Blog Archive: January 2017
Blog Traffic and Income Report 2016 - 635,048 Users / $18,586.41
It is just that time of the year when I'm looking back on previous 2016 year in my blogger's career.
In today's article I will reveal some data behind the blog scenes - both traffic and income for the whole year of 2016.
This blog now is more than three years old, and for the last three years it has gone a long way, I have developed my writer skills from so so to average, there is still a long way to make them good and polish to perfect. The good news - I have enjoyed blogging process a lot, it have helped me to make new connections, make new friendships and grow me as a personality.
If you have been following my blog for a while, you have already probably noticed that I…
Fall Through The Ceiling, Dig a Trench Around Foundations, Stone Wall Concreting
Think I have written about all topics mentioned in title already?You are right, I indeed have, see: Digging a trench around existing foundation, Stone Wall Concreting. But that's just for the other part of house, now we are mowing to other side and repeating most of the works we did on opposite side - we will remove old log walls and replace them with aac blocks, but before that there is still some need to perform preparation works.So what about falling through the ceiling? Yes, indeed, this was one of the scariest days in my life as for the second, while removing some boards from loft, I accidently put my foot, where I knew I shouldn't, at one part of house, there were just…
Georgia in Winter (Photos from Tbilisi)
There is a good reason to visit Georgian skiing resorts in Gudauri, Bakuriani or Mestia if you are up to a winter holidays in Georgia.
See: Gudauri - Georgian Winter Capital for skiing, snowboarding, paragliding and heli-skiing
On the other hand, here at Piece of Life series, we love to feature and document photo stories happening around us. A simple thing like a snow in Tbilisi (which is rare, actually) or Total Lunar Eclipse makes us to leave our cozy apartment and go out and document.
A year ago (January 24, 2016) we featured our first story on snow in Tbilisi See: Tbilisi - Fairyland in Winter
A year later, on Saturday's morning, January 28, 2017 snow…
Kiev Boryspil International Airport
Boryspil International Airport is an international airport in Boryspil, 29 km east of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine.It is the country's largest airport, serving 65% of its passenger air traffic, including all its intercontinental flights and a majority of international flights. It is one of two passenger airports that serve Kiev along with the smaller Zhulyany Airport.Kiev's Borispol airport marks my first entrance to the Ukrainian land (at the end of December 2016) during connecting flight Tbilisi - Kiev - New York by Ukrainian airlines.Unfortunately our connecting flight to New York was delayed for 10 hours and I had plenty of…
Makhuntseti Arched Bridge
The Makhuntseti Arched Bridge is located in the village with same name, in the Keda municipality (region of Adjara in Georgia) on Batumi - Khulo road.The bridge is pretty large and holds together on the natural rock stones and lime. The bridge is located above Acharistskali river.Makhuntseti Arched BridgeThe horizontal length of the bridge among piers is 19.5 meters. The walkway length is 28.7 meters and the width in the middle is 2.5 meters. The height of the arch from water level is 5.6 meters. The piers of the bridge have no holes.Makhuntseti Arched BridgeThere is a small info board located next to the bridge, with detailed information both in Georgian and…
Waiting For The Water Level To Rise In The Pond
In the mid Summer 2016, we did a major task - dug a pond, after pond excavation works we were left with a large hole in the middle of our rural property.There are no incoming streams actually which could fill pond faster and we are left with just rain and snow waters.Luckily, there were a lot rain this Summer and our small pond started to fill with water.PondLovely evening mood and cat on the inspection walk.Pond seems rather really small from picture above, which is not true in fact,it just has been recently excavated and waiting for water to fill in. It took less than two months and even grass have grown back. See: Pond Digging - Part 3 - The Result PondView towards house…
Makhuntseti Waterfall
I was more than sure that the name of this waterfall in Keda municipality (region of Adjara) is Queen Tamar Waterfall, and was surprised latter to learn official name is Makhuntseti Waterfall.No matter of the name, it is just second waterfall I have discovered in Georgia (the other been located behind Tbilisi sulphur baths in Abanotubani district). Waterfalls and water are great for photography. It was in the morning, we left hotel Sputnik in Batumi (in last evening I arranged a taxi driver to take us on the ride to Khulo from Batumi) and this waterfall was our first stop.It was pretty early still, no tourists on site. The morning was still covered in mist and it was a little bit…
The Last Row of Aerated Concrete Blocks Masonry
Now, it was pretty easy to build first six rows of wall from aerated concrete blocks, see Constructing Wall From AAC blocks + Finishing Foundation Concreting Works for Bathroom, Another Day, Another Wall and Lintel Installation & First Coffee Break.For today's task it was to add last row of aerated concrete blocks, prior to that a Wall and supporting beamsBefore adding the last row of aerated concrete blocks I made final strengthening of the upper beams.Pile of aerated concrete blocksIn total for this part of house (bathroom) I have spent about 1/4 from the total stocks.Final rowAt one stage I had to use chain saw to saw up a hole to fit aac block in. Also at…
Can You Buy a Good Life in Tbilisi With $500 as a Foreign Expat?
