Piece of Life
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 Soviet…
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…
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 early…
Batumi - city with inspiring Architecture
I love visiting Batumi once or twice per year, preferably in Spring / Summer season. Back in 2012, we even lived in Batumi for some 6 months. We were renting a small soviet time apartment in the city center (next to Radisson Batumi) for about $400/mo and enjoyed walking around the city wandering with many new and exciting buildings. What I always love about Batumi - is the never-ending and booming real estate with many great architectural…
Postcards from Pasanauri
Pasanauri is a small town in Georgia, situated in the Dusheti district, Mtskheta-Mtianeti region. We have been traveling this small town through zillions of times, mostly when heading to Gudauri or Kazbegi, but never had we made a stop here and explored more. It was in the mid-February 2022, we headed to Gudauri, but as the road was blocked and not willing to wait more we turned our car around and headed back to Tbilisi, but decided to make a…
Tskaltubo - Former Soviet Spa Resort
Tskaltubo is a spa resort town in west-central Georgia. The resort was especially popular in the Soviet era, attracting around 125,000 visitors a year. Bathhouse 9 features a frieze of Stalin, and visitors can see the private pool where he bathed on his visits. Just like Chiatura cable car town, Tskaltubo is very interesting to visit and see the brutalist and futuristic Soviet architecture. In today's Piece of Life series - Tskalubo - former…
Autumn in Laidi
Laidi is a village in Laidi parish, Kuldīga municipality, Latvia. The village is located some 28 km from the county center of Kuldiga and 167 km from Riga. One of the most interesting objects to see: Laidi manor - Built in the early 19th century by the local German nobility, it has housed the Laidi primary school since 1921. In today's Piece of Life series - Autumn in Laidi Beautiful scenary with colourful trees
A quick daytrip to Uplistsikhe Cave Town in Georgia
At the start of April 2021, after a 6-month absence, we finally returned back to Georgia. One of the things we wanted to do - as many quick day trips as possible. One of the first - day trip to Uplistsikhe Cave Town Uplistsikhe is an ancient rock-hewn town in eastern Georgia, located some 10 kilometers east of the town of Gori, Shida Kartli. Uplistsikhe cave town in Georgia As I was equipped with DJI Mavic air 2 drone, I decided not to…
Ice Fishing on Lielupe River
It has been already the second winter we are spending in Jūrmala, and there is one cool thing we have noticed while driving to Riga via Lielupe bridge (next to Rimi) - Ice Fishing on the Lielupe River Ice fishing is the practice of catching fish with lines and fish hooks or spears through an opening in the ice on a frozen body of water. Ice fishers may fish in the open or in heated enclosures, some with bunks and amenities. In today's Piece of…
Dubulti Beach Winter 2021
At the end of January 2021, we temporarily relocated back to Dubulti (Jūrmala). We are looking to stay here for the next two months and hopefully get back to Tbilisi by April 2021 In today's Piece of Life series - Dubulti beach in Winter Make sure to check out our previous article back from 2018 - Winter near The Baltic Sea (Dubulti beach, Jūrmala) Dubulti beach in Winter After a long time, I took again my old Canon DSLR and made a few…