Blog Archive: March 2019
Asureti / Elisabethtal
| Tourism objects | 197 seen
Asureti is an interesting village situated on the road Koda - Tetriskaro, some 45 km from Tbilisi in Georgia.
Discovered by accident, while doing (trying to do) a trip to Ninotsminda (in the region of Samtskhe-Javakheti) in January 2019.
I had heard before about former German settlements here in Georgia from German expats in Tbilisi, and in fact a couple of weeks ago we visited one such settlement area (Katharinenfeld) in Bolnisi (see Day trip to Bolnisi and nearby vicinity)
German style dwelling house in Asureti, Georgia
You can find many such style buildings in the region of Hesse in Germany, actually some time ago I had a chance to book an apartment in one such building in Gudensberg/ Germany, see Apartment Alte Pfarre in Gudensberg, Germany or Postcards from Germany
Now here is what I was able to find out about German history in Asureti:
The village was founded on 19 November 1818 by Caucasian Germans under the name Elisabethtal or Elisabeththal by 72 German immigrant families. The then civil governor chose this name because the foundation of the village fell on the day of St. Elizabeth.
Street in Asureti
There are not many streets in Asureti, as the village is really tiny (just a couple of houses, from which most looked abandoned in 2019) and an Evangelical Lutheran Church at the of the street.
Evangelical Lutheran church in Asureti
The church is missing a bell tower, but some renovation/ reconstruction works were done in January 2019. It's said the church has been built in 1871.
You can find really interesting historical photos from here on the Facebook page: Asureti / Elisabethtal
In 1857, 38 families left Elisabethtal after religious disputes and founded the village Alexanderhilf near Tsalka . Other German families from Elisabethtal settled in the village of Kotishi near Marabda.
Street in Asureti
In 2019 there were many abandoned / empty houses in Asureti village
After the annexation of the Democratic Republic of Georgia by Soviet Russia in 1921 Elisabethtal got the Georgian name Asureti. From 1932 to 1938 there was a collective farm ( collective farm ) Concordia in Asureti , which was very successful in viticulture and research into pest control. After the attack of the Wehrmacht on the Soviet Union in June 1941, the German inhabitants were deported in October 1941 to Siberia and Kazakhstan.
From Elisabethtal come the German ancestors of Nadezhda Alliluyeva , the wife of Josef Stalin.
Cinevilla Studio backlot
| Tourism objects | 20 seen
Cinevilla is a backlot in the Tukums Municipality in Slampe parish, Latvia, and was created for the outdoor shootings of the feature film Defenders of Riga.
It is the only backlot in Latvia, and consists of replicas of historical buildings and constructions of Riga, the capital of Latvia. The backlot has a small canal to resemble the Daugava river quays of the Riga old town. The Stone Bridge is also there as well as the historical Lübeck and Pontoon bridges.
I first visited lovely Cinevilla townlet at the end of June 2018 and was more than surprised of how realistic things are done here.
One of the many pavilions at Cinevilla
There is a huge parking lot at film town and the entry fee inside the territory was something like EUR 3
at Cinevilla filmtown
Cinevilla is now a major tourist attraction and is the only such large-scale open-air cinema exhibition in the Baltic States. In 2008, Jānis Streičs shot the film Rudolf's Gold on the lot, simulating a Kurzeme farmstead.
Quite realistic mock-up
Cinevilla is a unique tourist attraction in Latvia with an extensive organization of events, filming and entertainment options.
Poppies at Cinevilla
Filmtown Cinevilla Studio is the only open-air cinema in the Baltic States and the largest in Northern Europe.
