Udabno - Almost Forgotten Village in Georgian Desert

8 January, 2016 | Military Heritage | 299 seen

Udabno is a small village located in distance some 50 km from Tbilisi. The chances you will visit this place is huge if you are visiting one of the most famous Georgia' s landmarks - David Gareji monastery complex. The main road from Tbilisi will take you through Udabno village if you are visiting David Gareji.

When I first was at Udabno back in 2011 it seemed as completely abandoned place, but at the end of December, 2015 it looked that some people are actually living here, and even a Polish run hostel has been established here.

Udabno village located in the middle of Georgian desert

Udabno in Georgian means - Desert.  The village was built in middle 80s during Soviet times, for the eco-migrants settled there from mountainous Svaneti region. It’s separation from other settlements, the close location with Davit-Gareji monastery, and specific character of the proud Svan people creates a micro-world that definitely worth to explore. (Source: Udabno, Georgia)

Udabno, Georgia

I was told that during Soviet Georgia days, Udabno was closed village and no entrance was allowed here without special permit. At the place where there is a city name plate, there was a check point with guarded solders. 

Abandoned/ ruined buildings in Udabno

Udabno hostel 

Seems there is a new sheriff in town - some Polish guy has opened here a hostel and restaurant. Great idea, as polish tourists are not rare in Georgia. 

Udabno village in Georgia

How To Display Google AdSense Ad Unit on Drupal Taxonomy Pages

7 January, 2016 | Drupal Development | 12 seen

Title for this article might be named also as - how to display block on taxonomy pages only. In fact that was the solution I was looking for about two years, and felt a bit awkward when figured out a very easy, not to say super simple solution.

The blog you are currently reading is Drupal powered, no WordPress, Joomla or some other content management system here, so I will speak Drupal language in this article.

Here is the super easy solution for those in hurry:

• Create a new block, paste your Google AdSense (or whatever content you want, it's not only about Google AdSense after all), under block visibility settings choose only the listed pages and enter taxonomy/term/*

note that /* at the end of path - it is called a wildcard and means that your enabled block will be shown on /taxonomy/term/apples and taxonomy/term/oranges, in case you would like to display that block only on one taxonomy term page, you would enter a complete path without wildcard at the end, for example /taxonomy/term/apples.

Google AdSense on Drupal Taxonomy pages

In above image there is a working example of my taxonomy page Drupal Development and Google AdSense ad unit added on top of it using core Drupal blocks module. The above mentioned path will enable Google AdSense ad unit on completely all taxonomy term pages, and if you have a large website with tons of tags, this is a great opportunity to monetize those taxonomy term pages. 

Take a look on just a few of my taxonomy pages: Living in Georgia, Tbilisi restaurants, Drupal modules or Kitchen remodeling. Blends in nicely and what's best - it's set and forget. The more keywords you will create - the more page views you will generate and hopefully at the month of the end will make some lucrative income.

Tip for Google AdSense

It would be smart if you would create a new ad unit from Google AdSense, so you can better track which ad units performs better and makes you the most money.

Earnings per Google AdSense ad unit

I photoshoped above screen to smudge out impressions, clicks, RPM and other, because it' s against Google AdSense TOS. 

By now I have 6 Google AdSense ad units enabled on this website, well that doesn't mean they are displayed all at one on one page. Maximum ad units you are allowed to display on one page is 3. Using custom ad units helps me track which ads performs better and which not. 

Hope this helps!

How To Make Floating Blocks in Drupal Using Module

6 January, 2016 | Drupal Development | 31 seen

In this article you will learn how to make blocks on your Drupal site to float using a simple, and yet powerful module - Floating block.

Here are some other cool tutorials you might find interesting:

• How To Display Social Share Buttons On Drupal Taxonomy Pages
• Floating social share buttons (without using modules)
• How to align Facebook like, Google + and Twitter buttons? (CSS tricks)
• Facebook like button for Drupal site 

Drupal Floating Block

From module creators: The Floating block module allows you to keep html blocks, selected using jquery selectors in a fixed position on the page as you scroll. It works in a similar way the table header fixer in Drupal Core. This means that when the user scrolls their browser selected parts of the page can stay in the users view.

This is extremely useful when you have pages with lots of content and you want a side menu to stay in view.

Now here is an example how to configure floating block for social share buttons

I will create a custom view and then will display it as block in my theme. Add two fields: path and custom code.

Make sure your path is using absolute path.

