Blog Archive: August 2015
Lux Express - One Of The Best Options To Travel Between Riga and Tallinn
At the start of this August I traveled to Estonian capital city Tallinn from Riga (Latvia) to celebrate my birthday and I had a few options to choose on how to actually get there - like, car, coach (bus) or plane (I believe there is a rail connection as well, but I also believe it takes some 12 hours to travel a short ~ 300 km distance)
The fact is as I believe it will be even cheaper or about the same to fly between those two Baltic Capital cities, rather to use a bus. But since I'm sick and tired of all these airport procedures, I decided we will use a bus leaving Riga International Bus Station.
Waiting for our coach at Riga Coach Station
Riga - Tallinn coach also goes through city of…
Gretna - Small Town Close To New Orleans, Louisiana
We arrived at Gretna, Louisiana back in Summer 2013, just before the July 4th celebrations, and we actually stayed at this small town close to New Orleans a week or something, just for one plain reason - accommodation here is much cheaper than in New Orleans. We spent our nights here at Gretna, while our days passed in New Orleans.
To get to New Orleans we used public transport - bus, we had a bus stop just right next to our motel. All the other "normal" people use SUV cars here for getting around.
I wouldn't say Gretna is a very tourist popular spot, but here in some grocery store, I met a salesperson who sang a very popular Russian song - Миллион Алых Роз (Million Alyh Roz)…
Walking Around Downtown Atlanta, GA
We enjoyed our stay in Downtown Atlanta for some 3 days (nights) back in Summer 2013. During our short 3 days stay here we visited World of Coca Cola Museum and CNN Center and did a lot of walking around city.
As well I took a few pictures in Downtown Atlanta.
Downtown Atlanta, GA
Author of this blog captured at Rest in Downtown Atlanta
Cyclists in Downtown Atlanta
Seems Atlanta is cyclist friendly city and that is a good reason to return here.
Hard Rock cafe in Downtown Atlanta
Skyscraper in Downtown Atlanta
Hard Rock Cafe in Downtown Atlanta
Downtown Atlanta
Georgia Power
A lovely reminder of Georgia from our motel room - Georgia Power - A Southern Company
About Downtown…
Inside CNN Studio Tour at CNN Center in Atlanta, Ga
Turns out that Atlanta, GA is home not only for World of Coca Cola museum, but this city also hosts a CNN Center and you can actually book an inside tour here:The Inside CNN Studio Tour is a 50-minute walking tour that descends 8 flights of stairs. Elevator assisted tours are available at 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., and 4:30 p.m. These tours tend to sell out quickly so reservations are highly recommended. Pricing: Inside CNN Atlanta offers a once-in-a-lifetime view of the global headquarters of CNN. Ticket price per adult: $16. More info: CNN TourI took a few photos here back in Summer 2013:CNN logo at CNN Center in Atlanta, GeorgiaAuthor of this blog captured at CNN…
World of Coca Cola Museum in Atlanta, GA
It was a damned hot day when we arrived to Atlanta, Georgia. After a few hour rest in our motel we decided to explore what's interesting nearby our location, and turned out that museum "World of Coca Cola" were among the closest tourist attractions. So we started to walk (don't walk when it's + 108 Fahrenheit outside). And here you go - some pictures back from 2013.World of Coca Cola Museum in Atlanta, GeorgiaAquarium at World of Coca ColaView to Down Town AtlantaWorld of Coca Cola museumVending machinesAuthor of this blog captured at Coca Cola museum in AtlantaAbout World of Coca ColaThe World of Coca-Cola at Pemberton Place® celebrated its Grand Opening on May 24, 2007. It’s the only…
Thunderstorm in Downtown Knoxville, Tennessee
We stayed in Knoxville for some 3 nights, since our motel was located pretty far away from Downtown Knoxville we traveled here by Public Transport (for a surprise they have a one). Since we didn't know much (except Megabus is heading here) about Knoxville, we opened Wikipedia and learnt that a World's Fair has been held here in 1982. We decided to take a closer look of Downtown Knoxville and here is what we got:
Thunderstorm in Down town Knoxville
Author of this blog hiding from rain in some cafeteria
Knoxville
Down town Knoxville, Tennessee
Down town Knoxville, Tennessee
After Knoxville we headed to Atlanta, Georgia, but it's another blog post.
About Knoxville…
Quaker Steak & Lube in Knoxville, Tennessee
Seems this place is closed for now, but back in 2013 we found it our second favorite place in US (after Chikie's & Pete's in Bordentown). Quaker Steak & Lube was located closely to our motel and when we went here, we were just impressed.
