Blog Archive: December 2016

Average Salary in Georgia 2016 - $ 389

31 December, 2016 | Living in Georgia | 19 seen

Average salary in the Republic of Georgia at the end of the second quarter (Q2) of 2016 was GEL 1035.98 equaling about USD 389.

For the simplicity of further written and calculated, here is the exchange rates I used from Bank of Georgia website on December 14, 2016.

• USD to GEL: 2.6599
• EUR to GEL: 2.8222

If measuring in actual increase that is a huge increase by more than GEL 200 from GEL 773 in 2013. If converted to US dollars that is a drop from $442 in 2013. The truth, as I believe, is somewhere in the middle. 

One thing haven't changed, thus -  inequality on how many receives male and female employees. For example, male employees in average received GEL 1172.9 at the end of Q2 2016, while their female colleague just GEL 746.2.

The biggest salaries in Georgia have been received in financial intermediation (GEL 1,964 / USD 738), construction (GEL 1,398 / USD 525) and public administration (GEL 1,377 / USD 517), while the lowest were set at agriculture, hunting and forestry (GEL 531 / USD 199), education (GEL 544 / USD 204) and hotels and restaurants (GEL 692 / USD 260)

Average monthly nominal salary of employees by economic activity Q2 2016

For the following table I have used data provided by GeoStat.ge

Data source: GeoStat.ge

If looking on these data from a broader perspective, like average salary in former Soviet Union Republics, things are not as gloomy as they might seem at the first sight. Georgia, thus not the most advanced economy of the former Soviet Union republics, stays somewhere in the middle, with larger average salary than in Belarus, Kazakhstan. But less than in Russia or Baltic states. The biggest issue here is not the low average salary, but instead a problems with Georgian national currency against USD. But that's another topic. 

If compared to average salaries in EU countries Georgia would take last position just after Bulgaria.

Moss Airport, Rygge, Norway

30 December, 2016 | Airports | 28 seen

Moss airport Rygge officially marks my first entry point to Norway in Summer 2016. Unfortunately, or for good,  Rygge airport has been shut down to all civilian traffic on November 1, 2016.

We arrived here from Malaga by Ryanair cheap flight and stayed overnight in Oslo, to return back and have a flight to Riga next morning.

Moss Airport, Rygge  was an international airport serving Moss, Oslo and Eastern Norway. It is located in Rygge, 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) outside Moss and 60 kilometres (37 mi) outside Oslo. It also served as a regional airport for Østfold county and owned and was operated by the private company Rygge Sivile Lufthavn AS.

Moss/Rygge shut down to all civilian traffic on 1 November 2016. The airport is however co-located with the still operational Rygge Air Station, operated by the Royal Norwegian Air Force, who also own the land and runway. The control tower services (air traffic control) are operated by Avinor.

Coach departing Rygge airport to Oslo city center

That coach definitely was the most expensive I have tried - round trip ticket from Rygge airport to Oslo city center and back for two persons cost me about EUR 140. What's the fun of using cheap flight by Ryainair to pay triple price for the coach? I'm not the guy who will miss this airport, on the other hand seems Norwegians enjoy of being one of the most expensive countries in the world. Good for them. For a budget traveler, not the best destination - hey fly to Georgia instead. From the remote Kutaisi airport you will get to Tbilisi center for less than 10 USD and the distance is about 200km.

The airport opened on 8 October 2007, but did not officially open until 14 February 2008, when regular scheduled services started. The airport has a capacity for 2 million passengers per year, but could not reach this because of a concession limit of 21,000 annual air movements. The airport handled 1,890,889 passengers in 2013. The airport used to be a major base for Ryanair from March 2010 until October 2016 and was also served to a much lesser extend by Norwegian Air Shuttle and few charter operators. The airport has been closed for all civilian traffic by 1 November 2016 due to a proposal from its main commercial operator, Ryanair, to shut down its base at the airport on that date after a new Norwegian passenger tax was introduced.

Construction Materials Arrives (aerated concrete blocks and other goodies)

29 December, 2016 | Home Remodeling | 11 seen

That day finally came - construction materials arrived. 

We paused our construction works for about a month, because of a simple reason - lack of funds, or more precisely slow bank transfers, we did spent a lovely July harvesting mushrooms and even spent three days traveling around neighboring Lithuania to celebrate my birthday.

