Blog Archive: June 2023
Savanna Guest House in Dedoplis Tskaro
| Hotel reviews | 27 seen
Savanna Guest House is located on Mosulishvili Street 51 in the town of Dedoplis Tskaro.
We booked this guest house for a one-night stay at the start of June 2023, paying about gel 150 for a separate house with two bedrooms, a kitchen, a shower, a living room, and a lovely outdoor space.
We keep returning to Dedoplis Tskaro because of the Eagle Canyon and this time we decided to extend our stay in the area by booking a guest house. and Savanna Guest house was our perfect match.
We had a free parking on the street. Little nice backyard and even a swing which made our 4-year old daughter very happy.
Very comfortable bed. The room even featured a desk, though I prefered to do my laptop work on the porch.
Each room comes with a private bathroom with a shower, while selected rooms are equipped with a kitchen with a fridge.
A continental, Full English/Irish or vegetarian breakfast is served at the property.
The guesthouse has a grill. You can play darts at Savanna Guest House, and the area is popular for cycling.
Despite the hguest hosue offered to serve us breakfast/dinner, we opted for little kitchen and cooded…
Discovering Jaffa: A Memorable Day Trip from Tel Aviv
| Travel guides | 19 seen
Jaffa is an ancient port city near Tel Aviv in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the biblical stories of Jonah, Solomon, and Saint Peter as well as the mythological story of Andromeda and Perseus, and later for its oranges.
Today, Jaffa is one of Israel's mixed cities, with approximately 37% of the city being Arab.
We had a chance to visit Jaffa and meet with our Latvian friend there at the start of 2023 during our latest trip to Israel.
Jaffa is a fascinating destination for a day trip from Tel Aviv. The city is steeped in history, and its winding alleys, colorful markets, and beautiful architecture offer a unique glimpse into the past.
Getting to Jaffa from Tel Aviv is easy, with several transportation options available. One can take a bus, a train or even walk to Jaffa, which is about a 30-minute walk from the center of Tel Aviv. Alternatively, visitors can rent a bike or an electric scooter and make their way to Jaffa along the picturesque Tel Aviv-Jaffa promenade.
We come here by a taxi from Tel Aviv, paid about 25 New Shekels, and was taken there by a Georgian driver - Izrail.
…Rafting & Birthday
| Living in Georgia | 20 seen
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Hilton Garden Inn Tbilisi Restaurant on Chavchavadze
| Restaurant reviews | 95 seen
Hilton Garden Inn Tbilisi Restaurant on Chavchavadze Street (Vake district) is one of my favorite lunch places in the city - we keep heading to this place for dinner, as our company office is located just around the corner.
Also, the business quick & healthy lunch here is among the lowest priced in the city - you can get healthy and delicious food just for GEL 25 (prices as of 2023).
Guests can choose from soups, salads, and starters + get fresh homemade lemonade for free. The menu is updated once in a while.
Besides delicious food, I love to come here to read local English newspapers and journals, like Georgia Today, Finnachnel, and others.
If you are not into the lunch menu, you are free to choose from the main menu.
One of the best finds in Tbilisi. Highly recommended!
The Carmel Market in Tel Aviv, Israel
| Shopping Venues | 52 seen
The Carmel Market (also, the Shuk Hacarmel) is the largest market, or shuk, in Tel Aviv, Israel.
It’s a vibrant marketplace where traders sell everything from clothing to spices and fruit to electronics.
Visiting the Carmel Market is a fascinating thing to do in Tel Aviv. The hustle and bustle, vibrant noises, and its reputation as the largest shuk in Tel Aviv all combine to make the Carmel Market a favorite.
I first visited this market at the start of 2023, during our New Year's trip to Israel.
Everyone from first-time tourists visiting the city to locals who come here to get the freshest fruit and vegetables till the alleyways.
