Blog Archive: March 2016

Gmap custom markers are cool way to enhance your Drupal site. My blog heavily really on Drupal Views + Gmap + Location module. Most of the articles listed in Restaurant reviews, tourist attractions or hotel reviews are nicely displayed on map and pinned with custom created markers. Recently, when updating Gmap module…

One of my biggest challenges last summer was unstoppable fight with grass (see: Lawn Mowing), not to mention larger scale works on roof replacement. But there was another major issue we faced - overgrown bushes and totally deprived landscape.  When dealing with trees and shrubs it's not only about landscape, but also…

Think roof works are cool? In fact - roofing is one of the hardest works in construction and if you have decided by your own to replace your old roofing - think again!  Anyway - let me show - how once again (See: Replacing Roof - Part 1: Removing old roofing) we removed old wooden shingles from our rural house back…

Yup, another hipster style article about actual prices for consumer goods at local Tbilisi market (Bazroba). It has been a while since I decided to measure how lari/dolar exchange rates influence actual prices, if you, just like me are an expat living in Georgia - you most probably have faced the consequences of weak…

A major and very much needed reconstruction works recently (February 2016) have begun on one of the major Tbilisi streets - David Agmanashebeli avenue. Funded by Tbilisi Development Fund (which is pretty much financed from city budget + private investor capital) promises a completely renovated street by the Autumn…

Chops by the River restaurant and grill is now among my favorite Tskenti restaurants, and allow me to say among Tbilisi restaurants as well. Located in village of Tskneti this restaurant offers single priced grill menus and very pleasant atmosphere. I have heard of this place by some friend before, but the…

It has been about a year, since I noticed IMCE upload is damn slow when uploading images for my photo stories or just any other articles. For a very long time I was convinced that it's some cdn or JavaScript incompatibility (because sometimes, just sometimes IMCE upload worked just fine) It was until today, when it…

Modena is a little charming town in the middle of Italy. Known as the birthplace of Worlds famous Ferrari car. We spent a few days in vicinity of Modena (during our recent trip to Italy), enjoyed a colorful facades of houses, narrow streets, a lot of prosciutto and of course great Italian coffee. Back at the time -…

As testified by the coat of arms on the internal arch-way of the court-yard, this house belonged to the “Dal Cappello” or “Cappelletti”. The building, dating back to the 13th and renovated in the last century, features the balcony where Romeo promised his beloved Juliet eternal love in Shakespeare’s famous tragedy. I…

It was about a month ago - when I successfully installed secure https pages for my blog, I opted for using free certificate provided by Let's Encrypt certificate authority. I first heard Let's Encrypt certificate authority from KeyCDN. It was super easy and fast to create SSL certificates for my Linode powered Nginx…

Civil aviation is slowly but for certain growing in Republic of Georgia. There were in total four airports in Georgia in 2016. Tbilisi International Airport, Kutaisi David the Builder International Airport, Batumi International Airport and Mestia Queen Tamara Airport. As a frequent air traveler I have used two of…

On February 1st, 2016 the National Bank of Georgia issued upgraded Lari banknotes. It was mid February when first upgraded banknote ended up im my hands, I got it at local Procredit ATM.  My first thought was that I have probably by accident pressed EUR account instead of GEL and have taken my money from EUR account…

If there is a reason I will remember Hapi guest house in Jūrmala, then probably its green walls and super unprofessional staff attitude will be among top of them.  Hapi guesthouse in Jūrmala We stayed here for one night back in August 2015 and ... I can not even express my disappointment in words how…

Our roof works were still in the middle, and I noticed that grass have grown again. It was just recently when I trimmed backyard territory, but this time I decided it's time to completely trim all our land (about 0.57 hectares). I asked to our worker, could he handle this task in one day. He agreed, so in the next…

About a year ago I discovered very cool hiking route in Tbilisi, heading from Turtle lake to Tskneti town. The total distance for this route was about 7 km and it offered very spectacular landscape views. I have completed this route several times - last time together with my dad in May, 2015. At the start of…

Cafe Laboratory is located at the top floor at the high end shopping and business center Merani on Rustaveli avenue, Tbilisi.  I was doing some photography in Vere neighborhood, when I received a call and invitation from my beloved one, she insisted we should meet at this place, enjoy some cup of tea/coffee, also she…

It was a very cold, grey and rainy day in Verona, when on the way finding Juliet's Balcony I realized it would be great to find some local restaurant, order some meal and what's important to warm up. I noticed a few signboards with direction arrows located around streets of Verona, when I decided to take the bait and…

It was a damn cold, rainy and very grey day when we arrived to Verona, Italy. I was looking to photograph some nice looking pictures but found it very difficult to make any decent exposure today at all.  Calendar told us it is January 2nd, 2016. We had made a long Italy trip and arrived here from Venice (where…

The Lurji Monastery also known as "Blue Monastery", is a 12th-century Georgian Orthodox church built in the name of Saint Andrew in the Vere neighborhood of Tbilisi, Georgia. The popular historical name lurji ("blue") is derived from its roof, adorned with glazed blue tile. I first discovered this church by accident…

Church of St. John the Theologian (Russian: Церковь Иоанна Богослова) is located in Vere neighborhood, Tbilisi. Tis was already second Russian Orthodox church I have visited in Tbilisi. Read more about Alexander Nevsky Russian Orthodox Church in Tbilisi, and I know for sure there is another Russian church (at least in…