A time ago I did an experiment - counted our (two persons and two cats) daily expenses for a month to find out that our monthly expenses have been at about USD 1,800 for that month. You can see my findings with detailed positions in this article: Cost of Living in Tbilisi (Republic of Georgia).
I have counted for a few more times - and very often the amount we spend per month in Georgia is more or less the same. From my side I should add we travel a lot across the country and spend many evenings at the fancy Tbilisi restaurants. My spending habits have helped me to build a pretty popular blog about food and travels in Georgia.
As my blog gets older, and hopefully…
Lintel Installation & First Coffee Break
If you have been following my blog and in particular home remodeling series you are already familiar with our construction works at our rural country house we started back in 2015. In the Summer 2016 we started another major reconstruction project - demolished old log walls for bricklaying new aerated concrete walls, I have been documenting most of the construction works on blog. In today's home remodeling series - installing a lintel and enjoying first coffee break at upcoming bathroom (we are building a bathroom here).I bought a special lintel to install over window opening - I had to hire two guys today to help me install it over. It wasn't so bad after all - we might get…
Another Day, Another Wall
Today was another lovely day to excel a little bit as a constructor. Today we continued to construct walls from aac blocks.It's fun, easy, like everyone could do this. As long as you keep it all leveled.See part 1 Remove a Wall to Finish Foundation Concreting and part 2 Constructing Wall From AAC blocks + Finishing Foundation Concreting Works for BathroomBricklaying aac blocksToday we are going to finish the end wall and construct four rows on front wall. We are building a bathroom here.Bathroom from insideCan't wait to install sinks and mirrors here.View toward house from gardenToday we did another great thing - planned a place for a window. Admit - really lovely bathroom we…
Georgian Enamel Souvenir Shop in Batumi
I tried hard, but couldn't locate precise location or name of this Georgian enamel souvenir shop in Batumi. What I know, most probably it's located on Zviad Gamsakhurdia street in Batumi, in the Goodwill shop area.Why I believe it's worth to mention this shop? It's very good souvenir shop filled with interesting Georgian enamel art. We bought here lovely ashtrays and decided to return here one for time to buy some cool Georgian interior elements for our rural house.Georgian enamel dishThey glove in dark- I was especially invited to the dark room, and yes I can confirm these plates glove in the dark. Cool.Georgian souvenir shop in GeorgiaWide selection of interesting enamel and…
Anker Hostel in Oslo
Think hostels are cheap? Think twice.Anker hostel officially is the most expensive hostel I have stayed so far, and there is no surprise about that. Located in Oslo, one of the most expensive cities in the World (yes, I know one of the best salaries as well), you should expect to pay about USD 100 for a hotel and remember - linens are not included. You can get linen for additional about USD 10 price.We were returning from Malaga to Riga, through Oslo, and had to spend one night in Norway. We booked cheapest available property in Oslo a day before, still sunbathing near Malaga. Arrived here from Moss Airport, Rygge by a very expensive coach (about 70 EUR per person round-trip…
Constructing Wall From AAC blocks + Finishing Foundation Concreting Works for Bathroom
In today's home remodeling series we are continuing to build bathroom from scratch.The other day we removed walls and finished foundation concreting works for one part of house, today we re going to start construct first wall and finish foundation works for another wall, yes still some wall demolition works involved for today. A few days ago construction materials arrived and today it was just a a matter of tools and two men power (I had a helping hands) to start some actual works for upcoming bathroom.Ruberoid coating for hydro isolation Before bricklaying we must install a hydro insulation - ruberoid is glued with special mastic. Bricklaying first row of aac…