The Carmel Market first opened in 1920, some eleven years after the establishment of the city. It is an integral part of the history of Tel Aviv. Although much of the trade has now shifted to modern malls and the internet, the market is still immensely popular. Its narrow street is busy whenever you visit, particularly before Shabbat on Thursdays and Fridays, as residents buy supplies for their family meals. Recent years have seen a growing number of boutique stalls and food places opening alongside the…
Eagle Canyon and Dedoplis Tskaro (2023)
| Living in Georgia | 25 seen
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How to Install Drupal 10 with Nginx, PHP-FPM 8.1, MySQL, phpMyAdmin on Ubuntu 23.04 - Linode Guide
| Servers | 1,622 seen
In this article, you will learn how to set up a webserver for serving Drupal websites running with Nginx, PHP-FPM 8.1, MySQL, and phpMyAdmin on Ubuntu 23.04
For the following tutorial, I used very much the information from my previous guide with 22.04, but I decided to rewrite it for Ubuntu 23.04 version as it is shipped with php8.1 version and will work with Drupal 10 (most probably with previous versions too)
If you need any assistance configuring servers or working with Drupal, consider hiring me at the Terramatris website
Prerequisites
- Ubuntu 23.04
- Root privileges.
You can get a cheap VPS starting at just $5/mo from Linode. That's what I did - bought a new nanode from Linode
Literally, in a couple of seconds, the new server was up and running - that's what I love about sticking with Linode for years
Follow the basic security guide, see: Securing Your Server
I will use Terminal from MAC to access over SSH (Windows users could use Putty)
Secure your serverCreate the user, replacing …
Discovering Sri Lanka: A Journey near Indian Ocean from Colombo to Galle
| Travel guides | 30 seen
At the start of 2022, we traveled to Sri Lanka for about a two-week-long life-changing journey.
In this article, I'm sharing my travel notes with listing places of interest we visited. Also, make sure to watch our short video from this trip: Sri Lanka, Colombo, Bentota and Galle
The Tbilisi-Doha flight was good, with plenty of legroom. The plane seemed a bit outdated, a Boeing A230. But for a less than 3-hour flight, it was very decent.
The biggest surprise came at the Doha Airport, where we had reserved a business lounge with an option to stay at the so-called cubicles. It turned out they were on a first-served basis. I thought, "Alright, we got scammed."
Nevertheless, after some 40 minutes, we got our cubicle. It was nothing fancy, but better than nothing. We managed to get some sleep at our cubicle, and soon we were boarding the next plane departing for Colombo, Sri Lanka.
On the plane, I met a nice Sri Lankan software developer. We talked a bit, and he told me about Asian careers in Qatar. It turned out he hadn't been home for two years because of the pandemic.
Before booking the plane, we reserved Hilton Apartments in…
Mayer House Hotel in Tel Aviv
| Hotel reviews | 20 seen
Mayer House Hotel in Tel Aviv is located on Dizengoff Street 98. It featured an outdoor swimming pool, a terrace, a restaurant, and a bar.
We booked this hotel for a 2-night stay at the start of 2023, before returning back to Tbilisi. We paid about USD 430 for a 2-night stay here.
Thsi small hotel has an excellent location, from here we were able to explore the neighbourhood, visit the Tel Aviv beach and more.
The property is close to several well-known attractions, 400 m from Dizengoff Center, 800 m from Meir Park and 1.3 km from Shenkin Street. The property is 500 m from the city centre and less than 1 km from Frishman Beach.
The room was really tiny, thus it had enough space to fit an extra bed for ur 4 year old daughter.
Looks rather small, and we didnt actually try it this time. But I like the ideas of rooftoip pools. Remind me one we visited in Colombo, Sri Lanka, see: Hotel Marino Beach Colombo
The hotel will provide guests with air-conditioned rooms offering a desk, a coffee machine, a fridge, a safety deposit box, a flat-screen TV and a private bathroom with a shower. Free WiFi is accessible to all…
Istanbul With Kids
| Travel guides | 33 seen
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The Nachlaot Pearl/ King Salomon apartment in Jerusalem (Be'er Sheva Street)
| Hotel reviews | 28 seen
The Nachlaot Pearl / King Salomon room is an apartment we booked via Airbnb for a two-day stay in Jerusalem on New Year's Eve of 2023.
The price we paid seemed a bit high, paying about $350 for a small studio room, but as we didnt know what to expect from Jerusalem rental market and were not into extensive reserach, we agreed to book this place. And the stay was actually really excellent.
We agreed to book over AirBnB insetad of booking.com because it seemed that all decent hotels in Jerusalem are overpriced as we were booking already late (around mid-November).
Anyhow, the house is located in the center of Jerusalem in the great, quiet, and historical neighborhood of Nachlaot on Be'er Sheva street), on a pedestrian street next to a beautiful public garden.
Location is unbeatable: close to all public transportation (light rail, buses, Itshak Navon train station), less than five minutes walking distance to the great Mahane Yehuda Market, Sacher Park, Jaffa, and Ben Yehuda Street, and many typical restaurants.