Mock-up for Russian Revolution (1917)
Briefly about Filmtown:
150 hectares in total, large-scale scenery covers about 15 hectares, which consists of 3 main parts:
City – Riga; Suburb / Town – Pārdaugava; Rudolph Territory Complex;
Filmtown is the 4th Latvian city which has its own tram line
- Located close to the capital Riga, as well as other historical Latvian cities – Tukums, Talsi, Kuldiga, Liepaja
- Specializing in the early 20th century scenery (World War I and World War II)
- Two filming pavilions
- Vintage steam locomotive and passenger railcars
- 60 m long railway platform
- River Daugava and three historic bridges
- Church
- Hotel “Hotel Cinevilla”
Mock-up for The Pagan King (Nameja gredzens)
Construction of the backlot began in 2004 for the shooting of the Defenders of Riga – a film about the freedom battles in 1919, when both the Germans and Russians were trying to annihilate the newly-independent Republic of Latvia, established just in November 1918. To date, several Latvian feature films have been shot at the backlot, including Rudolfs’ Gold, Dream Team 1935, and a number of foreign films.
My First Option Trade: FTR Aug16'19 2 Put @0.45
| Investments | 41 seen
Now, this is exciting - in the late evening of March 28th, 2019 (GMT) I made my first options trade (s).
To get to this point it took me a couple of months and a lot of reading, talking and watching YouTube videos. A huge learning curve and a lot of incomprehensible. Anyway - I just made it, my first options trade - probably really dumb, probably I will lose after all, but I feel very excited that at least I get it through.
Now, as you already can see from the title, here is what I did:
FTR Aug16'19 2 Put @0.45
What does it mean?
Investment Goal #7 - Selling Puts to Own / Generate Income
It means that I wrote (sell) a put option to buy FTR stock (X100) at $2 with expiry on August 16th, 2019. For that, I got paid $0.45 per share. Or $45. Also, I paid in a commission for this trade $2.40.
For me, It looks like a 22.5% yield in 142 days or 57.82%/year, now here is the bad news, the FTR stock is doing really bad lately, and there is really huge possibly that stock price will fall below $2 and I will be obligated to buy it. Now as I don't believe in this stock and I'm not looking to hold it long term, I should then quickly sell it off to keep this trade afloat.
5-year historical price of FTR stock
The good news, the break-even price for this trade is $1.55. If things will go South I hope there will be buyers for this stock.
Investment Goal #7 - Selling Puts to Own Stock / Generate Income
| Investments | 9 seen
If 2017 I spent learning a lot about crypto investments, starting a simple buy and hold, swing trading, lending on Poloniex.com, and even building a custom Ethereum mining rig.
2018 was more about high-yielding US stocks.
Seems that for 2019 I have a new subject to explore - options trading. Now, I have heard about options a lot in the past ... it's just I have never had any interest in them, as it has always seemed like a scam to me, now I'm not saying it's a scam, but I'm also not advocating for it, as I believe options just like crypto, stocks are a high-risk investment and theoretically, you could lose some or all of your money.
Instead, I have decided to make my first options trade to better educate myself and hopefully make some profit. I want to start with probably (IMHO) the easiest approach - selling puts against dividend stocks.
Here is actually a really good read from which I will take a few excerpts Why selling puts against dividend-paying stocks is a win-win strategy
Financial advisors of all sorts will tell you that options are very dangerous, you may lose money, it is a gamble, it is not for average investors, you shouldn’t trade options with your retirement money, and much more similar nonsense.
Mostly, people who are discouraging you from trading options have never traded options. They are just playing their old scratched record they have been taught at their last seminar.
If you understand the basics of options, and how you can make money using them, you will find out, that trading options are very easy, simple, and not risky at all. The best way to find out for yourself is to take a small trade and try it. If you do not want to commit your own cash trade in a paper money account first. I did it myself recently even after two years of trading I still use a paper money account to practice trading. My small account doesn’t allow me to trade as often as I wish, so for the rest of the time, I use a paper money account.
Now as in the case with crypto, I decided better once do it for real, than continue thinking what if.
As I already have Lynx Broker, I made sure to apply for options trading permission and additionally created a paper trading account just to get familiar with the process and experiment with a couple of strategies.
It's fun to note, that my first experience with trading actually comes from the crypto and not vice versa.
Backtesting BTC/EXP RSI on Gekko Trading Bot
As I don't have a lot to invest, for my first options trade I decided to go with a "cheap" high-yielding NLY dividend stock (this stock has a dividend yield of about 10%). and is trading at $10
The ultimate goal is to have about $3,000 - $4,000 in cash for option trades by the end of 2019.
