Latvia

Church hill Daugavpils

Baznīckalns or Church hill in Daugavpils is said to be one of the main tourist attractions in the city. This was one of the rare times I visited Daugavpils and I must admit I didn't had any clue what should we see here and just Google for the top attractions and Church hill or Baznickalns was atop of the list.

Every traveler who wants to be acquainted with Daugavpils should definitely visit Church Hill which has gathered the churches of four…

Evening on the Vilgāle Lake

It was already past 8 PM, I was just finished tiling the bathroom at our Vilgāle apartment when my fiancee and kiddo arrived to pick me up. My best part gave me the drone and said - it's a beautiful evening to fly a drone.

I looked around and agreed. The Vilgāle lake was covered in mist, the Sun was setting. Beautiful. 

Look at the beautiful rooftop on the bottom left.

Across the lake there is Vilgale village located where we own a…

Vilgāle Apartment

Demolishing tiles, Hydroisolation for bathroom

A few weeks ago I did the tile job in the kitchen and hallway for our Vilgāle apartment. In the end, I was not happy with the result, not happy with the tile job (which could be done better), and not satisfied with the visual looks. 

At one point I decided to list this apartment for sale as it is, with asking price EUR 25,000. As I didn't get any request during more than 7 days, I decided I still want to sell this flat but I will make it…

Latvia

Guesthouse Pirts Baudas

Guesthouse Pirts Baudas is located in Ilzenes parish, Aluksnes county. The property is 24.1 km from Alūksne, and guests benefit from complimentary WiFi and private parking available on site.

We booked this place during our day trip to Valka and the area. I thought this place will be much closer to Valka, but it turned out about a 2-hour drive with a distance of some 130km. Though the drive was spectacular with stops at places like Gaujiena,…

Latvia

Velēna church

The Velēna Lutheran Church is at the crossing of the Smiltene-Gulbene-Lizums roads. I would call this as one of the most beautiful churches in Latvia.

It's said the first built church here was a wooden church with a turf roof. This is where the place got its name from – Velēna (Torf). Visitors can still enjoy one of the most beautiful organs in Latvia, built in 1898 in W. Sauer Company, they are considered as one of the best preserved organs in…

Latvia

One Day in Micini

Micini has a very special place in my heart - I spent a brief time, about two years here, back in the 90-ties, living with my grandmother. Back in the days - there was some life here - a farm with more than 100 cows, few families, and even a public bus twice a week connecting to Valka.

My relatives from gradmother's side have been living here for a few centuries (at least) - and the scenery was much different here before WW2, when here lived my…

Latvia

Cafe Papes Vēji

Cafe Papes Vēji is a summer cafe located next to the Pape channel in Western Latvia near the Pape Lighthouse.

This place serves traditional Latvian cuisine, and cold beer and some can buy smoked fish (apparently in the season)

I have been fond of this area for a few years already and first discovered this cafe about a year ago, now in Summer 2022 we made a stop here, had a hearty dinner, and bought some smoked fish. Awesome

Seems there is…

Vilgāle Apartment

Listing Vilgāle apartment for sale

After some thinking, I decided to list for sale our Vilgāle apartment. 

I bought this apartment about two years ago in an online auction, paying about EUR 4,000. During the past two years, we have done some serious renovation with a total investment being closer to EUR 18,000. 

Today I bought my first flat on an online auction site

I decided to list it for EUR 25,000 on local ss.lv website, here is the advert:


The owner is selling…

Latvia

Summer Cafe Kazbārs in Kazdanga

 

Summer café-bar “Kazbārs” is located next to the watermill in the heart of the scenic park of Kazdanga.

This place serves freshly ground coffee, Italian dessert affogato, refreshing soft ice cream (including vegan options), cold live beer, and vegan soups. 

Place is run by energetic couple from Riga, if you will be happy enough you could catch up with host Ernests and enjoy the conversation about the running restaurant, flying…

Personal

How to Sell a Car in Riga / Latvia

We bought a used Mercedes Benz ML 400 Diesel car in Riga a few months ago. We hoped the car would suit us for the years to come, but in the end, the vehicle was faulty even before we bought it. So the car died (or almost died) - with the problem being - a timing belt, which needed to be replaced.

I asked to a few handymen how much it could cost, and understood that I'm not willing to take the extra burden on this already old car, so we decided…

Latvia

Cafe Pāvilostas Enkurs

Cafe Pāvilostas Enkurs is located on Dzinstaru street 69 in Latvian Summer Capital Pavilosta.

they serve fish and chips, pizza, and traditional Latvian cold soup here. 

