saturated territory, get to know plants from all over the world, visit the Plants House, the Azalea House as well as the Tropical House, or just enjoy lush nature in the middle of the city.

Whether you are a gardening enthusiast, a botanical expert, or just want to spend time in a beautiful and pleasant environment, you will always find something interesting here.

Tropical house building in Riga Botanical garden

I first visited Riga Botanical garden in March 2018. I haven't seen many botanical gardens, but this one really reminded the one you can find in Kiev, Ukraine (Hryshko National Botanical Garden in Kiev)

The garden’s collection is wide and carefully chosen - it includes protected plants, or those used for medical treatment,…

The Grand Documentary of 2017

29 December, 2018 | Documentaries | 22 seen

The Grand Documentary of 2017 is a second part from the never-ending Grand Documentary series, originally set back in 2016.

The Grand Documentary of 2017 is a 5 minutes and 23 seconds long short film documenting our lives back in 2017. 

Filmed in various countries across the Globe throughout 2017, glued, polished, laminated, beaten and put together in Tbilisi, Georgia, using Premiere CC

Places from the film:

• 3 Weeks in Crete (Complete Itinerary list)
• Weekend Trip To Kiev, Ukraine

P.S. There is also in production "The Great Documentary 2018", which promises to delight us very soon - in the first quarter of 2019

Top Hotels in Baltezers, Latvia

28 December, 2018 | Hotel reviews | 9 seen

Baltezers is a popular recreational village located in Ādaži Municipality some 17 km from Riga city center.

The place is popular among tourists from the close neighboring countries like Estonia and Lithuania (because of Via Baltic road) and also for tourists from Scandinavia and Russia.

In today's article, I've listed the top 3 hotels to book here in Baltezers.

Disclosure: hotels listed below contain links to Booking.com, by clicking on links on this page and by making a reservation on Booking.com site, I will earn an affiliate income, at no cost to you.

Read my review here

This 4-star hotel Baltvilla is located 9.3 mi from the center of Riga, on the shore of a lake with a private beach area and on the Via Baltica highway (E67). Baltvilla is located 2.5 mi from Latvian Ethnographic Open-Air Museum. Free WiFi is provided throughout the property and a wide private parking is available for guests free of charge.

Baltvilla hosts a restaurant on the ground floor. It specializes in European and Italian cuisines and there guests can enjoy meals throughout the day. A summer terrace with a…

Weekend Trip To Kiev, Ukraine

26 December, 2018 | Travel guides | 15 seen

Weekend trip to Kyiv, Ukraine is a short recap of my 32 birthday celebrations back in 2017.

In short, we booked a central hotel in the city center, used local taxi's a lot, traveled forth and back to the distant neighborhoods, and tried a lot of great Ukrainian cuisine.

Traditions should be respected. For the fourth year in a row, I have been celebrating my birthday at one of the former Soviet Union member country's capital cities. It all started in Yerevan, continued in Tallinn, Vilnius and now it was the turn for Kyiv.

In fact, we made a short trip to Kyiv at the end of 2016, during a flight to the US, and back then we decided to return here in Summer. See Short Day Trip To Kiev, Ukraine

Puzata Hata, Khreschatyk Street, Kyiv, Ukraine

25 December, 2018 | Restaurant reviews | 40 seen

Puzata Hata is a popular (and probably the largest) chain in Kiev - it serves traditional Ukrainian cuisine for a budget price.

Puzata Hata was one of our favorite Kiev restaurant chains we visited during our latest trip to Kiev in August 2017. See: Kiev restaurants

The Puzata Khata Restaurant Network opened its doors to the first visitors in 2003. Then it was the first restaurant in Bessarabka, in the center of Kiev. 

Puzata Hata in Kiev

Today, Puzata Hata is a network of modern restaurants with quality and fast service, where you can taste delicious Ukrainian and European cuisine.

Traditional Ukrainian Cuisine

Mmm, pancakes ... yummy

I doubt we spent even USD 10 here for two person meal. Highly recommend! 

