Restaurant 'Shengen' Review in Tbilisi

7 March, 2015 | Restaurant reviews | 8 seen

Welcome to another great Tbilisi restaurant review - today I will write about restaurant Shengen located on Sioni street in the heart of Tbilisi Old Town.

The reason I was intrigued to visit this place was simple - I really enjoyed their name - I mean Shengen from Schengen area - it made me smile.

To get here - as usual using local Georgian groupon clone sites - vovovo.ge this time - be bought a coupon here for a steak and glass of wine.

This offer was as low as 12GEL ($5.50 / EUR 5.00) per person. 

Those of you have seen a comedy EuroTrip (2004) - probably will find some similarities after American youngsters got lost in Slovakia :)

Entrance corridor at restaurant Shengen 

Though this restaurant is located in Tbilisi Old Town on Sioni street, we entered here from river Mtkvari embankment side (but you can get to this place from Sioni street if you will enter this corridor right next to Konka station)

Corridor connecting with Sioni street

Inside interior at Shengen Restaurant

Probably a cozy sitting place next to the window

Comfortable sitting chairs and tables

Georgian lemonade for a starter

Glass of a Georgian Red Wine

Tomato cream soup with parmesan crisps

This delicious soup cost around additional 7 or 8 Lari at restaurant Shengen

Menu at restaurant Shengen in Georgian and English

Steak with mushroom sauce

I must admit the steaks were prepared almost perfect though nobody asked how would we like our steak to be prepared, it was prepared medium well done.

Mexican potatoes with garlic dressing

In overall

Though we bought 2 discount coupons for steaks and wine, be bought some additional lemonades, tomato cream soup and a few Turkish coffees. In total we paid around 50GEL ($23.00 / EUR 21.00)

The atmosphere at restaurant Shengen is great and staff is friendly (though didn't seem they speak much English - use your fingers and point to the menu items if no other option is available for you)

I was sceptic when first hear the name of restaurant - but after visiting this restaurant - I can truly assure - it's a great restaurant in the heart of Tbilisi Old Town.

How To Display Social Share Buttons On Drupal Taxonomy Pages

6 March, 2015 | Drupal Development | 5 seen

Home Made 'Pirozhki' (Baked Stuffed Pies) And Cinnamon Buns

5 March, 2015 | Food blogger | 9 seen

Blog Online Income Report - February 2015 - $900.05

5 March, 2015 | Blogging | 16 seen

Welcome to already fourteen of my blog's online income report. Today I will cover earnings I made solely with my blog during month of February 2015.

I'm doing those report since start of 2014 and they (reports) help me track my online success or failures. I hope they can inspire others as well.

About Online Income in Monty of February 2015

In total I earned $940.05 what is up by 25.02% if compared to my earnings in month of January, when I earned $752.65

$940.05 in a month equals to $33.57 in a day

Technically speaking, my February earnings would be the same as a minimum wage in Malta or a little bit more than average salary in Croatia. I haven't been to neither of these countries yet, but I would like to visit them one day for sure.

About Blog traffic in February

Blog Traffic February 2015 (Source: Google Analytics)

In February I got a major traffic drop, when overall traffic dropped my some -25% and resulted in 14,579 users. Despite a traffic drop I managed to earn more this month than last month - pretty interesting trend to observe I must admit.

On the other hand my blog is attracting pretty much international traffic, so for example in month of January I got a major traffic spike when post about minimum wages in European Union kinda went viral on Facebook. Those visitors made a huge traffic spike but didn't qualified as a profitable if looked from point of view of generating some income.

About Income Streams

There were 3 streams which generated some money last month - I prefer to divide them into two subgroups - Affiliate marketing and Display Ads:

Affiliate marketing

Amazon Associates -  $920.32

Display ADs

Amazon CPM - $4.66

Google Adsense - $15.07

As you can see the wast majority of earnings were made using affiliate marketing. But that doesn't mean I'm looking to abandon Display Ads any time soon, though they are making pennies, I prefer call them really valuable pennies. And at least I have somehow diversified my online income streams. 

Speaking of display ads I believe I could earn more by placing more aggressive ad units - but this time it's not the case. I'm pretty confident right now of my display ads strategy, of course I could fine tune something.

