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Fun day in Liepāja, Ječi and Verbelnieki
The day started with visiting the cinema Cinamon in Liepaja, a cool movie about Minions in Latvian. After the movie went to the Fontaine place to order some pizza and then headed to Jeci to visit our new property and trim the grass, I already bought an electric lawnmower a few weeks ago in Riga. Now was a good time to excel. After a few hours of lawn moving we went for dinner and sunset photography to Verbelnieki - a really awesome camping…
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
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: Sighnaghi &…
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…
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…
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,…
Dashbashi Canyon & Waterfall with 240 meter long Glass Bridge
If there is a reason to visit Dashbasi canyons near the Tsalka in Georgia - the canyons themselves, cascading waterfall and the glass bridge hanging over the gorge should raise some interest. Dashbashi Canyon Natural Monument is part of Khrami (known as Ktsia at it source) gorge near Dashbashi village, 3 km from the town of Tsalka I first heard about this place a couple of years ago from an ex-pat friend, back then the place was pretty much…
Batumi Central Park / 6th May park
Batumi Central park is really cool and relaxing attraction with a huge lake in the middle located in front of the Hilton Hotel. It's said that the park/garden is more than 130 years old and was constructed together with Batumi boulevard back in 1881. Despite I've visited Batumi zillions of times, I even have lived there some 10 years ago, this was the first time me visiting this park. Indeed very nice, with a little nice mini-zoo inside 6 May…
Best Western Premier Batumi Hotel
Best Western Premier Batumi hotel is one of our best finds in Batumi, the price corresponds to the service. Budget-friendly 4-star hotel with a swimming pool. I booked this hotel directly by calling to the reception instead booking online and got a very nice offer - 800 GEL for 4 nights with breakfast included and additional head for our 3-year old kiddo. I think we saved at least 500-600 GEL. Quite nice. If you prefer online booking, here is…
Goldigen Room Artisan Pizza In Kuldiga
Welcome to another Kuldīga Restaurant review - today I will write about a lovely pizza place located just in heart of Kuldīga town - Goldingen Room Artisan Pizza. The family restaurant Goldingen room, located in the heart of the old town of Kuldiga – Town Hall Square, is a story about the taste and mood of Italy. The restaurant offers to discover flavors of Mediterranean cuisine, complete with topping-up local produce and matching wines from…
Installing laminate flooring, painting walls
During the weekend I did a lot at our Vilgāle apartment, fixed some electric plugs, painted walls, and installed the floor, but first things first - it was agreed to save huge on the floor by choosing laminate instead of parquet. We paid less than EUR 9/m2 for laminate and saved on installation as I did it myself. Parquet would cost about EUR 40-50/m2. I chose DEPO store in Riga to buy the floor and tools In total paid EUR 378 for about 32m2…
Polishing, Painting and some cable works
I spent another day at our Vilgāle apt, today's plan was to polish the ceiling and wall (I yesterday plastered) and add the base layer of paint for the living room and hallway. In the morning we went to Majai un darzam store in Kuldīga, where I bought a bucket of paint, some plugs, and switches, special screws for drywall, so I can properly install the lamp from IKEA, and the day started. Yesterday I decided to apply more plaster on kitchen…
Wall Plastering, Ceiling Paint, Some Electricity works
It has been a while since the latest update from the Vilgale apartment, in fact, it has been 3 months since I last visited it. Now, having a Spring break from QSI school in Tbilisi, we decided to visit Latvia for some 2 weeks and do some things - like continuing with the renovation works at the Vilgāle apt. I bought some materials back in Riga at the Depo store and was the very happy and enthusiastic starting day today at Vilgāle. This is where…
Svan Tower in Tbilisi (Turtle Lake)
Svan Tower near Turtle lake is a well seen, but less visited tourist attraction in Tbilisi. Best reached while hiking near Turtle lake. Hiking Trails in Tbilisi - Turtle Lake (Kus Tba) - Tskneti Hiking trails near Turtle lake, Tbilisi in Winter We visited the Svan Tower again in Tbilisi at the end of February 2022 and had a lovely picnic in the footsteps of the tower. See this short video I made: Hiking trip near Turtle Lake The hiking route…
Buying a car in Riga
