Blog Archive: February 2020

New Gudauri Ski Resort in Georgia

29 February, 2020 | Tourism objects | 32 seen

New Gudauri is a rapidly developing ski resort in Georgia developed by REDCO Real estate development company, the resort is located some 120km from the nation's capital Tbilisi in Gudauri.

Surrounded by some of Europe’s most dramatic peaks, Gudauri represents one of the most picturesque winter destinations for both experienced skiers and amateurs.  The resort offers fantastic skiing and snowboarding, as well as paragliding and heli-skiing facilities.

Gudauri - Georgian Winter Capital for skiing, snowboarding, paragliding and heli-skiing

New Gudauri

Ski Resort is both a great destination for holidaymakers as well for investors looking to expose their funds to condo investments. As a stock investor, I don't find such investment interesting, as I could go with a few click and buy some REIT (read - liquidity) - but the stock market is not for everyone and maybe some will find investing in New Gudauri a really lucrative. Before doing that I would recommend doing quality research

Active real estate development in New Gudauri​

Apartments can be purchased as a “white…

Lindt Factory Shop Induno Oluno

28 February, 2020 | Shopping Venues | 63 seen

This Lindt factory shop is located in the town of Induno Oluno (Varese), Italy on Largo Edoardo Bulgheroni street 1.

Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG, more commonly known simply as Lindt, is a Swiss chocolatier and confectionery company founded in 1845 and known for its chocolate truffles and chocolate bars, among other sweets.

We visited this factory shop in mid-November 2019, during our about a week-long trip to Italy and Switzerland. As we had a hotel booked in Induno Oluno (Villa Porro Pirelli, Induno Oluno, Italy) after some Google search we found this shop, and that's how we ended here and bought a lot of candies. We spent here actually EUR 300 for A  LOT OF CANDIES. Our then 14-month old daughter was very excited about Lindt advent calendar (s)

Lindt factory shop in Induno Oluno

According to Wikipedia Lindt & Sprüngli has twelve factories: Kilchberg, Switzerland; Aachen, Germany; Oloron-Sainte-Marie, France; Induno Olona, Italy; Gloggnitz, Austria; and Stratham, New Hampshire, in the…

Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets

27 February, 2020 | Bookshelf | 15 seen

I was first introduced to the works of Nassim Nicholas Taleb from a fellow option trader when in a conversation I mentioned the term "Black Swan", my friend told me that Mr. Nassim Taleb is the author of this term and that he actually is quite active on Twitter.

I followed Nassim Taleb on Twitter, read a bit Wikipedia about him and basically forgot about him, when a couple of weeks later I was reading another trader's blog in which he mentions that has re-read all the books of Nassim Taleb. Now I decided - I should act, quickly googled which book I should read first - and Fooled by Randomness was pretty much recommended. I bought from Amazon the Kindle version and started to read. 

Everyone wants to succeed in life. But what causes some of us to be more successful than others? Is it really down to skill and strategy; or something altogether more unpredictable? This book is the word-of-mouth sensation that will change the way you think about business and the world. It is all about luck: more precisely, how we perceive luck in our personal and professional experiences. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the markets…

TOP 10 Laptops with NVIDIA GeForce MX230 Graphics Card (Entry Level Gaming)

24 February, 2020 | Laptop Reviews | 49 seen

The Nvidia GeForce MX230 is an entry-level dedicated laptop graphics card with DirectX 12 support (FL 12_1) based (most likely) on the Pascal architecture (and not Maxwell as the older MX130). Similar to the faster MX250, the MX230 is based on the GP108 chip.

Most of the new laptops with MX230 graphic card wear Dell or Lenovo brand name. As MX230 is a relatively new graphics card, it's not rare to find it together with the latest 10th generation Intel Core i7 processor laptop models

Keep reading to learn more about TOP 10 Laptops with NVIDIA GeForce MX230 Graphics Card

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links to Amazon.com, by clicking on links on this page and by making a purchase on the Amazon site, I will earn an affiliate income at no cost to you. Prices for laptops listed on this page are retrieved using Amazon Product Advertising API and is updated daily. For actual prices please refer on the product page on Amazon

Winter in Georgia: Gombori Pass

22 February, 2020 | | 27 seen

Some call Gombori pass - A Picturesque Road To Kakheti, here at  Piece of Life we can only agree. The road indeed is spectacular

If you don't have problems with endless turns or drastic changes of elevation and air pressure, then Gombori road is your road of choice to Kakheti. The pass itself peaks at 1620 meters above sea level.