Speaking of affiliate marketing - I'm a little bit worried right now - I'm relying just on one anchor earner - Amazon Associates, I must admit it's a damn great partner program which offers brilliant conversation rates, but for a past couple of months I have been looking into other affiliate programs as well, the problem I haven't yet find anything so brilliant as Amazon Associates.

On the other hand I haven't tried hard enough. I'm looking to add another affiliate marketing program on board this year to diversify my income streams. 

About Expenses in February

Starting this year I'm including all expenses in my reports as well, because of I believe they plays if not a major, then at least a minor role in generating income. 

Last month I spent only on my Linode VPS.

Linode VPS - $40.00

Earnings per 1,000 Pageviews

My combined RPM Stands for $43.79 in February

Those of you who are using Google Adsense, are already familiar with term of RPM - which stands for earnings for 1000 page views/impression - Reach per Mile.

I decided to create my blog's overall RPM covering not only Adsense, but all other income streams combined, to measure RPM I must reveal how many page views I got this month.

For tracking website visitors statistics I'm using Google Analyitics, and according to it I got 21,467 page views last month.

February 2015 vs February 2014

A year ago my blog was about five months old, back then in February I created my second online income report and earned very modest $9.60.

So what has changed a year latter?

My traffic is up from 331 to 14,579

I have added Affiliate Marketing as my top earner

A year ago I was relying just on Google Adsense and earned $9.60, a year latter if I would stick only with Google Adsense I would earn just $15.07 - not so great performance overall, right?

Well as I said, I'm glad I have diversified my income streams, on the other hand I believe my Google Adsense earnings would be higher (I believe I would use more aggressive ad unit placement)

Anyway - growth from $9.60 in February 2014 to $900.05 in February 2015 is an awesome growth, I'm more than delighted with such results.

Frankly speaking it's strange how my mindset has changed over a last year - year ago I was happy to see $10, $20 earnings over a month.

Today by looking my past reports I though - hmm, just $900 this month - it's a pretty bad result..

Well, this is not the right attitude, I must be more humble or bad things will happen. Every dollar cent is worth of it.

About other's online income round up posts

I must admit I'm reading how other bloggers are performing and how much they are earning with their blogs, probably many of those bloggers I have discovered thanks to round up posts of online income reports. I must admit - reading others success or failures has given me faith to continue improving my results.

This February, my humble blog has been included in following blog round up posts:

Weitere internationale Blogs und deren Einnahmen im Januar 2015 (In German)

Honestly speaking, of course it's cool to be noticed and showcased on other blogs as an example or inspiration (hopefully)

Goals/Forecasts for March

I have decided to add more review style articles with affiliate links included. I have a plan to ad 4 reviews this month.

Speaking of forecast - It would be great to crack $1,000 milestone this month. But I have an ambivelnt feeling to this, so I actually will downgrade my forecast to $500 for March. 

Lagidze Water near Sameba

4 March, 2015 | Restaurant reviews | 34 seen

Welcome to another post in Tbilisi restaurant series. Today I will speak about cafe Lagidze Water located at Sameba Cathedral complex. 

I had heard previously about Lagidze Water, but I didn't know much about it, just something that it was pretty popular drink during Soviet times (and probably Tsarist Russia times as well)

My knowledge was short like it's some syrup mix with water - well I'm not found of syrup waters but seems that in Georgia it's pretty much popular drink. According to Wikipedia

Lagidze water  is a popular Georgian soft drink based on soda and a variety of natural syrups. It has been traditionally mixed in a glass from a soda fountain, but it is also available as a bottled soft drink in a range of flavors. Some American food writers liken it to egg cream, but the authentic Georgian drink includes neither milk nor chocolate syrup

Anyway - here you can enjoy a tasty Adjarian khachapuri or Penovani as well accompanied with syrup water.

Lagidze Water in Tbilisi near Sameba Cathedral

Menu at Lagidze Water

Lagidze Water lemonades

Adjarian Khachapuri

View to Sameba Cathedral from cafe Lagidze Water

History of Lagidze Water

Lagidze water is named after Mitrofan Lagidze, a pharmacist’s apprentice in Kutaisi, Georgia, who in 1887 explored the idea of using natural syrups instead of imported flavored essences in making lemonades.