A few years ago I wrote an article on how to buy a used car in Georgia, now it is time to write about our experience buying a used car in Riga Latvia. For the past couple of years, we were using mostly car rentals and enjoyed it a lot - I mean no headaches about servicing the car, someone brings your car to the airport, you drop it at the airport. Quite nice, also quite expensive. It was agreed we could buy some used car and use it for some two…
Gudaleti Monastery Complex
Gudaleti monastery complex is located in the village of Gudaleti on an elevated spot, on the edge of a high gorge on the river Gudaleura. The church is located about 1 hour and 20 minutes drive from Tbilisi. The complex includes the Church of the Assumption and a tower fortress. We discovered this church by chance while driving through the village of Gudaleti to visit a friend who has bought a house in the same village. Seems the church is…
Bristol Hotel and Spa Bakuriani
Bristol Hotel and Spa Bakuriani is offering accommodations in Bakuriani. The property provides ski-to-door access and ski storage space, as well as a restaurant and a bar. The hotel features an indoor pool, sauna, karaoke and a 24-hour front desk. We booked Bristol Hotel and Spa Bakuriani hotel at the end of January 2022, for a two night stay, paying about $250 (breakfast included) When visiting such hotels it's always about personal, not…
Spice and Herbal Garden No7 near Bentota, Sri Lanka
Spice and Herbal garden No7 is located next to the Galle - Hambantota - Wellawaya Hwy near Bentota in Sri Lanka. We visited this place during a day trip from our hotel (Taj Resort & Spa) to Madu Ganga river when returning back to our hotel. We didn't have any special plans to visit this place, but our driver (s) just took us there. Once here I didn't understand how this works and thought - oh, nice we are enjoying a nice excursion at the…
Kosgoda Turtle Hatchery Sri Lanka
Kosgoda Turtle Care program aims to protect sea turtle eggs and increase hatching rates. I had a chance to visit Kosgoda Turtle Hatchery in Sri Lanka at the start of January 2022, during a day trip from our hotel at Bentota. After returning from the Madu Ganga riverboat safari our guides took us to the Turtle hatchery. Arriving on the site a guide come made a littlec excusrion on the site, telling the story how turtles are rescued, hatched and…
Bentota Beach in Sri Lanka
Bentota is a small coastal resort town, about a 2-hour drive away from Colombo, Sri Lanka. We visited Bentota and Bentota beaches at the start of January 2022, while staying at the 5-star resort hotel Taj Bentota and Spa It is said that Bentota has been the water sport capital of Sri Lanka with the hoteliers in the area actively promoting water sports from adrenaline filled speed boat and jet ski riding, wind surfing, boogie boarding, water…
Bandaranaike International Airport / Colombo, Sri Lanka
Bandaranaike International Airport, commonly known as Colombo International Airport is the main international airport serving Sri Lanka. It is named after former Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike and is located in a suburb of Negombo, 32.5 kilometres (20+1⁄4 miles) north of the nation's longstanding capital and commercial center, Colombo. It is administered by Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd and serves as the hub of SriLankan…
Villa Park Gori
If there is a reason to visit Gori in Georgia, then a visit to Villa Park Gori restaurant in Georgia would be at the top of my priorities. Villa Park Gori is an elite-class restaurant in Gori, with comfortable spaces and a variety of dishes. Located on Tskhinvali highway a few kilometers out of the Gori town. My friend David took us here at the end of January 2022 Tasty Georgian and European cuisine. Live music. English speaking staff. Awesome…
Cinnamon Island, Sri Lanka
Cinnamon Island is situated in Bentota in Sri Lanka. This is a little, but a charming island that offers a few fun activities for you. Here you will be able to learn about cinnamon cultivation and if lucky will meet a monkey or at least a dog. We visited Cinnamon Island at the start of January 2022, during our trip to Sri Lanka, and in particular during the Madu Ganga River Boat Safari. Cinnamon Island is situated in the Southern Province in…
Taj Bentota Resort & Spa Hotel Review in Sri Lanka
Taj Bentota Resort & Spa - is located in Sri Lanka's Galle District, offering breathtaking views of the Indian Ocean. Pampering spa services, an outdoor pool, and 5 dining options are provided. We booked this 5-star hotel for a 3-night stay at the start of January 2022, while traveling near the Ocean in Sri Lanka. For a 3 night stay here we paid about USD 580. The room seemed a bit small at the first glance, but after all it was quite…