One of the best fish and chips I've tried in Latvia

Seems like a popular place in Pāvilosta, many tourists

Give it a try once in Pavilosta

Georgia

Friends Hub village Guest house review in Vazisubani

Friends Hub village guesthouse is located in Vazisubani, near Gurjaani in the region of Kakheti, Georgia, some 2-hour drive from Tbilisi.

Oskars, the host, invited me to visit his new place at the start of May 2022. After a few stops at McDonald's, Sighanghi, and Bodbe monastery we finally reached Vazisubani, where we were greeted with traditional Georgian supra and a lot of chacha.

Here I made a short video from our trip:…

Vilgāle Apartment

How To Tile Kitchen / hallway floor

The time had finally come and I was ready to tile the kitchen and hallway floors at our Vilgale apartment.

A year ago I would say  - no way I'm going to do it myself, but here you go, I did it all on my own, with some research on Youtube and a lot of encouragement from friends who have done it.

As it is in our Tbilisi apartment - I decided to go with large 60cmx60cm tiles, which I bought at the local DEPO store (in Liepaja) In total I…

Summer Cottage - Jēči

New Investment Project - Summer House with Garden in Latvia

Welcome to another interesting project in the home remodeling series. - summer house with a garden in SouthWest Latvia. It turns out this is already the third, ongoing home remodeling project featured on the blog. Exciting.

This is the project my fiancee actually bought, without first seeing it - the price seemed very good, not to take this property. I was a bit skeptical at the start, as we still have another ongoing renovation project with…

Living in Georgia

Pearl of Tbilisi - Gardenia Shevardnadze Flower Garden

Gardenia Shevardnadze is a lovely flower garden in Tbilisi, where you can buy seedlings for your yard, balcony, terrace, home, or office. 

The place is popular among photographers, tourists, gardeners, and enjoyers of life.

After visiting this place so many times, while living in Georgia, I wouldn't hesitate to call this place a Pearl of Tbilisi and include it among the top 10 must-visit places in the Georgian capital. 

It was an…

Living in Georgia

Hiking Likani, Sunday school Rustavi

Embedded thumbnail for Hiking Likani, Sunday school Rustavi

Another awesome weekend in Georgia 🇬🇪- with some elements of offroad riding, hiking, camping, horseback riding near Likani station, and a few skulls at Green monastery Saturday.

Back to Rustavi scout center for a lovely Sunday with fellow Latvians. 

Our last weekend trip with VW Touareg. 

Living in Georgia

Eagle canyon in Georgia

Embedded thumbnail for Eagle canyon in Georgia

The bear went over the mountain .. or last weekend we went hiking at the Eagle Canyon near Dedoplistskaro, Shopping at the Dezerteer market in Tbilisi, and exercising at Lisi Lake... another fabulous weekend has been put on our tapes and post-processed.

Enjoy the video and thumbs up!

Living in Georgia

Sighnaghi & Vazisubani trip

Embedded thumbnail for Sighnaghi & Vazisubani trip

At the start of May, Oskars invited us to visit his new hut in Kakheti.

After a few stops at McDonald's, Sighanghi, and Bodbe monastery we finally reached Vazisubani, where we were greeted with traditional Georgian supra and a lot of chacha.

Now, there is one more cool place where they speak Latvian to visit in Georgia. Enjoy the video and Thumbs up!

Filmed with DJI Mavic Air 2 and Samsung Galaxy phone, Georgia May 13-14, 2022

Living in Georgia

Notes from Tbilisi: Abandoned Military sites in Latvia / Estonia; Sold VW Touareg car; #2 Bitcoin newsletter

Good afternoon from sunny and hot Tbilisi. The weather was scorching today, reaching +32 Celsius.

The morning started with an interesting message to the blog's contact form - an Estonian person was asking some questions about military sites in Latvia, we exchanged a few e-mails and talked both about Latvian and Estonian abandoned military sites.



Information about former Latvian radar base Skrunda-1

Hello, Reinis

I read your post about…

Georgia

International Scout Centre Rustavi

The industrial town of Rustavi, approximately 25 km southeast of the Georgian capital Tbilisi, offers a modern international scouting center.

The youth center offers space for a variety of indoor and outdoor activities. The facility is available for children and young people from Rustavi and offers comfortable and reasonably priced accommodation, seminar, and conference facilities for regional and international youth groups, schools,…

Subscription

For $10/month, receive weekly trade ideas and portfolio adjustments directly to your inbox.

I share ongoing portfolio progress with a focus on generating income through covered calls on quality stocks. Each update includes positioning changes, trade rationale, and forward-looking adjustments based on current market conditions.