In 1900, the Lagidze Brothers plant in Kutaisi began blending unique proprietary flavors from herbs and fruits.

Today, Lagidze waters are produced in a wide range of natural flavors, including quince (aiva), pear, citrus fruit, cherry, tarragon, and others.

Sameba - Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi

4 March, 2015 | Churches and Monasteries | 128 seen

Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi, commonly known as Sameba (Trinity in Georgian) probably is among the most known Tbilisi tourist attraction sites and of course it's the main cathedral of Georgian Orthodox Church.

For me it's always been interesting to look at Sameba from two points of view - it's third highest Orthodox cathedral in the world and it symbolizes Georgian national and spiritual revival.

Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi (Sameba)

Constructed between 1995 and 2004, it is the third-tallest Eastern Orthodox cathedral in the world and one of the largest religious buildings in the world by total area. Sameba is a synthesis of traditional styles dominating the Georgian church architecture at various stages in history and has some Byzantine undertones.

View towards city from Sameba

The idea to build a new cathedral to commemorate 1,500 years ofautocephaly of the Georgian Orthodox Church and 2,000 years from the birth of Jesus emerged as early as 1989, a crucial year for the national awakening of the then-Soviet republic of Georgia. In May 1989, the Georgian Orthodox Patriarchate and the authorities of Tbilisi announced an international contest for the "Holy Trinity Cathedral" project. No winner was chosen at the first round of the contest when more than a hundred projects were submitted. Finally the design by architect Archil Mindiashviliwon. The subsequent turbulent years of civil unrest in Georgia deferred this grandiose plan for six years, and it was not until November 23, 1995, that the foundation of the new cathedral was laid.

Inside Sameba

​The cathedral consists of nine chapels (chapels of the Archangels, John the Baptist, Saint Nino, Saint George, Saint Nicholas, theTwelve Apostles, and All Saints); five of them are situated in a large, underground compartment. The overall area of the cathedral, including its large narthex, is 5,000 square meters and the volume it occupies is 137 cubic meters. The interior of the church measures 56 metres by 44 metres, with an interior area of 2,380 square metres. The height of the cathedral from the ground to the top of the cross is 105,5 metres. The underground chapel occupies 35,550 cubic metres. The height is 13 metres.

About Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi

The Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi commonly known as Sameba  is the main Cathedral of the Georgian Orthodox Church located in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. Constructed between 1995 and 2004, it is the third-tallest Eastern Orthodox cathedral in the world.

Sameba is a synthesis of traditional styles dominating the Georgian church architecture at various stages in history and has some Byzantine undertones.

The idea to build a new cathedral to commemorate 1,500 years of autocephaly of the Georgian Orthodox Church and 2,000 years from the birth of Jesus emerged as early as 1989, a crucial year for the national awakening of the then-Soviet republic of Georgia. In May 1989, the Georgian Orthodox Patriarchate and the authorities of Tbilisi announced an international contest for the "Holy Trinity Cathedral" project. No winner was chosen at the first round of the contest when more than a hundred projects were submitted. Finally the design by architect Archil Mindiashvili won.

The subsequent turbulent years of civil unrest in Georgia deferred this grandiose plan for six years, and it was not until November 23, 1995, that the foundation of the new cathedral was laid. The construction of the church was proclaimend as a "symbol of the Georgian national and spiritual revival" and was sponsored mostly by anonymous donations from several businessmen and common citizens.

On November 23, 2004, on St. George's Day, the cathedral was consecrated by Catholicos Patriarch of Georgia Ilia II and high-ranking representatives of fellow Orthodox Churches of the world. The ceremony was also attended by leaders of other religious and confessional communities in Georgia as well as by political leaders.

Architecture

The Sameba Cathedral is erected on the Elia Hill, which rises above the left bank of the Kura River (Mtkvari) in the historic neighborhood of Avlabari in Old Tbilisi. Designed in a traditional Georgian style but with an exaggerated vertical emphasis, and regarded as an eyesore by many and venerated by as many others, the Sameba Cathedral has a cruciform plan with a dome over a crossing which rests on eight columns.

At the same time, the parameters of the dome is independent from the apses, imparting a more monumental look to the dome and the church in general. The dome is surmounted by a 7.5 metre tall cross covered with gold. The cathedral consists of nine chapels (chapels of the Archangels, John the Baptist, Saint Nino, Saint George, Saint Nicholas, the Twelve Apostles, and All Saints); five of them are situated in a large, underground compartment.

