Blog Archive: July 2018
Postcards from Ventspils
Ventspils is a city situated on the western coast of Latvia, on the Baltic Sea. Ventspils is one of Europe's busiest ports. It is also the city that honours the past, thinks of the future, and never stops working! In today's Piece of Life series - postcards from Latvian seaside town - Ventspils. Captured back in Summer 2017A cannonFound one at the inner yard of Ventpils Livonian Order CastleCow-traveler sculpture in VentspilsView towards Ventspils portShot from Viewing Platform In VentspilsBlue cow at Ventspils Southern quayConcrete blocks at Southern quay
Viewing Platform In Ventspils
You can have a look at the city from the bird’s eye view from the 19 meters high viewing tower located next to the Ventspils Southern quay.When visiting a new place for the first time I'm always looking for some observation desk to make some great landscape photography, that's how I discovered this Venstpils viewing platform - offering great views across the Baltics and some urban cityscape.19 meters high viewing platform in VentspilsI have climbed in more dangerous constructions and this one located in Ventspils seems safe enoughConstruction of viewing tower in VentspilsAs it was a sunny Summer day back in 2017 when I visited this tower, there were a lot of folks in the…
Venstpils Livonian Order Castle
The Castle of the Livonian Order, which houses Ventspils Museum since September 2001, is the oldest preserved building in Ventspils, built in the second half of the 13th century (first mentioned in 1290).The castle was built as a convent-house type building with an inner yard and can be regarded as the oldest medieval fortress in Latvia to have retained its original form virtually unchanged.Indeed, after visiting a couple of Livonian Order Castle Ruins (Dobele Castle Ruins, Livonian Order Castle Ruins at Aizpute) Ventspils castle is a rare exemption of a surviving castle in the territory of modern Latvia.Back in Summer 2017, I spent a short visit to Ventspils and visited both this…
Rāmkalni restaurant near Murjāņi
Rāmkalni is a popular recreational area near Murjāņi (some 60km from Riga), this place features a traditional Latvian Cusine restaurant/bistroThe venue is on the edge of the Murjāņi-Valka road (A3) and in the Gauja River Valley. It offers Latvian and Western European cuisine, as well as a shop at which you can buy local goodies and homemade treats. An active leisure park is alongside the restaurant.Goodies at RāmkalniTypical Latvian cuisineInterior at Rāmkalni
Miciņi
Miciņi has a very special place in my heart. I spent a good time in my early teenage years living here together with my dear granny. In fact, she was born here in 1929. Back in these days, a life buzzed in this area. Now, little has left over from the past glory - our family even doesn't own the land plot here. This is the thing I'm planning to change.When I have a chance - I always try to visit this now almost abandoned place - it gives a good energy for me and of course a lot of good memories. For this article I'm attaching a few photographies I made at Miciņi in Summer 2017.Crop fields at MiciņiNowadays some large farmer is running a farm here.Chipped wood and crop fieldsMost…
Valmiera Market
Valmiera market is another market I've visited latelty in Latvia (See: Riga Central Market, Liepāja market and Kuldiga market). Though I believe some could buy here goodies grown by local farmers, last time I visited this market (July 2017) all I could find was just flowers and plants.Valmiera marketResidents of Valmiera come here every day for produce grown by local farmers, gardeners, ranchers and artisan food producers.Flowers and plants for sale at Valmiera market
Mazais Ansis Restaurant Near Valmiera
Mazais Ansis is a popular roadside cafeteria/restaurant located some 15 km from Valmiera town (if driving from Riga). This place serves a traditional Latvian cuisine.When traveling to the Vidzeme region in Latvia, I love to take a stop here and have a lunch. Here comes my latest review back from Summer 2017.The outdoor terrace at Mazais AnsisSeems that at the nearby lake there are some water attractions availableInterior at Mazais AnsisClassical Latvian decors with modern touchA meal at Mazais AnsisTypical "Latvian cuisine" - French fries with some salads and meat. Tastes good.Mazais Ansis near ValmieraWood carved sculptures are very popular across the Baltics (for sure in Latvia and…