Here is the code  to enter in custom text field (you can customize it), make sure you are excluding all except custom text field

Now add a contextual filter under advanced settings from your view dashboard:

• Content: Nid
• Provide default value: Content ID from URL

Save your view, visit blocks page and add your newly created block to the some region of your theme, I will add this to the left sidebar. Now visit you node page and see if that worked. 

Since we have this lovely neat Floating Block module enabled, we should inspect our theme to find CSS selector around our newly created block - in my case it is #block-views-nid-social-share-block, and paste that line in modules config page:

Floating block config page

Since I'm using responsive theme I decided to disable floating block on screens smaller than 767px.

Try a live example here: Postcards From Tbilisi

Hope this helps, feel free to drop a comment or contact me if you find any difficulties here.

More Paint Job - Base layer for Kitchen's Floor

5 January, 2016 | Home Remodeling | 4 seen

Those of you following my blog have noticed I'm featuring home remodeling series here, it all started back in the Spring/Summer of 2015, when we inherited a lovely but very badly managed country house in rural Latvia. In today's photo series I will show you how using the most cheapest floor paint I gave a new life to a rundown wooden plank floor in our rural's house kitchen.

But before that, take a look how it all started in this kitchen:

• Removing Junk And Adding First Layer of Paint (Kitchen Works)
• How to Patch and Plaster Walls in Your Old Rural House

Now let us begin with adding some floor paint in this lovely kitchen

Preparing floor for paint

If you are looking to paint your floor by yourself, make sure you have cleaned floor properly, no dust e.t.c. For us, for that summer a water was our biggest obstacle - we simply had no water attached to our house (no well as well), so to clean that floor, we had to bring in water from some other places, but still we were limited to about 50 liters per day (plus we had a lovely veggie garden we should water)

Our kitchen

In the background you can see there is another room with paint already added. You can read more about it here: Painting Floor - Final Touch For Maximum Effect (Second Paint Layer)

Painting kitchen floor

I started with skirting, then with wood planks

Painting kitchen floor

Half floor painted

As you can see the effect is dramatic already

Kitchen floor after first layer applied 

Now, I will add a second layer of paint to this floor and it will look almost ideal. 

Wine Tunnel Near Kvareli in Georgia (Winery Khareba)

4 January, 2016 | Tourism objects | 110 seen

Wine Tunnel owned by a winery Khareba is located close to the town of Kvareli, in region of Kakheti, republic of Georgia. It features not only exotic manmade tunnel built in the rocks, but it also has a large territory offering interesting attractions related to Georgian heritage. Guests can book a wine tasting tour here and will be provided with best selection wines from winery Khareba.

I first visited this wine tunnel in the middle of October, 2015 together with my mom during a short one day trip around region of Kakheti,

Wine Tunnel at Winery Khareba near Kvareli town in Georgia

Winery Khareba is constructed of 15 tunnels. Two tunnels reaching 800 meters are parallel to each other and connect the other tunnels that are 500 meters. The walls of the tunnels are lined with thousands of bottles of Khareba wines. The tunnels keeps the temperature relatively constant and cool facilitating the storage of wine. Read more: Winery Khareba

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Clay pots at Khareba winery

Wine tunnel at Khareba winery

Khareba was established in 2004. Today the winery has 1,000 hectares (2,471 acres) of vineyards throughout Georgia. They have 16 grape varieties and 13 different wines. Some grape varieties include: Tsitska, Krakhulna, Mtsvane, Khikhvi, Kisi, Tsolikouri, Rkatsiteli, Usakhelouri, Saperavi, Otskhanuri saphere and Aladasturi. Khareba produces 3,000,000 bottles of wine. They produce qvevri wines at another facility location. Source: Winery Khareba

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Wine tasting at Winery Khareba near Kvareli

Winery Khareba offers four different packages available for visitors to purchase. To view the tunnels is the lowest cost option.  The second package is a tunnel visit and two wines to taste. The third package offers visitors four wines to taste and activities such as making churchkhela, Chacha degustation or baking Georgian bread. The final option is the premium level and includes three additional wine varieties to taste, plus a barbeque. Source: Winery Khareba

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There is a restaurant at winery Khareba offering some spectacular views

Wine kneading manger and boots

Chacha distillate 

Georgian bread oven

At winery Khareba complex near Kvareli

At winery Khareba complex near Kvareli

Winery Khareba

Water channel at winery Khareba

Wine shop at winery Khareba

About Winery Khareba

 "Winery Khareba” is established upon the ancient traditions. The company works over maintenance of the unique vine culture and wine making both using ancient methods and modern technologies; consequently, the Company produces high quality wines.