The overall area of the cathedral, including its large narthex, is 5,000 square meters and the volume it occupies is 137 cubic meters. The interior of the church measures 56 metres by 44 metres, with an interior area of 2,380 square metres.

The height of the cathedral from the ground to the top of the cross is 105,5 metres. The underground chapel occupies 35,550 cubic metres. The height is 13 metres.

Natural materials are used for construction. The floor is made of marble tiles and the altar will also be decorated with mosaic. The painting of the murals is being executed by a group of artists guided by Amiran Goglidze.

The Sameba complex, the construction of which is already completed, consists of the main cathedral church, a free-standing bell-tower, the residence of the Patriarch, a monastery, a clerical seminary and theological academy, several workshops, places for rest, etc.

Author of this blog posing next to Sameba cathedral in Tbilisi (2015)

Sameba is popular place for photography, but better head here with your gear, a tripod as you might already know is a must have for church inside photography.

Blog Traffic Report - February 2015 - 14,579 Users

2 March, 2015 | Blogging | 14 seen

Welcome to 17 my blog's traffic and statistics report. This time covering month of February 2015.

I'm doing monthly traffic and income reports to measure were I was, were I am and were I am heading too. Those reports keep me track my progress (or bounces), and hopefully can inspire some other bloger(s) as well.

This February come with a traffic dip, when overall traffic dropped by -26.36% and totalled in 14,579 unique users. 

Blog Traffic February 2015 (Source: Google Analytics)

14,579 users is a -26.36% drop if compared to month of January

It's a -5,219 user drop if compared to previous month

14,579 in a month equals to 520.67 users in a day, again it's a down from 638.64 users in day last month

I must admit, this traffic dip didn't come as a surprise for me, following words I said last month when forecasted results for this month (February):

Speaking of forecast for February - I will keep my forecast modest - 14,000 unique visitors or a little bit less (I'm afraid of traffic drop, and there are only 28 days this month)

Now, why I was afraid of a traffic drop and why it actually happened?

The reason is a plain simple - in month of January my blog had a major traffic spike, when a post about minimum wages in European Union went viral and attracted more than 3,500 users in one day. I was sure there won't be any other major traffic spike this month. And it turned true.

Where I was a year ago

This is another interesting trend I like to measure. My blog now is now 17 months old and since I have been doing monthly traffic reports from the first blogging month, it's easy to compare where I was year ago.

Blog Traffic Report: February 2015 vs February 2014

A year ago my blog was just 5 month old, back then I managed to attract modest 331 users, now a year after, I have attracted 14,579 users - pretty impressive growth, right!?

What I have done in month of February

In total I have written 50 articles last month. I did write a lot about Eurovision - (I'm hopping this will give me some boost in Month of May);

I have reviewed a few Tbilisi restaurants (I'm using Facebook Ads to drive traffic to my reviews during month of March);

I have added a few articles related to Drupal Development (this is what I actually do - I develop Drupal sites);

I have created 4 money post related articles (affiliate marketing);

I have reviewed my savings strategy and have written my concerns about weakened Georgian National Currency;

I have travelled last month in Georgia, so I have added pretty much articles covering topic Living in Georgia, my favourite is about skiing opportunities in Gudauri;

As you can see - February has been a pretty busy month both in travelling and blog writing.

Actually there is no magic or formula - it's just a blog writing and up keeping (maybe a little bit following global trends). In short I have been consecutive bloging each day, starting October 2013 (missing just 2 days in May 2014). Another formula I'm trying to stick with - to write a minimum 500 words article each day.

Traffic sources

Google did send more than 85% of total traffic to my blog last month, followed by social networks (3.28%) and referrals (1.77%)

Road to 100K users in a month

Starting last summer, I have been measuring my success (or failures)  to reach 100,000 unique visitors in a month.

Since there is nothing much I can analyse (just actual traffic results) - at end of the February 2015 - I stand at 14,57% level of eventual 100,000 unique visitors. I doubt I will reach 100 K any time soon, but it's good to know were you stand right now.

