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 2017



A cannon

Found one at the inner yard of Ventpils Livonian Order Castle



Cow-traveler…

Latvia

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…

Latvia

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…

Latvia

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…

Latvia

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…

Latvia

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…

Latvia

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…

Latvia

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…

Latvia

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…

Latvia

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…

Greece

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…

Latvia

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…

Greece

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 2017​Beach near La Playa Taverna Cafe Ouzeri​Palms…

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 Talsi

Reminds me panoramas from Germany's Mossel Valley, see: 3 day leisure trip to Germany (The Mossel Valley)  or Andernach - A Lovely…

Latvia

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 (…

Latvia

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…

Greece

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…

Drupal & Servers

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…

Investing

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:…

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 Crete

The town is most probably Argiroupoli, as somewhere in this area we enjoyed a cup of coffee, see: Palios Mylos Restaurant Review near Argiroupoli Springs, Crete



Rural Crete

See: …

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