Gombori road is spectacular at any time of year. Small idyllic villages, magnificent sceneries of Alazani valley and Caucasus Mountains, panoramic views, sheep flocks, ancient forests, beautiful meadows and sea of clouds are just a short list of what awaits you on this road.

At the start of January 2020, we left our cozy Tbilisi apartment to travel to Tsinandali, our road us via Gombori pass, and it started to snow.

Snow in Gombori pass

The Tsiv-Gombori is a mountain range in the Georgian section of Greater Caucasus mountains. It is located in the province of Kakheti, eastern Georgia, and stretches to the distance of 107 km, with the highest mountain being at 1,991 m above sea level.

The Gombori range serves as a watershed,…

Villa Porro Pirelli, Induno Oluno, Italy

21 February, 2020 | Hotel reviews | 20 seen

Villa Porro Pirelli is set in Induno Olona, 5 km from Varese and 8 km from the Swiss border. It features air-conditioned rooms and a free outdoor pool, gym and solarium.

We booked here a one night stay in the mid-November 2019, and paid about $70 or $80 for our stay here. To get here, we arrived from Switzerland.

Induno Oluno is a small Italian town quite close to Milan (some 60 km).

With antique furnishings, elegant rooms at the Porro Pirelli include a minibar and trouser press. Some rooms have wood-beamed ceilings, and WiFi is free throughout.

Villa Porro Pirelli 

Breakfast is served in the Sala della Musica hall, with frescoed ceilings. Guests can enjoy a meal at the Bistrò, located in the restored 18th-century greenhouse and offering views of the surrounding park. Open for lunch and dinner, it specialises in Italian cuisine.

Our booking didn't include breakfast, so we used our rental car to drive around and shop at local Carrefour shop, also we found a Lindt factory shop located in town

Simple room at Villa Porro Pirelli

Lake Lugano is reachable by car in around 10 minutes. On…

Restaurant Wineland Telavi

15 February, 2020 | Restaurant reviews | 26 seen

Restaurant Wineland is located close to the town of Telavi in the region of Kakheti, Georgia.

We discovered it in early January 2020 while driving Tbilisi - Tsinandali (via Gombori pass), as it was getting late already and we were approaching our final destination in Tsinandali  (Odo's house) we started to look for some cozy restaurant to have dinner. ​

Luckily, Restaurant Wineland appeared on the roadside. Now there is one more restaurant I know and can recommend in Telavi, see Telavi restaurants

Restaurant Wineland near Telavi

As usual, it happens to us in Georgia, we were the only guests here. As I'm already used to it, I actually enjoy it a lot. 

Also, we visited Wineland restaurant just shortly New Year, so there were still left decorations from Christmas. 

Dinner at Wineland restaurant near Telavi

Restaurant Wineland serves typical Georgian cuisine, mcvadi, khachapuri, salads, some lemonades, and coffees. Really cozy place (despite lack of other people)

Resort Collina d'Oro - Hotel & Spa in Agra, Switzerland

14 February, 2020 | Hotel reviews | 20 seen

Located in a scenic location in the Ticino countryside, a 15-minute drive from Lugano’s centre, this exclusive 5-star resort on 25 hectares of grounds offers panoramic views.

We booked here a one night stay in early November 2019,  for our stay here we paid ~ $234. The price included access to the SPA. 

Collina d’Oro’s 1,000 m² spa area includes various wellness facilities, as well as a fitness room. A wide range of massages and beauty programs, as well as hydrotherapy, are available.

To get here we arrived from Lugano city in our rental car.

Resort Collina d'Oro - Hotel & Spa

An elegant restaurant, and a spa area with an indoor and an outdoor pool are at guests´ disposal. Free WiFi and a 24-hour concierge service are available.

Hotels restaurant

The restaurant includes a sun terrace and a pool bar during summer and serves refined dishes made from regional products, as well as a wide selection of wines. It has its own vineyard and organic garden.

We ordered some pasta and rabbit (?) here. Our total bill some EUR 40

Pasta served

Good food…

Radisson Collection Hotel, Tsinandali Estate Georgia

8 February, 2020 | Hotel reviews | 26 seen

Radisson Collection Hotel, Tsinandali Estate Georgia is situated in Tsinandali, 1.4 km from Tsinandali Palace Museum, and offers free WiFi.

An infinity outdoor swimming pool with view and pool bar is available on site as well as spa facilities, steam rooms and fitness centre.

Ok, I actually haven't stayed at this hotel for the night, though I have enjoyed a cup of cappuccino at the hotel's library bar. But let me say one more time - Georgia never ends surprise me!