Road to 150K users in 2015

At the end of December I did set up another goal I would like to achieve this year - to attract 150,000 users to my blog in 2015. It would ask around 12,500 users a month to reach such goal.

Since I ended this month with more than 14K and almost cracked 20K milestone last month - I believe I'm on right track. Technically speaking I should average at least 11,562 users for next 10 months to reach this goal. I believe I will achieve it at the end of 2015.

In Conclusion: Forecast for March

Though I experienced a -26% traffic drop in month of February, it still managed to be second best month in terms of overall traffic, so I'm not looking to this drop as something tragic (as I already mentioned above - last month I got a serious major traffic spike)

Speaking of forecast for March - I have a good inner feeling, it would be awesome to crack 20,000 users milestone this month, but to keep my forecast more humble I will stick with 16,000 users for month of March.

Restaurant / Cafe 'Accent' Review in Tbilisi

1 March, 2015 | Restaurant reviews | 22 seen

Welcome to another Tbilisi Restaurant review. Today I will speak about a Cafe Accent. Though they call themselves a cafe - I prefer to use a word restaurant.

I believe this place is a new in Tbilisi opened just recently, we found it on local Georgian groupon clone site (hotsale.ge) - we bought a coupon for a steak, wine and a tiramisu.

Though Cafe Accent is located in the heart of Tbilisi Old Town on Gorgasali street, we had a problems of actually finding it. Our first attempt to locate this place ended unsuccessful, after being lost somewhere on Vahkang Gorgasali street next to Mtkvari river, we ended our first approach of finding Cafe Accent by having our supper at other restaurant Maspindzelo.

We decided to try our luck other day, and when that happened we again almost missed this place - the signboard on a facade from street of Cafe Accent is barely seen

Hard to read sign of Cafe Accent Tbilisi

Another hard readable sign of Cafe Accent

After a few lousy minutes of thinking is it really a restaurant we went inside, luckily inside interior was almost perfect

Inside interior at Cafe Accent

I felt like I have been travelled back to Spain when stayed at a lovely hotel at Costa Brava - Hotel Begur, inside interior at Cafe Accent for some reason remind me something Spanish

Menu at Cafe Accent

I must admit I didn't find any accent at all looking at this children's style drawing menu cover

Menu at Cafe Accent

I stopped wondering what will be the next surprise after I actually opened menu - hardly readable fonts, OK I stopped wondering of these accents

We were told we should wait for our steak to be prepared, I ordered a cappuccino

Cappuccino at Cafe Accent

Well, just a regular cappuccino with two packs of brown sugar

Glass of Red Wine at Cafe Accent

Steak served with mashed potatoes and green asparagus

In overall it tasted pretty good, maybe asparagus was a little bit over boiled, but yeah - pretty good. 

Tiramisu at Cafe Accent

I really enjoyed tiramisu here - hadn't tasted better tiramisu in Tbilisi.

The bottom line

Cafe Accent is a new place in Tbilisi, and they are trying hard to serve best. The prices here are a little bit pricey compared to other Tbilisi restaurants, but that's because of they are located in Tbilisi Old Town (though not on tourist street)

Frankly speaking I doubt I would came here to eat steaks but I will gladly come here more to enjoy some tiramisu with a cup of cappuccino.

Maximizing Revenue: A Guide to Google Adsense Experiments

28 February, 2015 | Blogging | 15 seen

Google AdSense is a popular advertising network that allows website owners to display ads on their sites and earn money when users click on them. AdSense offers a wide range of ad formats and customization options to help publishers maximize their revenue. However, even with the best practices in place, it can be challenging to determine what ad types and placements work best for your audience.

This is where AdSense Experiments come in.

AdSense Experiments are a feature that allows publishers to test different ad types, ad sizes, and ad placements to see which configurations perform better. With Experiments, you can test different ad layouts on a subset of your traffic and measure the impact on revenue. This feature helps publishers optimize their AdSense revenue and understand the impact of ad changes on user experience.

To get started with AdSense Experiments, you'll need to have an active AdSense account and an ad unit that is receiving traffic. Here are the steps to set up an experiment:

Step 1: Create a new experiment

Go to your AdSense account, click on "Ads" in the left-hand menu, and select "Experiments." Click the "New Experiment" button to start creating a new experiment.