According to the modern market and technological developments, "Winery Khareba" reorganized and considerably improved technical equipment of the winery. The Company owns the land plot of 1000 hectare where unique Georgian and European vine species are cultivated and, accordingly, where the high quality wines are produced. Wines are made in Kakheti, Imereti and Racha-Lechkhumi. 

Lear more at www.winery-khareba.com or visit their Facebook page

Neighborhoods of Tbilisi - Varketili

3 January, 2016 | Tourism objects | 212 seen

In today's photo article I will speak about another neighborhood in Tbilisi - Varketili. Varketili is most probably famous because of the Varketili metro line connecting this part of city with city cente.In today's article most of the pictures are focused around exactly at this metro station.

Varketili is probably not the most tourist visited place in Tbilisi, if you are hoping to find lovely wood carved balconies here or enjoy a swim in a sulfur bath you most probably wont find anything from that here. I haven' t double checked this, but apartment rent in Varketili are one of the cheapest options in Tbilisi. I know at least two expats living in this neighborhood. On the other hand Varketili is one of the largest Tbilisi massive and it' s very huge.

The best way of getting here - Tbilisi metro.

Varketili metro

You barely can notice that somewhere here actually a metro station is located, connecting you with Tbilisi city center in matter of couple of minutes (10-15 minutes) Actually Varketili was one of the hardest neighborhoods to actually photograph for me. I was so confused of large masses of people, cars and .. a chaos all around me, I just pressed shutter button, not paying any attention to composition.

Varketili metro station

In 2007 Varketili metro station have gone through some reconstruction, although it looks like it hasn't been touched since it was built back in the Soviet days (1985). The area around metro station (and inside station) is covered in a large marketplace mostly selling low-priced and plastic items.

Women with flowers waiting for marshrutka

Although there is a super fast way of getting to city Centre using metro, people still prefer those yellow colored marshrutkas.

Varketili neighborhood in Tbilisi

Local market in Varketili

Apartment buildings in Varketili

Seems there are a lot of new apartment buildings to be built in upcoming years and probably more people will move to live to this neighborhood. Just recently a modern and huge shopping mall was opened in this neighborhood (some 3km from metro station) East Point.

Varketili neighborhood in Tbilisi

Giant Plane Tree in Telavi

2 January, 2016 | Tourism objects | 304 seen

There is a biggest tree in Georgia located in the city center of Telavi (Region of Kakheti). It's not only giant, it is more than 900 years old as well.

I discovered this tree back in October , 2015, during a day trip to region of Kakheti, we made a 5 minute stop here, I got an opportunity to photograph it with my mom posing next to it.

The Giant Plane tree in Telavi, Republic of Georgia

It's width is about 12 meters and height 46 meters.

The Giant Plane tree in Telavi, Republic of Georgia

The plane tree in Telavi is near the ‘Batonis Tsikhe’ (the Prince’s Castle), the Batonis Tsqharo’ (the Prince’s Spring) and the monument to the great Georgian King of the 18th century Heracles II. Source: Platan

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The Giant tree in Telavi

It is known that the great Georgian writers Ilia Tchavtchavadze, Akaki Dseretheli, Vazha-Phshavela and other Georgian or foreign public figures were visited to see the plane tree in Telavi. As earlier, there are so many guests to see the tree, which attract and charm the visitors by its greatness and beauty. Source: Georgian Genealogy

Platanus Orientalis

I'm not into dendrology, so Wikipedia is my best friend in such case, according to Wikipedia: Platanus orientalis, or oriental plane, is a large, deciduous tree of the Platanaceae family, growing to 30 m (98 ft) or more, and known for its longevity and spreading crown.

Lovely city of Telavi

One Second a Day Video Project (November 7 - December 9, 2015)

1 January, 2016 | Digital Photography School | 11 seen

I decided to great the New Year of 2016 with a 32-second video flashback I made at the end of 2015, filmed mostly in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia.

​The idea of creating one second a day video project arrived at me after I watched the movie Chef (2014). I was already doing my 365 days photo project and for the 32 days it was both fun and entertaining to both photograph and film, then post-process, e.t.c. It was a harsh experience as well. But it was worth every additional hour spent to produce a daily second video.