If I would manage to have a 1.5% yield monthly that would be a very very good result for me now.
I Will start small, with $1,000 in April (that's why choosing NLY). If I will manage to take 20%/per year from option trades I will be very happy. If I will keep my $4,000 afloat - I still will be happy.
If I will lose some 500-1,000 I won't be so happy anymore, but I will have a good lesson.
Georgia Projected GDP Forecast 2019 - 2023
| Living in Georgia | 10 seen
Wow, time flies, it has been already 5 years since I last time reviewed Georgia's GDP growth rates, back in 2013 I come up with a simple article: Georgia then, now, future
Here is what the International Monetary Fund projected for Georgia for 2018:
According to IMF, Georgian GDP will rise average 6% per year until 2018, and in 2018 it could be approx 21.81 bln USD
Georgia GDP Forecast 2014-2018
Although we don't yet have exact data for 2018 yet, it's believed that the GDP in Georgia was around 16,142 billion USD in 2018, in short, that's about 25% less than it was actually forecasted back in 2014.
Now, let's see what is forecast for the next 5 years (2019-2023) by the International Monetary Fund
Georgia GDP Forecast 2019-2023 (Data Source: List of countries by past and projected GDP (nominal))
According to the IMF, Georgian GDP (nominal) in 2023 could reach about 23,83 billion USD. Seems that IMF has used an average GDP growth rate at 8% annually. I would say these number looks a bit too high to me now,
As it turned out even those 6% annually IMF forecasted, turned out overoptimistic.
Day trip to Sighnaghi and Back
| Travel guides | 13 seen
Day trips to Sighnaghi (or any other destination in the region of Kakheti, Georgia) are quite possible, in the past, I have already covered few routes to consider, like Day Trip to Kakheti in Georgia or Day trip to David Gareji monastery complex and Sighnaghi
In today's article, I'll share our route details and discoveries from the latest day trip to Sighnaghi on January 12, 2019 (it was my name day according to Latvian calendar).
For longer travels to the region of Kakheti, consider: Best Hotels & Guesthouses in Sighnaghi, Georgia or Weekend trip to Telavi (Georgia) and Vicinity
We started this route at around 9 AM, left our apt in Tbilisi in our almost brand new VW Tuareg car, we bought a couple of weeks ago (Rustavi Auto Market (Buying a Car in Georgia)). First stop was Carrefour store located in East Point shopping mall, just to buy some food.
The road to Sighnaghi from Tbilisi takes little more than an hour, before actually driving inside the Sighnaghi town, there is a lovely Bodbe monastery located. After a short stop at the Bodbe monastery, we drive to Sighnaghi.
We didn't actually spend a lot of time in Sighnaghi and left it after made little driving through the city. We drive back to Tbilisi and discovered some really cools sights on our way, like Chailuri fortress and what really impressed me - the Ninotsminda monastery complex.
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Jūrmala airport
| Airports | 19 seen
Jūrmala Airport (ICAO: EVJA) is an airport located 5 km (3 mi) in the Engure parish, Latvia, southeast of Tukums. The airport is located in the territory of the former army airfield.
All of the airport's technical infrastructure, runway and buildings are what was left of the former Soviet military Tukums air base, which was a spartan military airfield with a single long ramp and revetted area. The base was completely abandoned, but in 2010 the conversion of the base to a civil airport with passenger terminals started.
Main Terminal building at Jūrmala airport
As of Summer 2018, the airport is completely abandoned and kind of looks like a ghost airport.
Bus stop waiting for passengers
There have been talks to attract low-cost air carriers like Rynair and Wizzair to Jūrnala airport. No luck so far. On the other hand could be as popular as Kutaisi airport in Georgia.
Airport museum
See: Motel Istros Aviaparkas
Interesting fact: Tukums airfield has been mentioned in historical sources since 1939 as a reserve military airfield of the USSR and a warehouse of the nuclear weapon.
Lenovo IdeaPad 330-15IKB (Geforce MX150) Laptop Review
| Gadget Reviews | 109 seen
Here, at our Tbilisi office, we just love Lenovo laptop computers. In today's gadget reviews series - business laptop computer from Lenovo - IdeaPad 330-15IKB with GeForce MX150 graphics card.