One thing made me worried - it was already second half of August and we still hadn't started works on rebuilding walls for our old log house. Haven't I mentioned - we are replacing log walls with aerated concrete blocks) I ordered these blocks at the first day I got money transferred to my bank account and today was the day when construction materials arrived. It turned out, it was a bit problematic for a driver to enter our yard, thus I assured him, that about a year ago a truck twice as big as his truck successfully delivered for us a metal roof. See: Roof Works, Part 4 - Metal Roofing Arrives

Construction materials arrives

I especially ordered a car with a manipulator. Huge was my surprise when driver invited me to climb in the trailer and climb on top of aerated concrete blocks to fix lifting belts. It was fun, that's the least I can tell.

Construction materials unloaded

It took us about an hour to unload pictured above. On the top left you can see how our neighbor started a huge fire. View was both funny and epic - me lifting belts, neighbor burning fire. I wonder who was surprised more.

Katskhi Monastery of Nativity of the Savior

28 December, 2016 | Churches and Monasteries | 11 seen

Don't be surprised of the name Katskhi, this is a church located some 2km from the famous Katskhi pillar in Georgia.

The Katskhi Monastery of Nativity of the Savior, more commonly known as the Katskhi Monastery is a medieval monastery in Georgia, located in the village of Katskhi near the town of Chiatura. It was built at the behest of the Baguashi family in the period of 988–1014. The church building is noted for a hexagonal design and rich ornamentation. Closed down by the Soviet government in 1924, the monastery was revived in 1990 and is now operated by the Eparchy of Sachkhere and Chiatura of the Georgian Orthodox Church.

Katskhi church

The Katskhi monastery is a octagonal building of more complex design than other similar polygonal Georgian monuments such as Gogiuba, Kiagmis-alty, Oltisi, and Bochorma. The exterior of the church features three gradually narrowing cylindrical levels formed by the faceted gallery, the main body of the church, and the drum of the dome.

The six apses are inscribed into the outer polyhedron and surrounded by an ambulatory from all sides. An inscription from the ambulatory mentions the certain "Tskhovreba, daughter of Ioann, Duke of Dukes". A single spacious interior compartment around the subdome bay includes radially oriented semi-circular apses. One of these, the altar apse, projects outward prominently due to its large bema. The drum of the dome is also faceted. Each facet of the main body of the church as well as that of the dome and gallery terminate in a pediment with three lines of polygonal cornices.

The building was richly ornated, but the decoration of two upper tiers was lost in the process of the 1854 restoration. Of note is a large composition in relief at the southern vestibule of the gallery, the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, featuring a cross supported by four angels.

The church is surrounded by a pentagonal wall, which contains a free-standing bell tower in its eastern corner. These structures are later additions, probably from the 17th or 18th century.

Málaga–Costa del Sol Airport

27 December, 2016 | Airports | 14 seen

Málaga Airport, officially Málaga–Costa del Sol Airport is the fourth busiest airport in Spain after Madrid–Barajas, Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca. It is an important airport for Spanish tourism as it is the main international airport serving the Costa del Sol. It is 8 km (5.0 mi) southwest of Málaga and 5 km (3.1 mi) north of Torremolinos. The airport has flight connections to over 60 countries worldwide, and over 14.4 million passengers passed through it in 2015.

Our latest trip to Spain (region of Andalusia) started an ended here at Malaga airport. We arrived here from Berlin Schönefeld Airport and left to Oslo,Norway using Ryanair.

Waiting area at Malaga airport

Málaga Airport is the busiest international airport of Andalucía, accounting for 85 percent of the region non-domestic traffic. It offers a wide variety of international destinations. The airport, connected to the Costa del Sol, has a daily link with twenty cities in Spain and over one hundred cities in Europe. Direct flights also operate to Africa, the Middle East and also to North America in the summer season. Airlines with a base at the airport are Air Europa, Norwegian, Ryanair and Vueling.

Ryanair flight from Malaga to Oslo

Pouring Concrete Footing

26 December, 2016 | Home Remodeling | 4 seen

Right, today I found a fix to the issue we discovered earlier this summer - missing foundation for the some parts of our rural house.

Some few days ago I bough a concrete mixer, gravel was already waiting to be mixed with concrete, now it was time to pour in footing for the missing part.

All setup

Concrete mixer, wheelbarrow with gravel, a shovel. yes pretty much the basics for mixing the concrete.

Simple template for foundation

Now its time to pour in a base footing, itš a bout 90 cm width and about 30 cm height. Latter on that we will continue to pour in foundation.It's just a footing to make things rock solid.