Sputnik Hotel in Batumi
I now have a new favorite hotel in Batumi - Sputnik hotel. Surrounded by a garden with tropical plants and trees, this 4-stars Sputnik Hotel & Spa Batumi is nestled in Batumi Hills with a stunning views of the city and black sea. Hotel boasts an outdoor pool and is just 12-minute drive from city centre. There is a restaurant, bars, swimming pool, terraces, and free WiFi at the property.We stayed at Sputnik hotel for three nights at the end of November 2016, and paid about 300GEL (about USD 100),we got a lovely value deal at local Georgian Groupon clone site, but looking now on Booking the price doesn't seems much higher about $50. That's what I love about good (decent) hotels…
Postcards from Oslo
Seems Postcards from series are one of the most featured at Piece of Life project, and there is no surprise about it, we travel a lot, and visit many interesting cities around the World. So did happened during our latest trip to Norway, what was meant to be just a night in Olso, between layover flights turned out to be a mini postcards from Oslo.Skyscraper in OsloWhy doesn't I feel surprised seeing Radisson Sas hotel among one of the tallest buildings in Oslo?A typical day in OsloA channelOslo
Remove a Wall to Finish Foundation Concreting
Some build home by pouring in foundation first, we started by replacing roof, removing walls and then pouring in foundation. Sounds intrigue? Continue reading to learn more.In today's home remodeling series a day when we removed first wall and finished pouring in concrete for foundation for our upcoming bathroom. I had a handy hands today, Guntars, we started our cooperation already last year, he helped me a lot with roof replacement works. The plan for today was following, to demolish old log wall and pour in the final layer of foundation.Removing first decks from the wallIt might sound as a complicated task,but in our case it was not, as most of the log and decks were rotten already…
Chiatura Cable-ways Central Station
If you have a chance of visiting remote Georgian city Chiatura, make sure you take a free ride at one of the famous cable ways. Also don't forget to take your camera and make one of the interesting photos you will make in Georgia.Some call them Stalin's cable cars, I prefer to call them - the rare chance to return to the year of 1954.As I have been told, most of the cable cars have been in service in 1954, and most of them seems haven't been repaired ever since. I remember, few years ago a friend of mine sent me a preivev of Georgian documentary by Gabriel Razmadze Black Mulberry / Shavi tuta about miners in Chiatura, after watching that short, which was mainly concentrated…
Oslo Bus Terminal
Oslo Bus Terminal was our second stop from our first time short trip to Norway,we arrived here from Moss Airport, Rygge, in June, 2016 and left back from the same terminal to airport in the next morning.Oslo Bus Terminal is the main bus station serving Oslo, Norway. Owned by Vaterland AS it is located beside Oslo Central Station and serves local buses to Akershus as well as domestic and international coaches.Oslo Bus TerminalThe station was built by the Akershus transit authority Stor-Oslo Lokaltrafikk as a bus station for their routes to Downtown Oslo. The station is five minutes walk from Oslo Central Station as well…
Foundation From Fibo Ceramsite Blocks
It happened a a few weeks ago, when digging a trench around the existing foundation I discovered a missing foundation for one part of our rural house.Back then I quickly realized I will use Fibo ceramsite blocks to boost construction works. The other day I poured in concrete footing, and today was the day to add first Fibo ceramsite blocks over footingHardened foundation footingIt rained for the last two days, I was a little bit worried, could too much rain could make some damage for footing, but it was just perfect - rock solid foundation footing to put Fiblo blocks over.Fibo ceramsite blocksI bought few at local DIY store and transported with our Honda CRV car. A reliable…