About a year ago, I bought the earlier version of IdeaPad 320 series, see Lenovo Ideapad 320-15ISK (Intel Core i3) Laptop Review, as it was working good, there were no doubts to go with a little bit newer model a year later.
Alternatively, see HP ProBook 450 G5 (2RS04EA) Laptop Review
A laptop isn’t just a piece of electronics—it’s also an investment. That’s why Lenovo designed the Ideapad 330 with a special protective finish to guard against wear and tear, as well as rubber detailing on the bottom to maximize ventilation and extend component life.
Lenovo IdeaPad 330-15IKB
To make sure your Ideapad 330 serves you well into the future, Lenovo has made sure you can choose specs that will meet your evolving needs. Cutting-edge processing—up to 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7—and advanced discrete graphics options from AMD and NVIDIA® assure seamless multitasking, immersive gaming, fast boot-ups, and theater-like entertainment.
The model I bought comes with the latest 8th Gen Intel Core I3 processor, make sure to check out Top 20 8th Generation Intel Core i7 Processor Laptops
Lenovo IdeaPad 330-15IKB keyboard
Running out of battery and short on time? The Ideapad 330 boasts up to 6 hours’ battery life, and also supports Rapid Charge—15 minutes plugged in will give you up to 2 hours of use.
Lenovo IdeaPad 330-15IKB With Windows 10 installed
Leverage the best of Windows 10, with a new update packed with exciting features. The powerfully reimagined Photos app makes it easier—and more fun—to tell your story in video: add a soundtrack, use transitions, deploy 3D effects, and more. And sharing is quicker than ever, with intuitive settings that making it easier to instantly connect with the people you care about most.
Technical details
Processor Up to 8th Gen Intel® Quad Core i7-8550U Operating System Windows 10 Home Graphics- Up to NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX1050
- Up to AMD Radeon™ 540
- Intel Integrated Graphics
- 15.6” FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS
- 15.6” HD (1366 x 768)
- 4 GB onboard DDR4 + 8 GB DIMM
- 4 GB onboard DDR4 + 4 GB DIMM
- 4 GB onboard DDR4 + 2 GB DIMM
- 16 GB DIMM
- 4 GB onboard DDR4
- 16 GB Intel® Optane™ (optional)
- 128 GB PCIe SSD
- 256 GB PCIe SSD
- 500 GB SATA HDD
- 1 TB SATA HDD
- 2 TB SATA HDD
- 128 GB PCIe SSD + 1 TB SATA HDD
- 256 GB PCIe SSD + 1 TB SATA HDD
**Power-off mode; requires 65W power source Keyboard
- Standard keyboard
- Backlit numeric keyboard (optional)
- Platinum Grey
- Blizzard White
- Midnight Blue
- Chocolate
- Onyx Black
- USB Type-C 3.1
- 2 x USB 3.0 (one charging)
- HDMI
- 4-in-1 card reader (SD, SDHC, SDXC, MMC)
- Audio jack
Source: Ideapad 330 (15, Intel)
Top 10 Countries By Proven Natural Gas Reserves
| Macroeconomics | 64 seen
While I was waiting for a draft resolution from a natural gas distributing company listed on the stock market which shares I own, I decided to learn more about the topic - Natural gas, and one of the really interesting subjects to explore - Natural Gas Reserves by country.
But before getting straight to the numbers, let's find out more about Natural gas: Why it's important and what you need to know
As the world looks to diversify its energy mix one source, natural gas, is becoming increasingly important.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) says that natural gas is viewed "as a good source of electricity supply" for a range of reasons.
According to the IEA, natural gas is seen as "lower carbon" relative to other fossil fuels. In addition, it takes around two years to build gas plants, which is seen as being relatively quick, while its share of the global energy mix is increasing at two percent annually until 2020.