Step 2: Select an ad unit

Choose the ad unit you want to test from the drop-down menu. You can select only one ad unit at a time for an experiment.

Step 3: Choose a hypothesis

Decide on the change you want to test in your ad unit. You can test different ad types, sizes, and placements. For example, you might test a leaderboard ad vs. a skyscraper ad, or experiment with placing ads above the fold vs. below the fold.

Step 4: Set experiment parameters

Choose the percentage of traffic you want to use in your experiment. Google recommends starting with 50% of your traffic, and increasing the percentage once you have enough data to determine which variation performs better. You can also choose the duration of the experiment and set a confidence threshold to determine when to end the experiment.

Step 5: Start the experiment

Click the "Start Experiment" button to launch the experiment. The experiment will run in the background and Google will automatically split traffic between the original and experimental ad layouts.

Step 6: Analyze the results

After the experiment is complete, go to the "Experiments" page in your AdSense account to view the results. Google will show you the revenue generated by each ad layout, as well as the statistical significance and confidence intervals. You can then decide to implement the winning ad layout or continue testing with a new hypothesis.

AdSense Experiments are a powerful tool that can help publishers increase their ad revenue. By testing different ad layouts, you can find the perfect balance between ad revenue and user experience. However, keep in mind that you should not sacrifice user experience for ad revenue. Ads that are too intrusive or disruptive can drive users away from your site, ultimately reducing your revenue. So, use AdSense Experiments wisely and make data-driven decisions to optimize your ad revenue without sacrificing user experience.

Building A Travel Map - Drupal Way (Gmap + Views + Selective Filters)

28 February, 2015 | Drupal Development | 19 seen

In this article, I'll show how I built a travel map using Drupal and a few extra modules.

For a starter, you can see a live preview by visiting my Travel Map.

In this map, I have listed all places I have visited since October 2013 (When I started my blog). I have used a few filters to allow limiting results on the map, for example,  users can filter by Country, Region, and Theme (Category).

To make it work better and more intuitive I have used a small but neat Drupal module - Views Selective Filters. 

Drupal travel map

Location and Gmap module

First things first, you will need to download and enable the Location and Gmap modules. With help of these modules, we will actually enter and store Geospatial data on our Drupal site.

Adding Location to Content Type

The next thing you should do is configure a location field for your content type (s)

Building a views page

Now that you have configured a location and map modules, as well you have added a few nodes with location details you can start creating your views page. 

Create a new view with a page, and give it a path, for example /map. Change display settings from Unformatted list to Gmap

Drupal Views Gmap display

Add fields you wish to be displayed on the map page.

Views selective filters

This is a little and neat module that will help you add selective type filters on your view, for example, country, region, or category

Basically, that's it to get you to start building your own travel map on your Drupal blog or website.

If you need any help building a travel map with Drupla or Drupal in general, consider hiring me!

'Maspindzelo' Tbilisi Restaurant Review

27 February, 2015 | Restaurant reviews | 43 seen

Welcome to another series of Tbilisi restaurants, in this post I will speak about a restaurant 'Maspindzelo' located close to Tbilisi Sulphur baths. I first visited this restaurant just back in last summer, my visit here this time here was just a second time. 

Actually we were heading to another restaurant - a newly opened Accent restaurant, but we had a wrong coordinates of it's address an as it turned out we were staying next to 'Maspindelo' - Since I was a pretty hungry - I insisted - let's have a meal here, and lets find that other restaurant some other day.

Entrance doors at Maspindzelo Restaurant

Nadugi

I first pre ordered a typical Georgian food - Nadugi - it's a cottage cheese wrapped in Georgian Sulguni cheese. I must admit at this time of year (winter season) - they didn't taste so great - sulguni was a really salty.

A Glass of Georgian White Wine

A Long list of menu in Russian (they have English and Georgian as well)

I must admit - the longer the list, the harder to choose

A Chvishtari

Another Georgian food - A chivshtari is a corn fluor scone filled with sulguni cheese

A cup of Turkish Coffee

Grilled pork ribs served with French Fries in a hot Adjika sauce

I must admit - French fries with grilled ribs probably is not the best choice - I would call this a tourist meal - rather a typical Georgian cuisine.