It was a small studio room, with one bed and extra sofa for our kiddo, a flat screen TV, mini…
Beruwalage Gems & Jewelry Moonstone Mine in Sri Lanka
| Tourism objects | 269 seen
During our latest trip to Sri Lanka at the start of 2022, we visited this small and interesting Moonstone Mine - Beruwalage Gems & Jewelry.
We were taken here by our driver / guide we ordered back in the hotel for the day trip to Galle.
Moonstone is a fascinating gemstone that is found abundantly in Sri Lanka. This gemstone has been revered for centuries for its unique beauty, metaphysical properties, and historical significance. Sri Lanka is one of the world's top producers of moonstones, and the country has a rich tradition of mining, cutting, and polishing these gems to the highest standards.
We were offered a short excursion at the moonstone mine, before we were taken to to shop and had a cnahce to buy some moosntone jewelry
The geological conditions in Sri Lanka are ideal for the formation of moonstones. The island is situated in the Indian Ocean, and it has a tropical climate that is characterized by heavy rainfall and high humidity. These conditions promote the growth of feldspar crystals in the soil, which are the primary components of moonstone. The mineral-rich soil in Sri Lanka also contains traces of other…
Paul French Restaurant on Paliashvili street (near Vake Park in Tbilisi)
| Restaurant reviews | 58 seen
There is a lovely French restaurant and bakery located on Paliashvili Street near Vake Park in Tbilisi. We keep heading here for delicious French-style desserts and one of my favorite vegetable soups.
We come here occasionally, after visiting Vake Park or during the lunch break at the office nearby.
There are several Paul Restaurants located across the city, check out my previous review about Paul restaurant on Abashidze Street
Latelty we hae started ordering more tea's in the pot. Kiddo loves them. they have berry teas available. Quite a rare in Tbilisi.
Being vegeterian for some time already I keep looking for good cuisine. Vegetable soup is something i like, and the one at Pauls restaurants is tasty.
There is aleays something interesting at the Paul's restaurants. Avovado / salmon toat with cream cheese on rye bread. Just delicious and healthy.
Paul is one of the finest dining places in Tbilisi. Highly recommended!
Sighnaghi and Mtskheta trip
| Living in Georgia | 10 seen
This time around, the stage was set between swimming pools, intense jiu-jitsu sessions, and explorations of two iconic Georgian towns - Sighnaghi and Mtskheta.
The weekend kicked off with a perfect balance of fitness and fun. Picture this - a refreshing plunge into inviting swimming pools, followed by intense jiu-jitsu sessions. The rhythmic flow of water and the discipline of martial arts created a unique synergy, leaving me energized and ready for the adventures that lay ahead.
Our journey led us to the charming town of Sighnaghi, known as the "City of Love." Strolling through its cobbled streets, we soaked in the romantic ambiance and breathtaking views of the Alazani Valley. The cultural richness of Mtskheta, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, added a historical touch to our exploration. The blend of old-world charm and vibrant local life made these towns a true testament to Georgia's diverse heritage.
No adventure is complete without savoring the local cuisine, and this weekend was no exception. The soundtrack to our culinary journey was provided by Chito Grito, creating the perfect ambiance for our gastronomic explorations. A visit to the Alazani…
Top 11 things to do in Batumi with Kids
| Travel guides | 76 seen
Our family trip began in Tbilisi, where we picked up our child from QSI international school in Zurgovani village. From there, we traveled to Natakhtari Airport, where we took a one-hour flight on Vanilla Sky to Batumi.
Upon arrival at Batumi International Airport, we quickly booked a Bolt taxi through the app, and in just 15 minutes, we arrived at our hotel, the charming and affordable Hotel O. Galogre in the Old Town. Compared to the five-star hotels we've stayed in before, Hotel O. Galogre was a steal at one-third the price. The hotel offered a complimentary breakfast and a spacious family suite with two balconies that provided stunning views of the lively street and Piaza Square. The location was perfect, as it was close to many attractions.
On our first evening, we explored the neighborhood and discovered the rich Ottoman Empire history, tried the delicious local Turkish cuisine, and visited the nearby Batumi port.
The next day, we visited the Batumi Metrocity mall to find a kids' entertainment center and maybe do some shopping. The kids' entertainment center was great, and we spent about GEL 40, having a lot of fun. However, we found that the…