TOP 10 countries with the largest reserves of Natural Gas by OPEC
Country Rank Reserves Proven Reserves (Billion m³) Russia 1 50,617 Iran 2 33,810 Qatar 3 23,861 Turkmenistan 4 9,838 United States 5 9,067 Saudi Arabia 6 8,715 United Arab Emirates 7 6,091 Venezuela 8 5,707 Nigeria 9 5,627 China 10 2,934TOP 10 countries with the largest reserves of Natural Gas (Data source: List of countries by natural gas proven reserves)
I guess it won't be a surprise to learn that natural gas is a very effective economic weapon and one of the largest battlefields are now located in the European Union:
In a move that should not surprise energy pundits nor even those that follow geopolitical news in Europe, on Thursday Russian gas giant Gazprom said it’s looking to gain an even larger gas market share in Europe following record-high 2018 exports, as it expects a decline in Europe’s gas output combined with rising demand. Last year Gazprom sold more than 200 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas to Europe, including Turkey, while its gas market share in the region rose to more than a third, Reuters said in a report on the matter.
Russia has held a decades-old gas supply monopoly, dating back to the end of World War II, in Europe, putting it at a distinct geopolitical advantage over EU members, particularly Poland and the Baltic states. Moscow has also cut off gas supply during the middle of winter to make political statements in the past, upping the ante up for EU states dependent on Russian gas supply.
However, more EU member states are seeking to pivot away from Moscow’s gas supply grip by turning to more LNG, particularly U.S. sourced LNG. Other major EU players, particularly Germany, the EU’s largest economy, however, seems uncharacteristically naive about the dangers of over-reliance on Russian gas.
Berlin has approved and pushed ahead, amid heated backlash from Washington, the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Nord Stream 2 is a 759 mile (1,222 km) natural gas pipeline running on the bed of the Baltic Sea from Russian gas fields to Germany, bypassing existing land routes over Ukraine, Poland and Belarus. It would double the existing Nord Stream pipeline’s current annual capacity of 55 bcm. However, the U.S. has long maintained that it posed a threat to European security, while the U.S. is a large part of safeguarding that security. On January 29, German news agency DW reported, citing one of the project’s engineers, that the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline should be operational by November (2019)
Source: This Is Just The Beginning Of Europe’s Gas War
Map with TOP 10 countries with the largest reserves of Natural Gas
Now, there is one interesting country that intrigues me lately - Turkmenistan. In the past I have covered brief stories, see:
- Turkmenistan GDP 1990 - 2014
Currently, ranked #4 largest proves natural gas reserves in the World, there have been plans (more talks) to build Trans-Caspian pipeline
The Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline is a proposed subsea pipeline between Türkmenbaşy in Turkmenistan, and Baku in Azerbaijan. According to some proposals it will also include a connection between the Tengiz Field in Kazakhstan, and Türkmenbaşy.The Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline project is purposed to transport natural gas from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstanto European Union member countries, circumventing both Russia and Iran. It is also considered as a natural eastward extension of Southern Gas Corridor. This project attracts significant interest since it will connect vast Turkmen gas resources to major consumer geographies as Turkey and Europe.
It's very interesting to note, that Brussels and Tbilisi will finance the engineering of the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline project
The Trans/Caspian gas pipeline (illustration: Thomas Blomberg)
The Trans/Caspian gas pipeline would run under the Caspian Sea from Türkmenbaşy to the Sangachal Terminal, where it would connect with the existing pipeline to Erzurum in Turkey, which in turn would be connected to the Southern Gas Corridor, thus taking natural gas from Turkmenistan to Central Europe.
Georgia and the European Commission have reached an agreement on joint financing of commercial engineering of the gas pipeline project on the Caspian sea bottom, which will connect Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan.
... the adviser to the Prime Minister of Georgia spoke on the approximate cost of the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline. According to him, the project is estimated at $1.5 billion, which is much less than the amount that experts expected 8-10 years ago. The fact is that over the years Turkmenistan has built the East-West pipeline from the gas fields in the area of the city of Mary to the coast of the Caspian sea. The Turkmen leadership said that it had invested $3 billion in this construction, which reduced the cost of the Trans-Caspian project, which previously included a pipeline through Turkmenistan.
According to the Georgian expert, banks and European companies will soon begin direct negotiations with Turkmenistan on the purchase and sale of gas. After the preparation of the documents, practical issues related to the construction of the pipeline will be put on the agenda.