Former bath-house of Emilija Racene in Jurmala
When thinking about bathhouses the first thing that arrives in my head is the sulphur bathhouses located in Tbilisi, should they be located in the Abanotubani district or the old and neglected Kiev's bath. Turns out there is not less interesting bath-house (though former) in Latvian Jūrmala - Former bath-house of Emilija RaceneAgain, when thinking about something former - I always remember the lovely former hotel London building in Tbilisi. Now, back to the subject, according to visitjurmala.lvThe building was constructed in the beginning of the 20th century and saw its expansion in 1914, for he first time ever in this part of Jurmala offering various – warm sea water,…
Lake Ķīšezers
Ķīšezers is a lake in Riga, Latvia, with a primary inflow of the Jugla River. The lake is 1,730 ha (4,300 acres) large, it has 2.4 metres (7 ft 10 in) of average depth and reaches 4.2 metres (14 ft) at the deepest point.Lake Ķīšezers is a popular recreation area both for locals and foreign guest in the Mežaparks neighborhood. Riga Zoo is located close to the lake. A recreational area near Lake Ķīšezers in Riga
Pontoon Footbridge Over Mill Lake In Kazdanga
The pontoon footbridge over Mill Lake in Kazdanga, Latvia is a recently built and opened for a public a really cool tourist attraction.Such tourist attractions seem is really gaining the momentum in Latvia, as in fact, this is already third such type of construction I've visited lately in Latvia. See: The Great Kemeri Bog Boardwalk and Hiking Trails in Kemeri National Park (Near Forest House)Kazdanga footbridge is 2 meters wide and 190 meters long, with a viewing tower 2.7 meters height it has been built with a support of funds by European UnionDiscovered by an accident, after wandering around Kazdanga Mill Lake in April. Pontoon footbridge in…
Eden Beach Hotel Review in Agia Marina
During our about a month-long trip around the island of Crete back in 2017, we stayed at Agia Marina twice - for about 2 nights at trips start and about 5 days at the end of the trip. For the start, we chose Vergina beach hotel which was good and for the end, we stayed at Eden Beach hotel apartment - which was amazing.Eden Beach Hotel is set in Agia Marina Nea Kydonias and provides air-conditioned accommodation with free WiFi, as well as access to an outdoor swimming pool.Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links to Booking.com, by clicking on links on this page and by making a reservation on Booking site, I might earn an affiliate income from…
The Great Kemeri Bog Boardwalk
The Great Kemeri Bog Boardwalk is a popular tourist destination in Kemeri National Park, offering visitors a chance to explore the bog and its inhabitants.As we have been relocated to Latvia's Jūrmala for some time, we decided to explore nearby vicinity, and we started with nearby hiking trails. Ķemeri has many attractions to offer, sure The Great Ķemeri Bog Boardwalk probably is the most popular, but there are other routes as well, for example, Hiking Trails in Kemeri National Park (Near Forest House)Now, it was a sunny April's Sunday morning and here we go:Start of the Ķemeri bog hiking trailThe boardwalk takes visitors to the world of moss, small pine trees, deep…
La Playa Taverna Cafe Ouzeri Near Rethymno
And again I must say - strange how it works - I almost missed coordinates for this place but with a little investigation from pictures and help with Greek transliteration and even Greek car plate registration table I was able to locate this place finally on the map.Meet La Playa Taverna Cafe Ouzeri Near RethymnoDiscovered during our latest trip to the island of Crete back in Summer 2017Beach near La Playa Taverna Cafe OuzeriPalms near La Playa Taverna Cafe OuzeriBeautiful sceneryInterior at La Playa Taverna Cafe OuzeriIf I remember correct, we actually didn't offered any meal here, instead enjoyed just a cup of coffee during our little break
Postcards from Talsi