3 Weeks in Crete (Complete Itinerary list)

23 December, 2018 | Travel guides | 67 seen

This is a round-up post for our 3 weeks trip to Crete, Grece in June 2017, listing most of the places (tourism objects, hotels, restaurants, and more)

In short, we fled from Tbilisi via Athens to Chania, see About Tbilisi - Athens - Chania (Greece) flight by Aegean Airlines,  spent some 8 hours in Athens, and arrived at Chania international airport from where our Cretan trip started.

From the airport, we took a public bus (the price was cheap, some  EUR 2 per person, or something). 

Once we arrived at the Chania bus station we found our apartment we had prebooked already in Georgia, and it was some 5-minute walking distance from the bus station. 

In the evening we went out to have some Cretan-style dinner, and I made some lovely night photography in Chania. 

The next morning we decided to head to the nearby town of Agia Marina and caught a taxi at Chania bus station which to us to the hotel in Agia Marina for EUR 8 

We spent the next couple of days in Agia Marina, laying on the beaches, dining in the nearby town of Platanias, and sometimes driving to Chania…

Postcards from Kvareli

22 December, 2018 | | 22 seen

Kvareli is a town in northeastern in Kakheti Province, Georgia. Located in the Alazani Valley, near the foothills of the Greater Caucasus Mountains, it was the birthplace of Georgian author Ilia Chavchavadze

The area is in the center of the Kakheti wine-producing region, and the town itself is known for its Kindzmarauli wine, a semisweet red variety.

Kindzmarauli Corporation Wine House in Kvareli, Georgia

Anyhow, there are many cool things to do and explore in and out of the city, like Grape Harvest Rtveli in Georgia (Region of Kakheti)

For today's Piece of Life series article, I decided to share photographs from our latest trip to Kvareli in mid-November 2018

Kvareli Eden in Night

See Hotel Kvareli Eden Review

Dwelling house in Kvareli

Georgia never ends to surprise, from high-end remote hotels to ruined dwelling houses in the neighbors. 

Similar scenery you can find in Sighnaghi, see: Postcards From Sighnaghi

Street in Kvareli

You could film a Western here.…

Top hotels in Rustavi, Georgia

21 December, 2018 | Hotel reviews | 10 seen

Rustavi cannot be proud of having top luxury hotels, like the one you can find in Georgian resort towns of Bakuriani, Gudauri, Batumi or the nation's capital Tbilisi.

The reason probably is plain simple - the close distance to Tbilisi city. On the other hand, Rustavi is known for it's racing track and huge auto market. Many international travelers from neighboring countries of Armenia and Azerbaijan are coming here to buy used and new vehicles. 

Continue reading to find out top hotels in Rustavi

Disclosure: hotels listed below contain links to Booking.com, by clicking on links on this page and by making a reservation on Booking.com site, I will earn an affiliate income, at no cost to you.

Featuring a bar, Prestige is located in Rustavi. This 2-star hotel offers a 24-hour front desk. Free WiFi is available.

The rooms in the hotel are equipped with a flat-screen TV with cable channels. All guest rooms have a closet.

Price: ~ GEL 40 Book this hotel on Booking.com

Featuring a terrace and free Wi-Fi, Rustavi hotel is just a 10-minute walk…

Kvareli Public Service Hall

19 December, 2018 | Tourism objects | 16 seen

Kvareli Public service hall is located in the center of Kvareli town near Chavchavadze Street.

Public Service Hall is an agency of the Georgian government which provides a variety of public services, these include the services of the Civil Registry Agency, the National Agency of Public Registry, the National Archives, the National Bureau of Enforcement and the Notary Chamber of Georgia. Services are made available at public service halls throughout the country.

Public Service hall in Kvareli

I was not able to find much about the construction of Kvareli site (as I was, with the Public service hall in Tianeti), but here is what I found - most probably the Kvareli Public service hall was opened for public in 2013, total area is 530m2 and the architect is AG & Partners.