Last, but not least - Huge natural gas reserves discovered in eastern Georgia
As noted in the report, On October 8, 2015, Frontera Resources company has announced its discovery of massive resources of gas in eastern Georgia. The company estimates natural gas resources to be 3.8 trillion cubic meters.
’Provided the size of this large-scale discovery is confirmed independently, and geopolitical challenges are handled successfully, this means that Georgia, a low-middle-income country, could become a net exporter of gas rather than a net importer. The south Kakheti find can supply Turkey, Romania, Ukraine and European markets farther west. As these gas resources are brought to market, Georgia could export gas via a small-scale LNG terminal located on the Georgian Black Sea coast, or via the Main Export Pipeline to Turkey and TANAP’
Now, little has been heard lately about natural gas developments in Georgia, but still interesting.
Building GPU (Ethereum) Mining Rig from Scratch - Part 2 Assembling
| Servers | 39 seen
I originally built this mining rig back in December 2017 (during the golden days of crypto), I've unplugged this rig from electricity since September 2018, but I might turn it on again in 2019.
Today's article is the second and final part from the series I started back in 2017, see Building a 12 GPU Ethereum Mining Rig From Scratch - Part 1: Ordering Details
The total cost for this rig (4 GPU's with hashing power of about 60 MH/s) was about $1,300. I never break even. To do so ethereum should reach around $5,000 per coin (still hold minned ethereum) To Break Even My GPU Mining Rig, Ethereum Should Reach $5,153
With this rig, I've mined ethereum, expance and ethereum classic using simple mining OS
- How To Mine ETC (Ethereum Classic) with SimpleMining OS
- How To Mine EXP (Expanse) with SMOS
Before building my first mining rig I experimented a lot with mining at our office computer with cheap Radeon GPU, see Learning Crypto Currency Mining The Hard Way
The first package arrived at Georgia
In total it took me some 3 shipping to get all details, luckily I managed to get them all in about 3 weeks
Power block, PCI risers, and SD drives
Accidently I got two SD drives
Motherboard, Graphics card and processor
The second shipment arrived
ASRock H110 PRO motherboard
Now, it's time to assemble it together
Installing processor
Mounting cooler a top on the processor
Adding 4gb RAM memory
Mounting GPU graphic cards
In above I have mounted EVGA 1060 6 GB and Sapphire TX 560 4GB
- Mining Ethereum With EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 (Single Fan), 6GB GDDR5 Review
- Mining with SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon™ RX 560 4GD5 Review
Despite I could mount up to 13 GPU's on this ASRock motherboard I never mounted more than 4.
Ethereum mining rig
Attached some old monitor for graphics interface, added a cheap keyboard. Connected to the internet via wire through the router.
Ninotsminda Cathedral
| Churches and Monasteries | 13 seen
Ninotsminda Cathedral is located in the Ninotsminda village near Sagarejo, in the Kakheti region, Georgia.
Ninotsminda Cathedral is highly significant to the development of Georgian architecture as constructed in AD 575 it predates Jvari Monastery in Mtskheta, and served as a model for the development of the later tetraconch (four-apse) form.
I visited this cathedral first in January 2019 and was more than surprised on how much I enjoyed this place
Ninotsminda cathedral near Sagarejo in Georgia
The site is ruins today, with only the eastern apse and a portion of the western wall remaining. The ruined apse is decorated with 16th-century frescos of the Hodegetria, severely vandalized with bullet holes from Dagestani bandits in the 18th and 19th centuries. Outlines of the foundations indicate that the church originally had an octagonal center, surrounded by corner niches. Historical records indicate that restoration work was undertaken in the 10th and 11th centuries, and also during 1671 and 1774. However, the cathedral collapsed during earthquakes in 1824 and 1848 and was not reconstructed.
Bell-tower at Ninotsminda cathedral
The large brick belltower within the same complex dates from the reign of King Levan of Kakheti (1520-1574). The lower three stories served as a residence, each floor with a fireplace. The staggered placement of bricks on the exterior façade to form geometric patterns indicates the cultural influence of Safavid Persia, as does the pointed arch over the entrance.
