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Lindt Factory Shop Induno Oluno
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…
Villa Porro Pirelli, Induno Oluno, Italy
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…
Resort Collina d'Oro - Hotel & Spa in Agra, Switzerland
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 …
Radisson Collection Hotel, Tsinandali Estate Georgia
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…
Amazon Fire Tablet 7 Review
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…
Odo's House in Tsinandali
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…
Postcards from Lugano
We traveled to Lugano in Switzerland at the end of 2019. Visit to Lugano officially adds marks 18th country on my travel map I've visited (since 2013) We arrived here from Italy's Lecco town using our rental car (Sicily car), a quick border check (without a real inspection) and we were inside Switzerland. Lake Lugano Lugano is a town and a municipality in southern Switzerland in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino bordering Italy. It…
Aparthotel Autosole Riga
Located opposite a park in the historical centre of Riga on Hospitāļu street. Aparthotel Autosole offers to its guests 10 comfortable apartments and studios. We have been staying at this hotel several times, with the first stay being back in 2017 while the latest stay was at the end of 2019. In total, we paid USD 86 for a 2-night stay. That's one of the cheapest stays you can find in Riga. There is one more Autosole Economy motel located in…
Ilia Lake
Ilia Lake is located near the town of Kvareli in the region of Kakheti, Georgia. First discovered back in 2014, while staying at Royal Batoni hotel next to the lake. Since then I've headed here several times. It was at the start of 2020 when I learned that this lake actually is manmade. Ilias lake was formed in a valley of the Duruji Rivier a few years ago, financed from the then Presidential fund (Mikheil Saakashvili) Ilia’s Lake was named…
Tremezzina near Como Lake, Italy
Tremezzina is located on the western banks of Lake Como, right in front of Bellagio, and is the result of a recent merger of the comunes of Lenno, Mezzegra, Ossuccio, and Tremezzo. We discovered this picturesque Italian town during our about a week-long trip in Italy during the mid-November 2019. According to Lake Como Travel website a scene from Star Wars were shot here: Visiting Tremezzina means having the chance to enjoy a place that is…
Semarah Lielupe Hotel & SPA
Lielupe Hotel SPA & Conferences by Semarah is located in a calm area of Jurmala, surrounded by forest and 400 m from the Baltic Sea. It features a spacious kids club with different games and toys. We booked this hotel in mid-December 2019, for a two-night stay and paid in total $257 for two separate rooms (as my mom was traveling with us) Elegant rooms at Lielupe Hotel SPA & Conferences feature a safety deposit box and a balcony.…
Guest House 'Rivendell' in Borjomi
Rivendell, Eco-friendly hotel with wooden rooms and organic garden, is located in Borjomi. After discovering that we spend more and more time at luxury hotels across Georgia, we decided to return to the roots and instead of fancy 5-star hotels to choose a home away felling by choosing stay at guest houses/ family-run hotels. At guest house Rivendell we stayed for one night at the end of June 2019 for that we paid just $40. Free parking and…
Fabrika Tbilisi
Fabrika Tbilisi is a stylish hipster place located on Egnate Ninoshvili street 8 in a renovated Soviet Era factory building, Fabrika is the space for rebellious minds to create and share. Once a Soviet sewing factory has been revived and transformed into a multi-functional urban space bringing together enthusiastic individuals ready to stretch their minds with new exhilarating experiences. First discovered back in 2016, this place has been…
Keti's Bistro
Keti's Bistro is another stylish Tbilisi restaurant located on Tamar Chovelidze street 3 (opposite to hotel Stamba) My better part took me here just before the New Year 2020, and I found this place quite a chill. We agreed to order here some steaks before going to the Christmas market opposite the Radisson hotel. As we were out with our almost 18-month baby girl, we wanted to make sure we will go to a place with a lot of space and few people…
Hotel Lenno (Italy)
