Blog Archive: March 2016

Postcards from Mtskheta

Mtskheta is small and lovely town located some 20 km from nation' s capital Tbilisi. Some will find a lot of similarities in Mtskheta with town of Sighanghi, while others will enjoy architectural and religious pearls of Mtskheta. Svetitskhoveli church, Jvari monastery or Samtavro are just a few to name. 

In today' s Piece of Life series - Mtskheta as we saw it on International Women' s day (March 8)



Cobbled street in…

Georgia

Samtavro Monastery

Samtavro Monastery together with Svetitskhoveli cathedral and Jvari monastery are one of the main sights of historical town of Mtskheta, located some 20 km from nation's capital Tbilisi. Official nam of this place is Samtavro Transfiguration Orthodox Church and Nunnery of St. Nino in Mtskheta, Georgia. It is believed that church were built in the 4th century by King Mirian III of Iberia. Nowadays…

Latvia

Guest House / Restaurant 'Āķa Gals' in Pāvilosta

If there is a reason I would love to return to Latvian coastal town of Pāvilosta - cuisine served at restaurant Āķa Gals will be probably at top of my priorities. Cozy tavern located in the dunes of Pāvilosta, only 100 meters from the sea, is a great place for celebrations, relaxation and recreation with family and friends.Guesthouse / Tavern Āķagals in PāvilostaVisitors both of simple and refined tastes will enjoy…

Latvia

Pāvilosta piers and Lighthouse

If planing your trip to Latvian coastal town of Pāvilosta don't forget to plan a trip to Pāvilosta piers, grab your camera and make some stunning sunset photography here. I first visited the piers of Pāvilosta and the town at the end of Summer 2015, and let me express my desire to acquire a small summer cottage here, thus I you plan to make some investments here - hurry up, a lot of foreigner have already bought real-estate at this Latvian…

Georgia

Gujari Restaurant Museum in Mtskheta

Gujari restaurant - museum is another absolutely brilliant restaurant I have lately discovered. Located in the historical and picturesque town of Mtskheta, some 20 km from nation's capital Tbilisi.Discovered again - by accident - after just wandering around town of Mtksheta, After visiting Svetitskhoveli cathedral I decided it would be great to walk around Mtskheta and find some non-touristic places. And wuola - instead of tourist…

Georgia

Georgian Yard (Kartuli Ezo) in Mtskheta

Restaurant "Georgian Yard" is located in the central part of Mtskheta - the ancient capital of Georgia, near the Cathedral Svetitskoveli in the territory of the central square of parking.This restaurant is famous among tourists and guests serving delicious traditional Georgian dishes, medium prices, interesting and pleasant environment.Georgian Yard in MtskhetaRestaurant "Georgian Yard" unites few companies - "Fast Food," where…

Latvia

Saka Baptist Church

An interesting church I discovered driving Aizpute - Pāvilosta road, back at the Summer 2015 - Meet Saka Baptist church in the middle of nowhere. Thus the church was closed, I was amazed of how well the territory around Saka Baptist church was landscaped. Saka Baptist churchThere is an inscription plate above the main entrance doors at church saying this church was built in 1888, although there is written in strange (old?) Latvian - Bap.…

Latvia

Awakening garden in Aizpute

Almost in the city center of Aizpute, on Atmodas street is located Awakening garden (Atmodas dārzs, in Latvian). It's created by group of people from cross-art organization 'Serde' ('Core')The second life is given to empty water bottles in which tomatoes, cabbage, strawberries, mint and many other popular plants are grown. Awakening garden in AizputeI really love such sustainable development ideas, Less is more.…

Georgia

Svetiskhoveli cathedral in Mtskheta

Svetitskhoveli Cathedral is an another must have tourist attraction site not to miss when traveling to Georgia. Located in historical and picturesque town of Mtskheta some 20 km from nation's capital Tbilisi.It is the second largest church building in the country, after the Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi (Sameba), and is listed as an UNESCO World Heritage Site along with other historical monuments of Mtskheta.…

Georgia

Plaza Hotel in Batumi

Are you looking for a budget friendly hotel in Batumi? I can highly recommend one -  Plaza hotel, located next to the Batumi bay.Plaza Hotel is located close to Batumi Port and in very short distance from city center. We booked Plaza hotel using local Georgian coupon site - hotsale.ge and got a lovely room with balcony and access to the Olympic swimming pool for just 50 GEL per night (with breakfast included). We stayed here for…

