Blog Archive: February 2016
Replacing Roof - Part 1: Removing the old roofing
| Home Remodeling | 12 seen
In today's home remodeling series I'll share some epic experience on roof replacement works. If you have been following my blog for a while, you probably have noticed that in Spring 2015 we inherited an old and very bad managed rural house.
That Summer taught me a lot - I learnt how to use a scythe to move a grass, and also excelled as a construction worker (Room One - Wall and Ceiling Painting with Water Based Paint, How to Patch and Plaster Walls in Your Old Rural House), but nothing compares to experience like actually changing a roof.
It was already more than 3 months since we started to manage this house, but we hadn't any plans to stay any longer that till the end of Summer here, we had actually already bought our return tickets to Tbilisi at the start of September. We hadn't much time left - just about one month to replace old roofing for this house, if we wanted the house to survive upcoming winter (the roof was already leaky).
So we ordered a metal roof, which was meant to arrive at the start of August, but prior to that, I ordered additional wooden laths and wooden boards, so we can fix existing roof construction and add…
House Of Food / Fontaine Palace in Liepāja
| Restaurant reviews | 32 seen
House Of Food is a place to eat good, quick international food from all corners of the world. Louie Fontaine, the owner and rock musician, has designed the place with a feel similar to a 50’s American diner, with an open kitchen and restaurant booths so high you’ll sit cosy and private in your own restaurant.
Located at the canal front downtown in an old factory building - this place absolutely rocks!
Hotel Fontaine Royal in Liepāja
Fontaine Royal offers a swimming pool, health centre, conference hall, restaurant, bar and various shops. The hotel design is out of this world, full of royal furniture, all gold plated standing in contrast with the old factory spirit, you will feel like a king staying at the Fontaine Royal. The hotel offers the biggest conference & banquet facilities in Kurland with 300 seats. The hotel has a music club in an old warehouse, (Fontaine Palace, capacity 600 people), offering live bands from around the globe. If visiting Liepaja’s outstanding beaches and charming town feeling Fontaine Royal is the right choice for living in luxury for a cheap rate.
Prison bar at Fontaine's Palace…
Cafe bar Gradus in Gudauri
| Restaurant reviews | 21 seen
Cafe bar Gradus is located in Georgian ski resort town in Gudauri. Located just between the first and second ski lifts, this place offers great cuisine, drinks and lovely view to Caucasus mountains.
It's outdoor terrace is great for sun bathing. The prices here are in - it depends category, although not high compared to Western standards, there are some items with higher price attached and some for very reasonable price. So for a 5 years old Georgian Sarajishvilli brandy I paid about 6 Lari (50 g), while a small portion of dumplings cost twelve lari. Hard to tell.
Interior at cafe bar Gradusi
They have a Free Wi-Fi on site and debt cards are accepted for payments.
Outdoor terrace at Gradus cafe bar in Gudauri
Dumplings at Cafe bar Gradus
Postcards from Gudauri
| | 15 seen
Gudauri is a popular ski resort located on the southern slopes of The Greater Caucasus Mountain Range in Georgia. The resort is situated in the Stepantsminda District, along the Georgian Military Highway near the Cross Pass, at an elevation of 2,196 meters (7,200 ft.) above sea level.
We have been heading to Gudauri at least once in a year. There are few great reviews about Gudauri on my blog, Gudauri - Georgian Winter Capital for skiing, snowboarding, paragliding and heli-skiing or Gudauri - Cost Free And Fun Outdoor Activities but for today's Piece of Life photo project series I decided to share some images / postcards I have taken back at the 2015 Christmas time.
Sunset in Caucasus mountains in Gudauri
Gudauri lies 120 km (75 mi) to the north of the capital Tbilisi. The trip from Tbilisi to Gudauri usually takes two hours by car.
Caucasus mountains in Gudauri
Skiers at Gudauri ski resort
Ski lifts in Gudauri
The resort offers high quality skiing opportunities. The slopes of Gudauri are…
Turtle lake in Tbilisi
| Lakes | 64 seen
Turtle lake is a direct English translation of Kus Tba (Georgian: კუს ტბა), a small lake at the outskirts of Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, so named due to the perceived abundance of turtles living in these places.
Those of you who have been following my blog, probably have noticed I have mentioned Turtle lake a lot on my blog, I have been heading here in hot summer days to breath a fresh air and done some Drupal development from here, also I have headed here for lovely hiking treks around and up Turtle lake. Read more: Best Hikes In Tbilisi Are Located Near Turtle Lake
Turtle lake is very popular recreational area both for locals and foreigners, so it's just that time I'm submitting it as another tourist attraction in Tbilisi.
Although the best time to visit Turtle lake is in Summer, when you can enjoy swimming, renting a boat or just spending your time at some cafe's outdoor patio, it's visited a lot in Winter season as well. For today's article I decided to share some images I have taken here in mid January, 2015 when Turtle lake was frozen.