Baked Chicken Liver

The Bottom Line

In overall restaurant Maspindzelo serves great Georgian cuisine in a tourist sauce, and it's no surprise, it's located close to major Tbilisi tourist attractions (Sulphur baths, Tbilisi Old Town, you name it)

Prices are pretty budget friendly - for all above seen food we spent around GEL 50 ($22 / EUR 20). 

Just an ordinary place visiting which you wont regret your choice.

Beit Rachel Synagogue In Tbilisi

26 February, 2015 | Churches and Monasteries | 30 seen

Beit Rachel synagogue is located in Tbilisi Old Town on Leselidze street 28. I first discovered it a few years ago, when accidentally visited an alternative restaurant located just opposite to it.

Beit Rachel synagogue is actually located just a few blocks away from Tbilisi Main Synagogue.

Though this synagogue is located in the heart of Tbilisi Old Town, it's pretty well hidden from public, to find it you must enter a yard.

Sign before entering a yard

Inside a yard

Beit Rachel synagogue wall

Entrance gates at Beit Rachel synagogue

Unfortunately gates were closed and I hadn't chance to enter inside Beit Rachel synagogue to make some more photos.

Info table about Tbilisi Beit Rachel synagogue

Information about Tbilisi Beit Rachel synagogue are provided in four languages - Hebrew, Georgian, English and Russian. Unfortunately I didn't take a better quality picture of this table, so I will try to rewrite some information what's written on it:

The Beit Rachel synagogue was rebuilt in 2009. Prior to the renovation, the building was known as the Ashkenazi Synagogue.

Content Writing in the Age of AI: What You Should Expect

26 February, 2015 | Blogging | 8 seen

Content writing has come a long way in recent years, with the rise of digital media and the increasing importance of online marketing. However, with the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), the landscape of content writing is likely to change significantly in the years to come.

One major development in this area is the rise of AI-powered content creation tools, which use natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to generate written content automatically.

These tools are already being used by some businesses to create content such as product descriptions, blog posts, and social media updates. While there is some concern about the potential for these tools to replace human writers, many experts believe that they will simply become another tool in the content creator's toolbox, rather than a replacement for human talent.

Another area where AI is likely to have a significant impact on content writing is in the realm of personalization. As AI algorithms become more sophisticated, they will be able to analyze vast amounts of data about individuals' preferences, behaviors, and interests. This data can then be used to create highly personalized content that speaks directly to each individual's needs and interests. This could revolutionize the way that businesses approach content marketing, as they will be able to tailor their messaging to each individual customer in a way that was previously impossible.

AI may also be used to improve the quality and accuracy of written content. For example, AI-powered tools can be used to check for grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and other issues that can detract from the quality of written content. Additionally, AI algorithms can be used to analyze written content for things like tone, style, and readability, which can help writers optimize their work for maximum impact.

Overall, the future of content writing and AI is likely to be one of collaboration and innovation. While AI-powered tools will undoubtedly play an increasingly important role in the content creation process, human writers will continue to be essential for their creativity, insight, and ability to connect with audiences on a personal level. As these two forces continue to evolve and interact, the world of content writing is sure to change in exciting and unexpected ways.

11 Katkha Tbilisi Restaurant Review (Near Dinamo Stadium) (2015)

25 February, 2015 | Restaurant reviews | 16 seen

Welcome to another great Tbilisi Restaurant review - today I will speak about 11 Katkha

Update 2023: This place has been closed for a while already. There are at least two other 11 Katkha restaurants in Tbilisi, one is in Saburtalo, second is on Baratishvili street (close to Freedom square), read my latest review here: 11 Katkha Tbilisi Restaurant on Nikoloz Baratashvili street

11 Katkha is a restaurant located in Tbilisi, Georgia, serving traditional Georgian cuisine. I believe there are two locations of this restaurant in Tbilisi. Today I will speak about the one located near Dinamo Stadium (Arena).

This place is lovely in the summertime when you can order and enjoy your meal in the outdoor garden.

We have been visiting this place already for some years, it's a nice starting (or ending place) if you are into cycling.

My favorite meal here at Restaurant 11 Katkha is a Chicken Barbecue (Katmis Mcvadi -  in Georgian), it's one of the most delicious shashlik found in Georgia, and the price for one portion of chicken barbecue is surprisingly low - 6-7 GEL, to make it sound better, it comes with pomegranate dip. Chicken barbecue accompanied with pomegranate sauce, can it be better?

