Living in Georgia

Colin (form a parent's group here in Tbilisi) shared a link to the spreadsheet containing a list of Georgian laboratories offering to make a test to diagnose COVID-19.  The list was published on the Agenda.ge website and contains the medical facilities name, and address, the original list also contains the e-mail of the facility (to avoid spambots harvesting the e-mail list here, I'm pasting info without e-mails) I don't have exact info, but for the test, we have to pay (at least in September…

I have been living in Georgia since 2011. During my time here I have been exploring the country, as an Indie traveler, crosswise from the pebbled seashore beaches near Batumi to the desert sand in David Gareji, and have gathered a great collection of my travel notes all across Georgia Also, I have been contacted zillions of times online asking Georgia-related questions, starting with how to get a residence permit and ending - is there snow in July in Georgia? (Yes, there is, somewhere atop…

Eat for fit is my favorite healthy food home delivery service here in Tbilisi. Recently these loss-weight / dietary food delivery companies have started to pop up like mushrooms in the forest after the rain here in Tbilisi. We have tried a dietary menu from Eat for fit twice - and both times the result has been excellent.  One thing should be added - we are the gym goers - and the great weight-loss results comes both from the physical activities and well-balanced food. Eat for Fit are great…

In March 2020, GEL/USD exchange rates dropped to 1 USD = GEL 3.4 (I still remember days, when rates were 1 USD, equaled 1.74 GEL). Most of the banks (if not all) act as market makers or they buy low and sell high. A normal business practice. If GEL/USD value drops to 3.4 GEL for 1 USD, there is no guarantee you are going to keep 340 GEL when exchanging 100 USD. Today I decided to test - is it possible to use Transfer Wise to transfer funds inside Georgia and is it possible to transfer from…

On the morning of March 17, 2020, snow surprised us here in Tbilisi. While sipping morning coffee I decided to grab a camera and take a few shots for the history.  As it has been a while since my latest update from the Living in Georgia series I found this photo story a great way to illustrate how we spent a day, while in self-quarantine because of the Covid19 virus.  Documenting winter in Georgia has been a tradition of this blog, see Tbilisi - Fairyland in Winter, Georgia in Winter (Photos…

Wow, time flies, it has been already 5 years since I last time reviewed Georgia's GDP growth rates, back in 2013 I come up with a simple article: Georgia then, now, future Here is what the International Monetary Fund projected for Georgia for 2018: According to IMF, Georgian GDP will rise average 6% per year until 2018, and in 2018 it could be approx 21.81 bln USD Georgia GDP Forecast 2014-2018 Although we don't yet have exact data for 2018 yet, it's believed that the GDP in Georgia was…

Annual Winter Fair (Christmas charity fair) was held at Tbilisi's Radisson Blue Hotel on December 1, 2018 For many expats in Georgia, it has been already a tradition to visit this fair year. For me, this was already some sixth or seventh fair (as a visitor), maybe I should start selling hot wine in the next years (who knows) Here are a few articles from the past: Christmas Charity Fair Tbilisi 2017, Christmas Charity Winter Fair in Tbilisi 2015, Christmas Charity Winter Fair in Tbilisi…

Less than a month ago, we changed apartment in Tbilisi and got one with really cool views towards mount Mtatsminda. I've been playing with a tripod a camera here ever since. See: Tbilisi by night (New apartment version) and Tbilisi by day (New Apartment Version) Despite my forecast, that next version probably will be an HDR photography, it turned out to be a Rainy day. Actually, about a year and a half ago, I made a cool time-lapse video from our previous apt, see: Rainy day in Tbilisi - Time…

Halloween 2018, was celebrated on Wednesday, October 31. This was our first Halloween together with our newborn baby and we made some really cool photos and video's in our new Tbilisi apt. But as each year,it's all about carving the pumpkin and having a lot of fun. How To Carve a Pumpkin and Make Stunning Halloween Photos Halloween pumpkin 2018 I bought this one at local Tbilisi market and paid 9GEL for it (2 gel/kg). Turns out this was a 4 and a half kilos. Pumpkin carved Apple…

It has been already more than 10 days since we have moved into our new Tbilisi apartment. For today's article in the series Living in Georgia,  I just wanted to share some picture with surrounding views towards mount Mtatsminda, TV Tower and other. For the first part, please visit: Tbilisi by night (New apartment version) View towards mount Mtatsminda and TV tower in Tbilisi No doubts,best viewed during night time. This is one of my favorite spots in the apartment to take daughter on the…