Pour in concrete

add some reinforcement from metal rods.

Concrete foundation footing

Now, I'm using some really strong plastizers which will make concrete rock solid already after a day, and I will continue to lay over the foundations. But for now - let's leave concrete to solidly for night.

Christmas Cooking Photo Session in The Kitchen - Olivie salads, Pirozhki and of course Pizza

25 December, 2016 | Food blogger | 10 seen

That time of the year have come and for the rare time this year I was actually operating with camera in our kitchen - in today's special Christmas menu - our "traditional Georgian Christmas" table - salad Olivie, pirozhki and of course that tasty pizza. 

It was that time of the year when again I installed a tripod, put a telephoto lens and decided to shoot macro's. 

Christmas time during our expat time in Georgia have always marked two essential things to do - first to visit annul Christmas charity fair and  second, on Christmas eve to cook something cool. Like we have baked gingerbreads, pirozhki and of course pizzas. 

Dough is been fermented

A mandatory ingredient for our Christmas table is dough, which we prepare by ourselves. 

Ingredients for salad Olivie

I just love traditional Russian Olivie salads, they are quite easy to prepare. 

Boiled carrots and potatoes for Olivie Salad

Yup, one of the rare times you boil whole carrots.

Coffee break

Might be a cool addition to our Peace of Life series.

Rolling pin 

We are going to make a base for pizza using this rolling pin.

Pirozhki waiting to be baked

Filled with a meat/onion mix.

Our Christmas table 2016

From our traditional Georgian Christmas table - pizza, pirozhki (not visible in this photo) and of course salad Olivie - 100% hand made. And one of the mine latest favorite wines - Ojaleshi, rumor has it Stalin loved it. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Katskhi Pillar

25 December, 2016 | Tourism objects | 19 seen

The Katskhi pillar is a natural limestone monolith located at the village of Katskhi in western Georgian region of Imereti, near the town of Chiatura. It is approximately 40 metres (130 ft) high, and overlooks the small river valley of Katskhura, a right affluent of the Q'virila.

If you have seen those amazing video clips about Georgia, you have most probably noticed this interesting object at some of them. It took me more than five years since I have been living in Georgia to actually visit it. Frankly speaking I have wanted to see Katskhi pillar since day one I arrived to Georgia, but things are as they are and it was on a late Autumn Saturday's afternoon we planned our trip to Chiatura and to this amazing place.

It's pretty hard to make a decent photography here without framing a lot or shooting from a long distance.

Katskhi pillar

The rock was once accessible to male visitors through an iron ladder running from its base to the top, but has recently been deemed inaccessible to the public.

The rock, with visible church ruins on a top surface measuring c. 150 m2, has been venerated by locals as the Pillar of Life and a symbol of the True Cross, and has become surrounded by legends. It remained unclimbed by researchers and unsurveyed until 1944 and was more systematically studied from 1999 to 2009. These studies determined the ruins were of an early medieval hermitage dating from the 9th or 10th century. A Georgian inscription paleographically dated to the 13th century suggests that the hermitage was still extant at that time. Religious activity associated with the pillar was revived in the 1990s and the monastery building had been restored within the framework of a state-funded program by 2009.

Monk at Katskhi pillar

Religious activity started to revive in 1995, with the arrival of the monk Maxim Qavtaradze, a native of Chiatura. Between 2005 and 2009, the monastery building on the top of the pillar was restored with the support of the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia.

The Katskhi pillar complex currently consists of a church dedicated to Maximus the Confessor, a crypt (burial vault), three hermit cells, a wine cellar, and a curtain wall on the uneven top surface of the column. At the base of the pillar are the newly built church of Simeon Stylites and ruins of an old wall and belfry.

The church of St. Maximus the Confessor is located at the south-easternmost corner of the top surface of the Katskhi pillar. A small simple hall church design with the dimensions of 4.5 × 3.5 m., it is a modern restoration of the ruined medieval church built of stone. Beneath and south of the church is an elongated rectangular crypt with the dimensions of 2.0 × 1.0 m., which had served as a burial vault. Digs at the ruined wine cellar revealed eight large vessels known in Georgia as k'vevri. Also of note is a rectangular cellar grotto with the entrance and two skylights—on the vertical surface of the rock, some 10-metre (33 ft) below the top. At the very base of the pillar there is a cross in relief, exhibiting parallels with similar early medieval depictions found elsewhere in Georgia, particularly at Bolnisi.