Places and Events from this video

• Master class in Asian Cuisine
• The Tiger Lillies Concert Review in Tbilisi
• ​Wanderings In The Tbilisi Old Town (HDR Efex Pro)
• Eating at some of the Tbilisi restaurants
• Lisi Lake in Tbilisi (Georgia)
• Listening to Classical Music at Tbilisi Baroque Festival
• East Point Shopping Mall in Tbilisi
• ​and other

Equipment:

All videos were shot with my Canon 1200D DSLR camera, some videos are shot from a tripod.

Post-processing video

I wanted to make this in Adobe Premiere but ended up simply uploading trimmed 1-sec videos to YouTube. For a trimming part, most of the trimming was done in Adobe Lightroom

Hope to make more one-second videos this year. Now, what do you think of this video? Leave me a comment!

Sieksāte Church and Monastery Complex Under Construction

31 December, 2015 | Tourism objects | 12 seen

"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? Luke 14:28

There is to be constructed a new Lutheran church and a monastery in Sieksāte Latvia. In above image you can see construction works from site from Summer 2015.

Let me wish you all the best for next 2016!

Campsite Kurzemes Pērle

30 December, 2015 | Lakes | 18 seen

Campsite Kurzemes pērle is located in the beautiful and picturesque surroundings just 200 meters from the Sepenes Lake.

I discovered this place doing a random driving around spectacular places in Latvia. Just after Podnieku Lake and Pastaiga mākoņos we turned our car and drove here.

Kurzemes pērle actually is a campsite with accommodations, which should mean I should tag it under hotel reviews, but since we didn't stay here overnight I'm listing this site under Tourism objects -> Lakes 

Entrance gates at Kurzemes pērle campsite

Sēpenes lake

Info point at Kurzemes pērle

Gazebo 

Guesthouse Kurzemes pērle

At Kurzemes pērle campsite

Holiday House Kurzemes pērle

About Kurzemes pērle

Kurzemes pērle is located in the beautiful and picturesque surroundings and just 200 metres from the Sepenes Lake. It offers self-catering accommodation with a children’s playground and a tennis court. The cottages and holiday home at Kurzemes pērle are done in wood and come with a TV and a private bathroom with a shower. Some feature a kitchen or some cooking facilities and there also is a common kitchen. Guests can relax on the private beach, go fishing or use water sports facilities. The surroundings are perfect for hiking and exploring the nature. The towns Aizpute and Skrunda are 17 km away from Kurzemes pērle. 

Make a reservation for Kurzemes pērle on Booking.com

Expo Georgia Exhibition Center in Tbilisi

29 December, 2015 | Tourism objects | 102 seen

One of my first memories from Georgia are very related with Expo Georgia Exhibition center, back in April 2011 when I first arrived to Georgia, just shortly I had an opportunity to visit a fair held here - Caucasus Tourism Fair. Back then I realized how important this venue place is for doing business in Georgia.

• Caucasus Tourism Fair 2014
• Georgian - Latvian Business Forum

If you are up to meeting new prospects or looking for some strong ties - fairs held here are absolutely worth of it.

• Potential Business Partner Search In Republic Of Georgia

In today's article I would rather speak of territory of this place and provide some cool pictures I made here at the start of December 2015.

Pavilion #1 at Expo Georgia exhibition center in Tbilisi

I above picture there are actually 5 pictures merged together, blended into nice panoramic photography. If you would like more how I'm doing these, make sure to check out my digital photography school tutorials.

Expo Georgia, set within the post- industrial Didube-Chugureti district of Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, is a 15-hectare campus located northeast of the historic city center. The complex is centered in an extensively landscaped sequence of gardens and park spaces, accessed by parkways and pedestrian paths. Soviet-era pavilions are distributed across the site, developed as a regional exposition during the 1960s. Read more: Expo Georgia

Expo Georgia territory 

In some of the pavilions there are located offices and furniture saloons.

Soviet time sculptures are all across the gardens territory 

Trees and open air pools at Expo Georgia garden territory

Soviet time monument

Expo Georgia in Tbilisi

Another panorama photo.

Visit official Expo Georgia website to learn more about upcoming shows and fairs. www.expogeorgia.ge

Recreation Center Near Tirelu Lake - Pastaiga Mākoņos

28 December, 2015 | Lakes | 21 seen

We were just randomly driving around beautiful Latvia and headed here just after had a stop at Podnieku lake.

This place is pretty popular and well known for locals and huge was our surprise when we noticed a turnpike which stopped our ride in the territory of this recreation center. There were no people or no option to call somebody to open the gates, so we left were we were, I made a few photos and turned our car back. I hope to visit this place some next time to see it from "inside".