Frozen Turtle lake in Tbilisi
…
Linode: How To Secure Nginx with Let's Encrypt on Ubuntu 12.04
| Servers | 66 seen
Encrypted HTTPS websites are pretty much a hot topic nowadays. I have seen a lot noncommercial websites and blogs using HTTPS protocol lately. I believe cheap prices for certificates and possible SEO boost from Google are pushing more and more to add HTTPS. Including me!
In fact this article is first since my blog is HTTPS, to celebrate that I decided to write shot tutorial how you too can enable HTTPS on Ubuntu 12.04 running Nginx and optionally running a Drupal site on Linode VPS.
Install free TLS/SSL certificatesWait, did I just said a free certificate? Totally free? No hidden costs? Yup, that's exactly what I've said, - Let's Encrypt is a new Certificate Authority that provides an easy way to obtain and install free TLS/SSL certificates, thereby enabling encrypted HTTPS on web servers. It simplifies the process by providing a software client, letsencrypt, that attempts to automate most (if not all) of the required steps.
Install guideYou can read article on Digital Ocean - How To Secure Nginx with Let's Encrypt on Ubuntu 14.04, most of the written bellow is originally taken from…
Loft cleaning - Preparation works for replacing that leaky roof
| Home Remodeling | 4 seen
It was already last weeks of July, and we had bought already our return tickets back to Tbilisi, Georgia, and there was still one urgent task to complete if we wanted our rural house to survive upcoming rain and winter season - we had to replace roofing.
Oh, boy - back then I had no idea how frustrating, yet fun experience it will be. After finishing temporary repair works at home's first floor - I went upstairs and decided it's time to clean house's loft before moving on to more drastic roofing works. Instead of removing just old junk from loft, we had to remove about a ton of bricks and about 2 tons of ... soil. For some reason, the previous owner (R.I.P) decided to insulate loft with plain soil. I started to dug... gosh...
Bricks and junk at loft
As you can see its hard to call this place a loft, its more some construction which needs urgent repair. That huge construction you can see in background is called a mantel chimney:
Fireplace mantel or mantelpiece, also known as a chimneypiece, originated in medieval times as a hood that projected over a grate to catch the smoke. The term…
How to open a bottle of wine with a hand drill
| Home Remodeling | 7 seen
There are many options to open a bottle of wine without using a cork screwer, last summer I tried a new method - using an old school hand drill.
f you have been following my blog and especially home remodeling series you have probably noticed I have been trying out a lot of interesting tools lately, how about mowing a grass with a scythe?
Tools you will need:
- A bottle of Badagoni, semisweet Khvanchkara wine (produced in Republic of Georgia)
- An old school hand drill
- Optional: A good company
Author of this blog captured in action
Opening bottle of wine with hand drill
Stacking firewood in barn
| | 6 seen
Last summer taught me a lot of new things. I tried mowing grass with a scythe after which I "upgraded" to a trimmer. After all I was doing a new thing for me - home remodeling.
In today's Piece of Life photo series I will share with you another great outdoor activity I did last summer - stacking firewood in barn.
Firewood waiting to be stacked in barn
Stacking firewood in barn
Stacking firewood in barn
Stacking firewood in barn
Turns out there are even tutorials on how to stack firewood in barn the right way:
When it comes to preparing firewood, stacking may be the most pleasant part of the job. The hard and sometimes dangerous work of disassembling a tree with a chain saw is done. The tedious splitting is over. Now comes the time to convert a loose, messy pile of wood into an orderly stack—a satisfying transformation that appeals to the builder in me. Read more: The Right Way to Stack Firewood
How to prepare traditional Solyanka soup
| Food blogger | 15 seen
In today's food blogger series I'll share a photo recipe on how to prepare traditional Solyanka soup. Solyanka is among my favorite soups and I prepare this some 3-4 times in a year. Pictures in this article are back from summer 2015 when I boiled a large pot with this delicious soup.
Solyanka is a thick, spicy and sour Russian soup that is common in Russia and other states of the former Soviet Union. There are three basic types of solyanka, with the main ingredient being either meat, fish, or mushrooms. All of them contain pickled cucumbers with brine, and often cabbage, salted mushrooms, smetana (sour cream), and dill.
Ingredients for Solyanka soup
I spent about EUR 10 to buy ingredients for this soup: instead of meat, I prefer to use smoked sausages. There are not many ingredients for this soup - meat/sausages, potatoes, carrots, onions, pickles
Start with pealing potatoes
Since it was mid Summer already, there were available new potatoes, so instead of actually pealing them I scrubbed them
…Michelangelo Square in Florence, Italy
| Tourism objects | 26 seen
Michelangelo Square is one of the best place in Florence to take picturesque panoramic views of Florence. We found this place thanks to suggestions on some travel guide and indeed, the pictures taken here are amazing.