Corner towers at Ninotsminda Cathedral
The Ninotsminda complex is surrounded by a fortification, with corner towers and a crenelated curtain wall, dating from the 16th-17th centuries. The fortified entrance gate has protruding towers with beehive machicolations.
The complex is currently operated as a nunnery by the Georgian Orthodox Church, and reconstruction work is underway.
Cafe / Bistro Dukāts
| Restaurant reviews | 19 seen
Cafe/bar/ bakery Dukāts is located in Dubulti, Jūrmala close to the Dubulti church.
During 2018 we lived for a while next to the Dukāts and visited this place quite often to have a bistro style dinner or buying some delicious cake from the bakery.
Compared to the other restaurants in Jūrmala, Dukāts has one of the lowest prices. Having dinner for two people for EUR 10 here is realistic.
A meal at bistro Dukāts
Typical Latvian cuisine served at bistro Dukāts.
Once in Dubulti make sure to visit Dukāts!
Top 25 Wine Export Countries
| Macroeconomics | 30 seen
Now, this is interesting, after living in Georgia for almost 8 years, visiting its winemaking region Kakheti quite often, visiting countless chateaux's and marani's across the country - I thought Georgia should be in the top 10 or something.
It was at the end of 2018 I noticed Georgian journalists proudly reporting Georgia as a top 20 wine exporting country.
At first, I thought - cool, and decided to see which are the rest of the countries, probably, France, Italy, Chile, defiantly USA, South Africa. Well, huge was my surprise seeing countries like Latvia and Lithuania ranking at top 20 well above for such wine producing countries like Georgia or Moldova.
Anyhow, according to the Worlds Top Exports:
Global sales from wine exports by country amounted to US$35.5 billion in 2017.
Among continents, European countries accounted for the highest dollar value of wine exports during 2017 with shipments worth $25.2 billion or 71% of globally exported wine.
Oceania’s international wine sales, led by Australia and New Zealand, came in at 9.2% followed closely by Latin America (excluding Mexico) plus the Caribbean at 8%. Asia supplied 5.3% worth of worldwide wine exports while North America shipped 4.4%. Africa benefited from 2.1% of international wine sales.
Wine export by country 2017, data source World Top Exports
I soon found that for such wine not producing countries like Latvia or Lithuania, the answer might be actually hidden in wine - re-export.
Here is what I was able to find:
There are some cases though where anecdotal evidence overwhelmingly suggests a presence of re-export activity while firm-level trade data do not confirm this. For example, less than 10% of export of wine of fresh grapes is identified as re-exports in the post-crisis period, while it is known that Latvian companies do not produce either Bordeaux or Mosel.
Source: Evaluation of Latvia’s re-exports using firm-level trade data
'German reunification - a short history' Documentary
| Documentaries | 12 seen
Another great documentary from DW. This documentary is about the Fall of the Berlin Wall and Germany's reunification back in 1989.
Interesting details revealing behind the scenes on how West Germany handled the reunification behind the backs of the Allied Forces
The fall of the Berlin Wall changed the course of history overnight. But German Reunification was never a guarantee. The situation could have spiraled out of control at any moment. Find out more in 2 + 4 + X: A SHORT HISTORY OF GERMAN REUNIFICATION.
West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl took advantage of the chaos during this turbulent time. His 10-point plan paved the way for the reunification of a divided Germany - but this was done behind the backs of the Allied Forces. Those who witnessed the events tell the story of the “2+4” negotiations and rocky road the world took to reunite the GDR with the West.
Watch on YouTube
Restaurant Natakhtaris Veli
| Restaurant reviews | 19 seen
Restaurant Natakhtris Veli is located in the Natakhtari village, accessible when driving from Tbilisi via Mtskheta to Gudauri.
This place serves typical Georgian cuisine. Cozy atmosphere, fast service, friendly staff. Actually a pretty touristic place, but despite that, no rip off here.
Restaurant Natakhtaris Veli
Located next to the Mtksheta- Gudauri highway. You can park your car in front of the restaurant.
Meal at Restaurant Natakhtaris Veli