Blog Archive: July 2021
Kazbegi Trip 2021
Kazbegi trip - or searching for hot pools at Truso Valley, wandering at Darial gorge near the Georgian - Russian border, reaching Gveleti waterfall, walk in the clouds at Gergeti..
and of course a lot of offroad driving. Thanks, Ralph Schmidt and Rosemarie Rivera for making this trip happen.
July 24-25, 2021
About Tbilisi - Batumi Flight by Vanilla Sky
At the end of May 2021, we traveled Tbilisi - Batumi (and back) for the first time with an airplane. And let me say - this is the best option to travel between these two Georgian cities. In the past, I've tried a train, marshrutka, and private vehicle.Flight is only 50 minutes and you don't feel tired not at all. i first hear about Vanilla Sky (back then it was called Service air) back in the Summer of 2014, when planned a trip to Mestia, but at the end in that year we traveled to Yerevan in Armenia instead of Mestia, because I find it complicated to book tickets online.Now it was much easier and we were able to book flight some 2 weeks advance, paying GEL 125 per person one way (kids…
Ērģeme Castle Ruins
Ērģeme castle is located in the parish of Ērģeme, Valka county, some 170 km north from the capital of Riga.
Ērģeme castle served as a powerful fortress for the protection of the Livonian Holy Order eastern border and as a castle-front for the Cēsis castle of the Livonian Holy Order master. The castle was mentioned in 1422 but it was built already around year 1320 under the ordinance of the Order master Gerhard von Jocke. Masters used castle as a storehouse, point of support and shelter for the night. Planning of the castle is clearly legible. Nowadays still quite impressive castle ruins with the round corner tower in the height of five stories can be viewed.
Outside stone wall of the…
Truso Valley
Truso Valley is known for its mineral water springs, white/yellow travertines, mineral lake with bubbles, towers of middle ages, -most notably Zakagori castle, villages on a very high altitude such as Resi (2350m), tasty cheese and Ossetian Khabidzginas (khachapuri with cheese and potatoes) and nice people.
I first visited this area during a weekend trip to Kazbegi (Stepatsminda) at the end oh July 2021. To get there, we took a left turn in Kobi village, passing Kobi Cable car station. The road is very much an offorad, but not extremely complicated.
It's said the area is nice for hiking, and that what I would advice, but we actually traveled here by a Nissan Xtra SUV car and…
Laidi manor / Valtaiķi church / Rudbārži manor
November has started with some cool 4K cinematic drone videography at Laidi manor / Valtaiķi church / Rudbārži manor.
All places are great and highly recommended to visit, all places share some great history, starting Baltic - German nobleman Manteuffel at Laidi Manor, or some of the most beautiful stained glass windows in Latvia at Valtaiķu church, made in Italy at the beginning of the 20th century according to sketches by Vilhelms Purvītis.
Or Rudbārži manor, about a century ago, back in January 1919 Colonel Oskars Kalpaks "started" Latvian War of Independence / no wonder there is planned to establish a cadet school at Rudbārži manor soon
Filmed with DJI Mavic AIR 2 / post-processed in…
Georgia - Russia Friendship monument near Gudauri
Georgia - the land of many wonders
A drone flight around Georgia - Russia Friendship Monument near Gudauri
DJI Mavic mini, August 16th, 2020
Music by Scott Holmes - Epic Cinematographic
Khertvisi Fortress
Khertvisi fortress is one of the oldest fortresses in Georgia and was functional throughout the Georgian feudal period. It is situated in Khertvisi village of Aspindza Municipality, Southern Georgia, in Meskheti region. The fortress was first mentioned in the 10th-11th centuries.The church was built in 985, and the present walls were built in 1354. According to a local legend, Khertvisi was once destroyed by Alexander the Great, though it has then been reconstructed and invaded on numerous occasions through the centuries.I first discovered this gem back in 2014, when Khertvisi was used as a starting point for our two-day rafting trip, see: …
Orbeliani square Tbilisi
Autumn feeling or fun with a drone near Oberliani square / Alexander Garden in Tbilisi. (The former and famous Hotel 'London' is located in this area) Music by David Hilowitz - Equilibrium I Cello version
Salty Garden Tavern in Mlashe
Salty Garden Tavern is an awesome place located in Mlashe village, some 60 km from the nation's capital Tbilisi near the Bazaleti lakeWe discovered this place at the end of May 2021 and were surprised to learn that the owner of the tavern - David speaks some Latvian.Mlashe villageOur mission is to support the development of our village Mlashe, protection of its ecosystem. Salty Garden provides working places to local people, therefore they won’t leave the village in search of the other job.Traditional crafts are valuable resources that need to be protected. We have already employed two Mlashe’s families and some more are providing us veggies, fresh milk and meat.All veggies…
June 2021 Dividend Income Report - $128.31
Welcome to the fifthy (#50) dividend income report, covering earnings I've made from dividend-paying stocks in June 2021.The last June we spent in Georgia and at the end of the month traveled back to Latvia, we did many nice road trips, kept going to the gym and visited swimming pool, English kindergarten for our daughter. Life is very good. I was doing quite a lot of awesome drone videography around both countries, discovered new places both in Georgia and Latvia.From the perspective of dividend income - Last June was surprisingly good. In total, we took $128.31 in dividend income last month. Which is quite…
How To export Image from Video File in Adobe Premiere Pro
Lately, I've put my DSLR camera aside and mostly using DJI Mavic AIr 2 + phone for photography and video (mostly video).
The drone is an awesome replacement for a DSLR camera - you can have both video and photography, the only drawback - no audio, that's why I'm using a phone.
anyhow, recently I discovered an awesome place here in Georgia, the restaurant Salty Garden, I did some drone videography, did some mobile videos, made a nice short clip at the end, but I forget to take any photography - so I was left with no other option - export a single frame (s) from Adobe Premiere
And here is how:
From your timeline, with the frame selected press CTRL+SHIFT+E (or locate…
Restaurant Chiko near Aspindza
Restaurant Chiko near Apsindza is one of our best discoveries lately here in Georgia, the restaurant no only offers amazing and spectacular views but it also serves tasty cuisine for a very very affordable prices.First discovered in June 2021, when returning from Vardzia cave town, we made a stop here because of spectacular views and I really wanted to have a good cappuccino. I got both + more.The view that attractedAfter seeing this views when passing by, we decided to take a stop here and have a cup of coffee.The mountains are called - Aspindza mountainsRiver Mtkhari passing byThe views are just worth a million.Hotel under constructionThere was ongoing hotel construction works…
Weekend
Weekend - turned out quite a nice video, despite a bad luck filming. Got a no-fly warning from monks at Zedazeni monastery and heavy rain ruined my plans filming at Birtvisi canyon. From the good - discovered how to use action track on Mavic Air 2.
All the rest - enjoy!
Music by Scott Holmes: Storybook
April 9-11, 2021
How to Flip a Mirror Video in Adobe Premiere Pro
Recently I launched my YouTube channel where I talk about stocks, options trading, and finance in general. Most of the filming and editing I'm doing myself.
As I'm filming with my Samsung Galaxy A51 phone and then importing video in Adobe Premiere Pro for editing I noticed that some of my videos kind of look weird as t they are in a "mirror effect"
Mirror effect video
Look at the T-shirt - the text is in mirror effect.
Now to change it - select the video file and apply Horizontal Flip from the:
Effects - > Video effects - > Transform - > Horizontal Flip
Flip horizontal video in Adobe Premiere Pro
Hope it helps!