Gazebo with road signs

It took 4 km from this place drive to get to the Pastaiga mākoņos.

Turnpike 

Our drive ended here

Tirelu water reservoir 

You need to get a permit for fishing or using this water reservoir for any kind of activities

Pastaiga mākoņos near Tirelu lake

I took distance photography from here. Well, basically that's all. I hope to return to this place in future and hope to get past that turnpike.

According to Agoda, there is actually a hotel located inside

Designed for both business and leisure travel, Pastaiga Makonos Hotel is ideally situated in Embute; one of the city's most popular locales. From here, guests can enjoy easy access to all that the lively city has to offer. With its convenient location, the hotel offers easy access to the city's must-see destinations.

Pastaiga Makonos Hotel also offers many facilities to enrich your stay in Embute. While lodging at this wonderful property, guests can enjoy valet parking, business center, elevator, disabled facilities, meeting facilities.

Hotel accommodations have been carefully appointed to the highest degree of comfort and convenience, with satellite/cable TV, balcony/terrace, non smoking rooms, shower, television in each room. Whether you're a fitness enthusiast or are just looking for a way to unwind after a hard day, you will be entertained by top-class recreational facilities such as indoor pool, sauna. With an ideal location and facilities to match, Pastaiga Makonos Hotel hits the spot in many ways.

You can book here

Kafe Bari Zodiako in Telavi

27 December, 2015 | Restaurant reviews | 22 seen

Kafe bari Zodiako, most probably in English would sound as Cafe - bar Zodiako, but I really enjoy the Georgian version. Kafe bari Zodiako is located in town of Telavi (Region of Kakheti) in Republic of Georgia. This place was recommended to us by our driver, when we were on Kakheti tour. 

Kafe bari Zodiako actually is a khinkali place, the only food you can get there is khinkali and really tasty and delicious khinkali. It is very much affordable place (well khinkali are one of the most affordable in Georgian cuisine)

For 30 pieces of khinkali, some sodas (lemonades) and coffee we paid less than 25 Lari (and we were four people)

Khinkhali place in Telavi

Kafe-Bari Zodiako

Unfortunately my written Georgian is not so good and I contacted a friend, with help of whom we transliterated it's written - Kafe-Bari Zodiako here

Outdoor Patio at Kafe Bari Zodiako

Grapes

It was in the middle of October, 2015 we visited this place, grapes were very juicy

Khinkali at Zodiako in Telavi

Operation - Saving Swans

26 December, 2015 | | 3 seen

That happened in Summer 2015 on a highway connecting Liepaja with Riga in Latvia. We were returning home from Liepāja and enjoyed a newly constructed (renovated) Liepāja highway, when suddenly we had to stop our car because of a Swan family walked just in the middle of the highway in front of our car.

Swans looked confused, they were trying to get somewhere, as we later learned - they were searching for a lake.

Swan family walking in the middle of highway

Swan family

Lady helping to lead swans to the lake

Searching for the happiness 

Happy ending

East Point Shopping Mall in Tbilisi

25 December, 2015 | Shopping Venues | 65 seen

There is a new and modern shopping center recently built and opened for public in Tbilisi. Meet East Point. Located in suburbs of Varketili (neighborhood of Tbilisi) next to Kakheti highway on the road to Tbilisi Airport.

More than 150 clothing, shoes and accessories fashion retailers under one roof for your unique taste. Bowling and 8-ball pool in a very exquisite environment. A huge entertainment area specially built for children, 10 movie theaters with brand new movies and world premieres.  You can pump up at one of the many food courts located on a special avenue to enhance your shopping experience. 

For past couple of years we have been doing our weekly or bi-weelky shopping in another shopping center located in other side of Tbilisi - Tbilisi mall, but now I feel we shall visit this place more often. I actually first time visited East Point mall for a photography practice in frames of Georgia Expat Photographer club organized event. 

East point shopping mall in Tbilisi

East point shopping mall in Tbilisi

This is actually a great place not only for shopping and entertainment, but good for photography practice as well

World famous brands at East Point Shopping center

McDonalds, Terranova, Aldo, Mango, LC Waikiki, Zara are just a few to name

Anchor tenant at East Point - Carrefour 

Carrefour has it's own separate building.

The Bottom Line

East Point Tbilisi shopping and entertainment mall is a great place with many brands featured. To get there, rumor has it, there are free shuttle buses leaving from Samgori, or you can get a taxi (from city center will cost you about 8-10 GEL)