Katskhi pillar

In historical records, the Katskhi pillar is first mentioned by the 18th-century Georgian scholar Prince Vakhushti, who reports in his Geographic Description of the Kingdom of Georgia:

"There is a rock within the ravine standing like a pillar, considerably high. There is a small church on the top of the rock, but nobody is able to ascend it; nor know they how to do that."

No other written accounts of monastic life or ascents survive. A number of local legends surround the pillar. One of them has it that the top of the rock was connected by a long iron chain to the dome of the Katskhi church, located at a distance of around 1.5 km from the pillar.

Hotel Zen Airport Torremolinos, Spain

24 December, 2016 | Hotel reviews | 25 seen

Hotel Zen is a 3-star hotel located in Torremolinos, Spain - a good location, pretty close to the Malaga airport. We booked Hotel Zen as our last hotel during our week long travels in Spain before departing to Oslo, Norway.

This property is 16 minutes walk from the beach. Featuring a heated outdoor pool and 2 terraces, Hotel Zen Airport is located in Torremolinos. This hotel offers air-conditioned rooms and free WiFi. A free airport and beach shuttle service is available.

Hotel Zen offers free shuttle service to airport and to/from beaches. We checked in early and decided to use free shuttle service to beaches, and spent very lazy afternoon in the beach.

Statue of Buddha at Hotel Zen

Kind of pretty spiritual hotel. 

Rooms at Hotel Zen Airport are built around an interior patio. Some offer modern design and décor, and others are in the classic Andalusian part of the hotel. All are en suite and include a TV.

Seems we got so called classical Andalusian part.

Room at Hotel Zen

Well - basic things, a bed, some chair, TV set,bathroom (not the best) and a tiny outdoor terrace as a complimentary item.

Outdoor terrace

Well - for one night stay - pretty decent - on the other hand... way too much of cheapness.I doubt you can call this hotel a 3-star, but you can cal it a 2-star with plus for sure.

Bad Discovery - Missing foundation for house

23 December, 2016 | Home Remodeling | 11 seen

Today I decided to keep digging trench around existing house fundament to prepare works for upcoming concreting works.

Yesterday I bough a concrete mixer and mixed first test of concrete, load of gravel were already waiting and of course a sacks of cement were bought. It was just a matter of shovel and hand work.

And then the bad news came - our house is partly missing foundation. 

It turned out that at the end of house, there is no foundation at all, for about 2,5 meters. Well that makes things a little bit complicated, as I need to lay down the foundation at this part of the house from a scratch - I will need to dig deeper and more wider here. Should I mention I was really pissed of after such discovery? 

Missing foundation

I kept digging and at the end dig 1 meter wide and about 1.5 meter deep pit just under the house. Tomorrow I will start first concreting works, but today I will sleep very restlessly.

Samtavisi Cathedral

22 December, 2016 | Churches and Monasteries | 34 seen

Samtavisi is an eleventh-century Georgian Orthodox cathedral in eastern Georgia, in the region of Shida Kartli, some 45km from the nation’s capital Tbilisi. The cathedral is now one of the centers of the Eparchy of Samtavisi and Gori of the Georgian Orthodox Church.

We discovered this church during our recent trip to town of Chiatura. My driver told me, this church seems to him as a copy of Kashveti church in Tbilisi. Although, recently Mikheil contacted me and told following:

Actually, it is vice versa (and makes an interesting story in itself): the current Kashveti church, built in 1904-1910, is an intentional exact replica of the Samtavisi cathedral. 

I love church photography and I love remote sites, so we agreed to spend some time here.

Samtavisi cathedral

The cathedral is located on the left bank of the Lekhura River, some 11km of the town of Kaspi. According to a Georgian tradition, the first monastery on this place was founded by the Assyrian missionary Isidore in 572 and later rebuilt in the 10th century. Neither of these buildings has survived however. The earliest extant structures date to the eleventh century, the main edifice being built in 1030 as revealed by a now lost stone inscription. The cathedral was built by a local bishop and a skilful architect Hilarion who also authored the nearby church of Ashuriani. Heavily damaged by a series of earthquakes, the Cathedral was partially reconstructed in the 15th and 19th centuries. The masterly decorated eastern façade is the only survived original structure.