We were lucky enough to find this place quickly as it was located in just some 3 minute drive from our hotel. Read more: Villa Carlota hotel review. We parked our car at Michelangelo Square, I installed a tripod and took some lovely views towards city of Florence.
Views toward Florence from Michelangelo Square
Views toward Florence from Michelangelo Square in HDR
Yup, I couldn't resist here to take HDR photography.
Bronze cast of David facing Florence from the center of the square at Michelangelo Square
This Florentine piazza was designed by architect Giuseppe Poggi and built in 1869 on a hill just south of the historic center, during the redevelopment of Oltrarno, the left (South) bank of the Arno river. In 1869, Florence was the capital of Italy and the whole city was involved in an urban renewal, the so-called "Risanamento…
How To Take and Post-Process Night HDR Images
| Digital Photography School | 9 seen
In today's digital school photography project I'll show how to take night HDR images and post-process them in Adobe Lightroom and Postmatix.
A year ago - taking a decent night photo sounded mission impossible for me, since I have acquired a DSLR camera a lot has changed, and I'm starting to feel being capable of creating even night HDR's now. Take a look on this tutorial: Practicing Photography: Doing Night Shots - Tbilisi By Night.
Although I don't like to spend a lot of time on post processing images, I must admit - post processing is very valuable science to master to make your photos look even better. Since there is post processing involved in HDR photography, I'll shoot in RAW mode just not to loose details of scene (as it might happen shooting in JPEG mode). Another important tool you will need to have - a sturdy tripod, because shooting at night involves long exposures, without a sturdy tripod your long exposures will be blurry. For post processing our HDR night images we are going to use Adobe Lightroom and Photomatix. Actually I have a basic tutorial on HDR photography for HDR Efex Pro , you can take a look on that article. Actually…
Hotel Villa Carlota in Florence, Italy
| Hotel reviews | 15 seen
Villa Carlota hotel in Florence is a 4-star hotel. We stayed here overnight just day before New Year in 2015. We arrived here after paid a visit to the leaning tower of Pisa and short wanderings around Tuscany vineyards.
Previous night we spent at another 4-star hotel in Lucca. Read more: Albergo Celide Hotel Review in Lucca, Italy. Villa Carlota compared to Albergo Celide is a truly a 4-star hotel and I will definitely return to this hotel next when spending time in Florence.
Villa Carlota hotel in Florence, Italy
Villa Carlotta is a 19th-century country manor surrounded by parks and gardens. It is near the panoramic terrace of Piazzale Michelangelo, and a 15-minute walk from the Ponte Vecchio bridge. This 4-star hotel offers free parking, a pool and free Wi-Fi. Each room comes with air conditioning, satellite TV, and elegant parquet floors. The style is classic, with chandeliers, and furniture in lacquered wood. At Hotel Villa Carlotta you can relax out on the veranda and in the garden. International cocktails are served at the bar, while for lunch and dinner you can choose from a selection of hot and cold dishes. …
Vineyards in Tuscany, Italy
| | 3 seen
If there are a thousands things to see before we die - I believe to see vineyards in Tuscany are among them. At the end of December 2015, we traveled around region of Tuscany in Italy and to memorize those fascinating places I created a few panorama photos. Vineyards in Tuscany - Piece of Life.
Vineyards in Tuscany
It is amazing to observe how using a simple DSLR camera with kit lens I figured out to create a panorama photo here (stitching together some 6 photos). I believe it is all about experiment and never stop, so even when in travels you can end with a decent looking final images.
Panorama photo of vineyards in Tuscany
Vineyards in Winter in Tuscany, Italy
I believe in Summer when those vineyards are actually flourishing it is 100% better here
Road and vineyards in Tuscany, Italy
View to Italian town from distance in Tuscany
Vineyards in Tuscany region
'I Fossi' Restaurant in San Gimignano, Italy
| Restaurant reviews | 6 seen
I Fossi is a small roadside restaurant located in San Gimignano town in Italy. We arrived here just shortly we paid a visit to the Leaning tower of Pisa.
We made a stop here by chance, just because noticed there is one free parking spot available. Unfortunately we managed to order just two cappuccinos and noticed there is a queue with cars on the nearby street, some lady had arrived to the hotel (turns out there is a hotel as well at this place) and waited to park her car. I told her, could she wait for some 10 minutes while we will finish our cappuccinos and then she well have a place to park her car, she was happy of such offer and agreed, so we enjoyed our 10 minutes here and headed deeper in Tuscany, but during those 10 short minutes here I asked to the restaurant staff members could I make a few photos of this place, got permission and intensively pressed shutter button on my camera.
Roadside restaurant I Fossi in San Gimignano, Italy
Would you like to see how a roadside restaurant looks in Republic of Georgia? Take a look: Roadside cafe near Surami Mountain Pass
I Fossi restaurant in San…