Meet the New Roof (Pictures Before and After)

Yesterday we told Goodbye's to our old roof by setting up a large bonfire. Today we are saying hi to the new roof. Although officially major roof works were done a few days before - today is the day when final images of new roofing appear.We still have some unfinished roof related works to do, but the final roof construction is here. To make a better understanding what's going out - see before and after.What we got (before)Moss covering the…

Food blogger

How to Make Traditional Italian Pizza

An Italian pizza was the reason for our latest travels to Italy, it was at the start of November 2015, I was kneading dough for pizza, when my beloved told me - hey, we should visit Italy and try real Italian Pizza. So we did - we spent about a week in Italy, traveling a lot and trying real Italian cuisine. 

Speaking of Italian pizza in Italy, here is the craziest pizza topped with a lot of prosciutto I ever have tried - …

Georgia

Vake Park in Tbilisi

Nestled in the Vake district of Tbilisi, Georgia, lies a historic recreational area known as Vake Park. Since its opening to the public in 1946, the park has undergone numerous transformations, becoming a popular destination for both ex-pats and locals.Visitors can enjoy various free and paid kids playgrounds, carousels, ice cream shops, upper-end restaurants, and cafes located near the park. Vake Park is home to significant landmarks, such…

Fire, Water, Burn - Goodbye Old Roof!

It was time to make a bonfire and burn wood shingle (what use to be a roof cover). At the end of Summer (2015) our bonfire place ready to be set on fire, also it was very large. I still decided to wait for a rainy day, to minimize fire risks.I negotiated with our construction worker, who turned out to be a semiprofessional industrial burner (10 years in forestry), called to the local fire station and asked for permission,…

Building a Dog house

Recently we inherited not only a bad managed rural house, but also got a German shepherd dog Bob. I have posted a lot about our home remodeling works, and in one article you can see Bob.Bob is very scared dog, he doesn't trust people, as his owner passed away, he haven't approached any people, even me. After a summer spent in our rural house, the best we could achieve - Bob laying in front of house and observing us. We feed Bob…

Shooting Hanheld HDR Photography

As some of you already know lately I'm a lot into HDR photography. For most of the times I'm shooting from a tripod, but sometimes (just sometimes) I'm lazy enough to take tripod with me. In most cases I end up damning myself for not taking tripod this time and most often avoid HDR shooting. Also in a lot of popular tourist spots (churches,cathedrals) it's forbidden to use a tripod - so you are left with handheld and no flashlight…

Georgia

Otium Restaurant in Tbilisi

Otium restaurant is a very stylish, but what's interesting not at all expensive venue, located in neighborhood of Vake in Tbilisi (uphill on the Turtle lake road).I have dozen of times passed by this restaurant during some of mine hiking trips around here (See: Hiking in Tbilisi - Turtle lake (Kus Tba) - Vake Park) but I always refused to visit it, because I thought it should be out of my league (all those SUV cars parked in front…

Living in Georgia

Invest in Georgia - Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lending - Mintos.com

After almost five years spent as an ex-pat and passive investor (savings accounts only) in Republic of Georgia, time after time I'm looking for some other liquid investment opportunities in Georgia. Mostly I end up with stock exchange, but for now Georgian Stock Exchange market doesn't seems transparent enough and easy accessible.

By saying - not enough transparent I mean - I haven't find yet a broker offering real-time stats. 

Time…

The Roof Works are Done (Almost)

That August, 2015 day was a huge day - we finished roof covering works in our rural country house. It took us about a month as we launched roofing works, and it will take us few more days to complete roofing completely.I didn't photographed today much, or day before (when most covering were done), in fact I didn't photographed at all, my better part did. Here is what we got:Almost done hereJust three more roof plates (int total for both…

Aerial photos from rooftop

Today we continued covering roof with metal plates, in a short break I took my DSRL camera a top on the roof and made some aerial photos.You won't get here views as nice as you could get from Tbilisi or Batumi aerial trams, but taking into consideration that we are speaking of an old rural house - these views are as much great.Roof masters a top on the roof (Edgars and Guntars)Aerial view to our veggie gardenFew months ago we planted some…

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