Talsi is a city in Latvia, I have discovered just lately. During the Summer of 2017, I had to spend here some time.During my stay, I discovered some amazing places, and have returned here for a couple of times more. In today's Piece of life series - postcards from Talsi.Postcards from TalsiReminds me panoramas from Germany's Mossel Valley, see: 3 day leisure trip to Germany (The Mossel Valley) or Andernach - A Lovely German Town On The Banks Of RhineView towards Talsi town
Early Spring 2018 in the Yard
Since early 2018 we have been relocated to Jūrmala resort town in Latvia. It was in early April 5th morning I decided to run my second 365 days photo challenge. I didn't sleep that night, I thought about making a cool sunset photography at Jūrmala beach. I actually did.Once we returned from the nearby sea to our yard - I decided to make a panoramic photography of the yard we have spent so much time. Piece of Life.Our yard for 2018 (panoramic photography)
Restaurant Istabas In Talsi Review
Restaurant Istabas in Talsi is among the best restaurants I've tried in Latvia lately, located on Liela street 31 in Talsi city, the restaurant offers great views of Lake Talsi .Istabas restaurant serves great European/American cuisine.First visited back in the Summer of 2017, since then have returned here for a couple of times.Restaurant Istabas in TalsiLocated in a three-storey building, seems there is a hotel available as well. Lovely patio (during Summers)Salmon tartarWell made, great looking and tastyBurger menu for hungry men
Galaxy Iraklio 5-star Hotel Review (Heraklion, Crete)
Located in Heraklion's elegant district, this 5-star hotel offers 2 gourmet restaurants, a free wellness centre and a large freshwater pool. Luxurious rooms feature balconies with pool and city views.We booked this hotel for a one night stay back in the Summer of 2017 and paid about EUR 100. Top 5 star and Luxury hotels in HeraklionDisclosure: this article contains links to Booking.com, by clicking on links on this page and by making a reservation on Booking.com site, I might earn an affiliate income, at no cost to you.All accommodation in Galaxy Iraklio offers work desks, satellite LCD TV and free Wi-Fi access. Air-conditioned rooms are equipped with pure Egyptian cotton…
How To Fix "gzip is failing for js files" Nginx
From Drupal Reports status page I noticed gzip is failing for js files error
The web servers configuration will need to be adjusted. In most cases make sure that the webroots .htaccess file still contains this section "Rules to correctly serve gzip compressed CSS and JS files". Certain default web server configurations (nginx) do not gzip HTTP/1.0 requests. If you are using cloudfront you will have to add metadata to the .gz files. There are some other options if using cloudfront.
For Nginx web servers there is an easy fix, adding just a few lines of code to the server block
here is the fix (source: Enable GZIP for CSS and JS files on NGINX server for Magento)
sudo nano /etc/…
June 2018 Dividend Income Report - $147.44
Welcome to the #14 dividend income report, covering earnings I've made from the dividend-paying stocks (Baltic and European) and peer to peer lending (both fiat and cryptocurrencies).Last June turned out much better than I thought before, more precisely it turned better $40 thanks to the bitcoin lending on Poloniex.com The total income generated in June was the highest so far for 2018.Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links to mintos.com peer to peer lending website, by clicking on links on this page and by making an investment on mintos.com, I might earn affiliate income at no cost to you. Also, I'm not a financial…
Postcards from Crete
It has been now over a year since we visited the Greek island of Crete, during the past months I've already documented many stories from this trip. In today's Piece of Life series - one of the last days on the island back in 2017.Town in CreteThe town is most probably Argiroupoli, as somewhere in this area we enjoyed a cup of coffee, see: Palios Mylos Restaurant Review near Argiroupoli Springs, CreteRural CreteSee: Discoveries in Crete - Rough Road To Balos BeachNarrow roads in CreteSee: Crazy, Stupid, Love - Tranquil Rough Adventures in CreteMountainous Crete