Radisson Collection Hotel, Tsinandali Estate Georgia

All units in the hotel are equipped with a coffee machine. The rooms are fitted with a private bathroom with free toiletries and a hair dryer. The units at Radisson Collection Hotel, Tsinandali Estate Georgia feature air conditioning and a wardrobe. Each room includes a flat-screen TV with satellite channels.

Wine tasting gallery

The project was developed by Silk Road Group with the financial support of Partnership Fund and TBC Bank. 

JSC Partnership Fund is a state-owned investment fund, established in 2011. 

Library bar

The daily breakfast…

Top 13 Luxury Hotels in Lugano, Switzerland

7 February, 2020 | Hotel reviews | 36 seen

Lugano is a tranquil city located in southern Switzerland’s Italian-speaking Ticino region.

Its Swiss-Mediterranean mix of cultures is closely related to that of Italy’s northern Lombardy region. This mix is reflected in its architecture and cuisine. The city stands on the northern shore of glacial Lake Lugano, surrounded by mountains.

We traveled to Lugano, Switzerland at the end of 2019, thus we didn't stay overnight in Lugano, instead we stayed in Resort Collina d'Oro - Hotel & Spa in Agra,

For a comfortable stay in Lugano, you should be ready to pay about $200-$250 per night, thus for spoiled ones Lugano has luxury hotels averaging $500 for night

Disclosure: 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

Villa Principe Leopoldo can be found amid a large park above Lugano, offering panoramic views of Lake Lugano and the mountains, and featuring leisure, sport and wellness facilities, as well as exquisite dining options. WiFi is available for free.

A…

Amazon Fire Tablet 7 Review

6 February, 2020 | Gadget Reviews | 12 seen

I ordered Amazon Fire Tablet 7 at the end of 2019 as a Christmas gift to our almost 18-month old baby girl. It took some two weeks before the gadget was actually delivered to us here in Georgia. 

I wanted to have something cheap enough it wouldn't be sad if the baby would drop or broke and also something smart enough to use Alexa with. I've been a huge fan of the Amazon Echo device since August 2019. 

Amazon Alexa Echo Dot (3rd Gen) - Smart speaker Review

And that's how I decided to go with Amazon Fire Tablet 7

Now was time to unpack and see what's inside. 

Package has arrived in Georgia

For shipments to Georgia we are using a neat delivery service called Usa2Georgia, see: How To Order Goodies From US to Georgia - Usa2Georgia.com

Fire 7 tablet in package

Here is what inside

• 7" IPS display; 16 or 32 GB of internal storage (add up to 512 GB with microSD)
• Faster 1.3 GHz quad-core processor
• Up to 7 hours of reading, browsing the web, watching video, and listening to music
• Now Alexa hands-free
• 1 GB of RAM…

January 2020 Dividend Income Report - $164.99

5 February, 2020 | Investments | 14 seen

Welcome to the thirty third (#33) dividend income report, covering earnings I've made from dividend-paying stocks and peer to peer lending in January 2020. 

Just like in the previous years, the last January disappeared like a flicker, little miss Fischer baby girl turned already 18-month old. We started to go to the Georgian language kindergarten, which at the end of the month we still decided to switch to English pre-school with the Montessori teaching method. 

During January we spent all-time in Georgia, did a few road trips to Tsinandali and Gudauri ski resort (twice)

Gudauri Ski Resort in Georgia

This January also marked a small 3 years anniversary since I originally set my goal to have in a savings account 1 million dollars by 2045.

From the market perspective, January was a catastrophe - starting bombings of US bases in Iraq, downing Ukrainian airplane and ending the Coronavirus in China. what a bad place we are living in.  

From the point of dividends, …

Odo's House in Tsinandali

1 February, 2020 | Hotel reviews | 10 seen

Odo's house is a family-run bed&breakfast style guest house, located in Tsinandali, some 100 km from Tbilisi in Georgia. 

We booked Odo's house at the start of January 2020 for a two-night stay and paid about USD 40 for that (free parking and breakfast included)

Odo's House features a garden. All rooms feature a kitchenette, a flat-screen TV with satellite channels, and a private bathroom. Every room includes a terrace with a mountain view.

The guesthouse is located in front of the famous Alexander Chavchavadze museum

Room at Odo's house

For me I got the feeling I have got back to Soviet Georgia (in a very positive way) I felt like in the 60-ies.

Odo's Guesthouse

Breakfast at Odo's house in Tsinandali

Garden