Quaker Steak and Lube in Knoxville
Live performance at Quaker Steak and Lube in Knoxville
Bike Night 2013
Tables at Quaker Steak & Lube in Knoxville
Author of this blog eating pork ribs
The Bottom Line
It would be sad to learn that this place is closed (in 2015), it was a great place, with great food (Best Wings in USA), awesome atmosphere and good prices.
Washington D.C. (Super Moon & Spending Night With Homeless People)
What seemed to be one of the most interesting travel experiences turned out to be the worst travel experience and that happened in Washington D.C. back in summer of 2013 (I can actually recall it was June 22). While back in Georgia we had negotiated an accommodation in Washington D.C. using coach surfing - our host didn't showed up and since it was late night we stayed on street.We have never tried coach surfing again. Well, I agree we could book a hotel, but since we arrived late in D.C. we decided to take the next Megabus bus and head furthermore into Southern States. We had to wait some 6-7 hours... in time of what we met a lot of soliciting homeless people, with one I…
Streets of Philadelphia
From my travel notes to the United States back in 2013. Just as from the World famous Bruce Springsteen song, we too experienced this lovely phenomena called - streets of Philadelphia.Update: I wish I was a better photographer back then, as all of the photos from that trip were taken using my old Sony DSC camera, and ... let's say they didn't pop out. Some three years latter, by writing an article on Geghard monastery in Armenia, I remembered Philly. All I was left, to browse for my old articles and take a help from Adobe Lightroom and fine tune my scenery.Here are few things I can associate Philadelphia with - Penn Station (if you are traveling…
Manhattan - Island of Many Hills
Today by overlooking some old photos (taken in Summer 2013) I found some epic pictures back from my travels to United States, so I decided to add some photos I have taken there on my blog - and today I will add Manhattan.
It was interesting for me to learn that "Manhattan" can be translated as "Island of many hills" from the Lenape (Unami) language. I didn't noticed many hills there, but a lot of skyscrapers instead.
Street musician in Manhattan's subway
It is interesting to learn that in New York you can (must) obtain some license for performing on the streets - as you can see from picture above - this musician is a musical saw player.
Manhattan
Manhattan…
Staten Island Ferry - Free Tourist Attraction in New York City
In case you are looking for budget-friendly and interesting activities in New York - try a free-of-charge ferry service connecting Manhattan with Staten Island. Y
ou won't find much interesting in Staten Island (although you can rent a much cheaper apartment here like in downtown New York), but you will definitely enjoy views offered from the ferries deck, the best way to see Liberty Statue for free? - Staten Island Ferry!
Staten Island Ferry
View to Manhattan
Staten Islands Ferry's deck is a great place for photographers to take beautiful views of Manhattan, unfortunately back then I had only a simple bridge camera and best I could get was above seen picture. Also you can capture…
Brighton Beach - Russian Speaking Neighbourhood in Brooklyn
From my travel notes to the United States back in 2013. With little photo editing in 2020.Last time I visited Brighton Beach back in the Summer of 2013 and I even stayed overnight here at some Russian owned apartments. Well actually that's the main reason we headed here - it was already late evening and we were sitting at Starbucks next to Central Park waiting for a host we had previously spoken on coachsurfing, but since the host was not responding anymore we decided to catch the last subway and go to the Russians.Quickly we were in Brighton Beach, we headed to some Russian store and asked where could we get some cheap accommodation here and soon we were…
Bordentown - Home For Funerals
With this post I'm starting my latest United States travel notes I made back in the Summer of 2013. It has been a while already, but today overlooking some old photos I did find some epic pictures from the United States, and I will start with a quiet and a bit strange small town in New Jersey - Bordentown. Why I'm calling this place a little bit strange? As we learned later - Bordentown is home for Funerals.If I remember correctly we arrived here from New York's Penn Station by train, actually yes we bought tickets to Trenton (New Jersey), and then in Trenton, we booked a motel in some 10 miles radius, and it turned out to be located in Bordentown. And also turned out that you can…
Cafe Pīlādzītis in Kuldīga
Cafe Pīlādzītis is located in Kuldīga, on picturesque place with great views both to Venta waterfall and Old Brick bridge. This place offers a typical Latvian cuisine. For a complete list of my Kuldiga restaurant reviews see: Kuldīga restaurantsOld Brick bridge near Cafe PilādzītisCafe Pīlādzītis in KuldīgaCold soup at cafe PīlādzītisFrench fries and pork chopArea near cafe PīlādzītisThe Bottom LineCafe Pīlādzītis in Kuldīga is a budget friendly place which offers tasty meal - best enjoyed in mild summer nights with great views of Venta waterfall and Old Brick bridge