Samtavisi Cathedral

The Samtavisi Cathedral is a rectangular 4-piered cruciform domed church. It illustrates a Georgian interpretation of the cross-in-square form which set an example for many churches built in the heyday of medieval Georgia. The exterior is distinguished by the liberal use of ornamental blind arcading. The apses do not project, but their internal position is marked by deep recesses in the wall. In contrast to earlier Georgian churches, the drum of the dome is taller surmounted by a conical roof. Artistically, the most rounded portion of the church is its five-arched eastern façade, dominated by the two niches and enlivened by a bold ornate cross motif.

Beyond the main church, the Samtavisi complex includes a badly damaged two-storied bishop’s residence, a small church (5.8х3.2m), and a three-storied belltower (5.7х7.3m) attached to the 3-5m high fence made of stone and brick. All these structures date to the 17th-18th centuries.

Vano Gamkhitashvili burial

Vano Gamkhitashvili was a famous Georgian sambo wrestler, holding titles of European and World Champion. Died in accident. Buried at Samtavisi cathedral.

Lazy Day in Beach (Torremolinos, Spain)

21 December, 2016 | | 4 seen

It was on our last day from trip to Spain (region of Andalusia). Our trip ended at the same point where it started at Malaga, or more precisely at Torremolinos. We checked in at hotel, left our belongings at went to spend this afternoon at beach, turns out we have visited this same beach some 7 days ago already, see Playamar beach in Torremolinos.

I took the telephoto lens and experimented kind of portrait photography (wide aperture, blurry background e.t.c). Not many portraits actually but some cool mood photography.

White sands, blue sky and many palm trees

Spain is definitely a true vacation destination.

Lazy day in beach

Now, this is a true Piece of Life!

Lazy beach life

Sand Sculptures

Concrete Mixer FXA 130L

20 December, 2016 | Home Remodeling | 7 seen

Another addition to my home remodeling tools collection has arrived (been bought at local DIY store) - concrete mixer FXA 130L - with help of what I'm planing to concrete fundament for our rural house. 

Concrete mixer is a must have tool for any self home builder and I would say it should be featured at any rural house. Concrete mixer is the second useful tool after a trimmer purchase this year.

FXA 130 liter concrete mixer unpacked

Huge was my joy after this purchase, now was time to set it up - what seemed an easy task to handle turned out to be a rocket science.

Installing concrete mixer

It took me about 3 hours, countless phone calls to the DIY store, as I just didn't get any idea how to install it correctly, even after reading manual. After three hours and much negative vocabulary I finally did it.

Concrete mixer ready for work

Now it was time to put it on first test - few days ago I already ordered a load of gravel, have been bought some sacks of cement, for the test I decided to finish foundation works for garden pizza oven (a side project, besides complete home rebuilding stuff, you know)

Let's mix some concrete- author of this blog captured in action

It was matter of one mixing to finish foundation works for garden oven.

Finished concreting for garden oven

Now, it's time to leave cement to solidify and build over it an awesome garden pizza oven.

Bulachauri restaurant

19 December, 2016 | Restaurant reviews | 45 seen

Bulachauri restaurant probably is the restaurant I have visited the most - unfortunately I have never paid attention to the name of this place - I always know, that's that restaurant we always take meals when hiring our driver for trips to region of Mtskheta-Mtianeti.

Probably this is our driver's most favorite dining place. 

I wanted to change this and ad this restaurant to the blog - so last time I visited this place I paid very much attention to remember the name of this place- here you go - Bulauchari restaurant. Simple. The village is named Bulachauri, so do the restaurant is named after village.

Speaking of this place - it's a decent restaurant serving typical Georgian cuisine, very popular among locals and foreign tourists. Tourist friendly place.

Exterior at Bulachauri restaurant

Typical Georgian meal - hachapuri and mcvadi.

Hotel Los Dolmenes in Antequera, Spain

18 December, 2016 | Hotel reviews | 7 seen

Hotel Los Dolmenes in Antequera is among my favorite hotels I have stayed so far. 

We booked this hotel during our latest trip in Spain (a week in Andalusia) in June 2016. Set in the olive grove, close to the El Torcal this is a really valuable hotel deal. We paid less than EUR 40 per night here (breakfast and free parking included)

Hotel Los Dolmenes

Set around a traditional Andalusian courtyard, the rooms at Los Dólmenes come with wooden floors, a terrace, flat-screen TV and plenty of natural light. Each one comes with a private bathroom including a hairdryer and bath tub.

Our room

Los Dólmenes is located just outside Antequera, 5 minutes’ drive from the city centre. It offers air-conditioned rooms with free Wi-Fi and a free continental breakfast.

View from balcony towards olive grove