4-star hotel Lenno is set in an elegant building just off the main road, and right on the shore of Lake Como, in the fantastic Gulf of Venus. There is free Wi-Fi. We booked this hotel in mid-November 2019, during our week-long trip to Italy/Switzerland and paid about $110 per night. We arrived here from the lovely town of Lecco We were lucky and managed to get a baby crib for our 16-month old daughter: Hotel Room at Lenno hotel The room…
Georgian Museum of Fine Arts
Georgian Museum of Fine arts is located on Rustaveli avenue just opposite to Tbilisi parliament building. The museum has been opened for public just recently at the end of 2018. It is interesting to note that currently, it is the only building in Georgia built purposely to house art exhibitions. The museum houses over 3500 artworks, created by over 80 artists during the last 70 years. The museum exhibits private art collection of the family of…
Lecco town in Italy
Lecco is a small city in northern Italy, some 50 kilometers (31 mi) north of Milan. The city lies at the end of the south-eastern branch of Lake Como. The Bergamo Alps rise to the north and east, cut through by the Valsassina of which Lecco marks the southern end. We visited the town of Lecco for a couple of hours in mid-November 2019, during a week trip to Italy/Switzerland. Really stunning. Como lake near Lecco The lake narrows to form…
Tori 'Cafe-Restaurant' near Akhaldaba
Tori is a small roadside cafeteria located near the town of Akhaldaba. We have made a stop and dinned here at the end of June when traveling to Borjomi Cafe Tori Restaurant Well, what can I say about this place? A typical roadside cafeteria, you can get here some coffee and decent food. Prices seemed kind of expensive, maybe because the cafe is located on a pretty touristic route close to Borjomi. Road to Borjomi There is free parking…
Grand Hotel Del Parco - Bergamo Airport
The Grand Hotel is a modern, peaceful hotel set in parkland just 6 km from Bergamo. It offers air-conditioned rooms and suites, a fitness centre and free parking. A scheduled shuttle service to/from Bergamo Train Station and Orio Al Serio Airport is available on request. We booked this hotel in early November 2019, for a night after landed at Bergamo airport. Nothing fancy, but a decent 4-star hotel for budget money near Bergamo. We paid about…
Mushtaidi Park in Tbilisi
Mushtaidi park and garden in Tbilisi is great for activities with kids - it features a Ferris Wheel, choo-choo train, carousels and more. The entrance in the park is free, but there is a fee for carrousels. Park is well maintained and quite popular among locals. I first discovered this park a couple of years ago while cycling around Dinamo arena. Sculptures at Mushtaidi park The Mushtaidi is one of the oldest parks in Tbilisi and was…
Azcot Hotel in Baku
Set in a 19th century building on Fountain Square, Azcot Hotel is located in the heart of Baku and offers air-conditioned rooms with a flat-screen satellite TV. It features a 24-hour front desk and free parking on site. We booked Azcot Hotel for a one night stay (actually paid for two nights) in early August 2019, and paid for our stay about USD 120. We booked two nights because we had a plane back to Tbilisi in seconds night evening, not…
Georgian Parliament Building in Tbilisi
The Parliament of Georgia Building is located in Tbilisi on Rustaveli Avenue, close to the foothills of Mount Mtatsminda. The building complex was constructed as the House of Government of Georgian SSR on the site of the demolished 19th-century Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. For those of you interested in Soviet Architecture, here you go another cool object of interest in Tbilisi. See: Brutal Tours - Explore Soviet Georgian Architecture in…
Tavada Restaurant in Baku
Tavada restaurant is another fine example fo great Azerbaijani cuisine and service. Located on Mardanov Brothers street this place serves fine Azerbaijani and European cuisine. Discovered in early August 2019, during a weekend trip to Baku. Kid friendly - got a baby chair for our 13-month old daughter + asked to make mashed potatoes for her Mashed potatoes especially for babies Lovely Dolma with a yogurt sauce If there is a reason to…
Nergiz Restaurant in Baku
Nergiz restaurant is located on Fountain Square in Baku, this places serves typical Azerbaijani cuisine and let me name it as of the best Baku restaurants. Discovered in early August, during my birthday trip to Baku. Just like another excellent Baku restaurant Dolma, Nergiz also is located in a basement. Dolma at Nergiz restaurant If there is a reason to visit Azerbaijan, then it's because of Dolma. The best Dolma I've tried so far. And…