As usual for taking photographs I'm using my Samsung phone and using Instagram (then taking them from Instagram and adding to posts - you can read a blog post on how I turned my Instagram account into a photo blog 

A cup of Turkish Coffee at Restaurant 11 Katkha

A Tasty Georgian made lemonade

Some would like to call Georgia - a land of wine, I prefer to call it a land of lemonades

Badrijani a typical Georgian meal

Badrijani is an eggplant stuffed with nut mixture mass, added some garlic and decorated with pomegranate seed. I'm not a fan of eggplants at all - but prepared in Badrijani - I admit, they taste great.

A cucumber and tomatoes salads

A chicken barbecue served with a pomegranate dip

A pork barbecue topped with sliced onions

Khinkhali stuffed with potatoes and served with sour cream

In overall

11 Katkha restaurant is budget friendly and you won't regret you ordered your meal here. Our total check for all the above-seen food was GEL 50 ($22 / EUR 19)

The staff is friendly and speaks both English and Russian. 

There might be issues with your credit card (if you choose to pay with it), but they have sometimes a working terminal here at Restaurant 11 Katkha.

My February Savings Report - GEL Loses Another 16.5% Against USD; -17% Against EUR

25 February, 2015 | Living in Georgia | 16 seen

Welcome to my third savings report, today I will look at historical exchange rates of GEL/USD and EUR and compare those with at the end of January (2015) with February 24.

I started to save some chunk of money back in September 2014, since my "investments" was too small to buy some bonds, stocks or mutual funds, I decided to open a Savings account here in Georgia (I'm currently living here) in local commercial banks.

I started low - by depositing some 300 GEL (what back then equaled to  to $169.68 or EUR 131.81).  I did deposit some 300 GEL for the next 4 months, then I noticed - GEL/USD exchange rates have gone mad (GEL was loosing it's value against USD). I had a feeling I have lost some 14% of my savings. I made probably irrational decision, I exchanged my money (spitted) into 3 currencies. I bought USD and EUR, in order to avoid further loosing moneys value against USD or EUR.

I bought EUR/USD for a very high price, as I believe, after my deal, I lost again 40.27 GEL (due to exchange rates). Now, today I decided to take a look, does my spontaneous decision was right or wrong (Am I still loosing money, or I have break even)

GEL to USD exchange rates

Back in January 31, I spent 413 GEL to buy $200.00, due to exchange rates I immediately lost 20 GEL, because of if I wanted to sell back, I would receive just GEL 393

As of January, thanks to exchange rate, what I bought for GEL 413 now costs GEL 446, I have gained GEL 33.

GEL to EUR exchange rates

Now, I bought some Euros as well, again paying a high price, I spent GEL 466.60 to buy EUR 200.00 on January 31. Due to exchange rates, I would loose immediately GEL 20.2, if I would like to sell Euros.

What I bought for GEL 466.60 today costs GEL 500.60, I have gained another GEL 34.

Now I can see a pattern here already, during last 24 days GEL has lost it's value against USD by -16.5% and -17% against EUR

Now, I have deposited some GEL as well

From chart above you can see how value of GEL has lost it's value against both to USD and EUR. 

Now, I was quite rational in middle of February and I spent some Lari (GEL) - I exchanged additional 148.26 Lari to buy EUR 60. Today I made second probably irrational decision to spend another GEL 250 from my savings account on other needs. But before that I deposited another $200 and EUR 179.22 on my savings account. 

Savings account as on February 2015

I can agree - it's not a good idea to spend money from your savings account, but taking into account existing situation when Georgian National currency has lost additional 16.5% against USD, It seemed the one and only option to not to loose money more.  

I have kept a small amount of Georgian Lari into my savings account, but I'm planing to spend them into coming days and weeks, but before that I'm looking to deposit more in USD and EUR.

This month (February) I have boosted my monthly deposited money from some 300 GEL to GEL 915.00, though I have removed some 400 GEL this month from my saving account.

In overall I have added some 515.00 GEL to my account (in currency)

In conclusion

Investors don't like to loose money, and me neither.

It looks like my spontaneous decision to split my savings into 3 currencies have proven to be the right approach and helped me to stop loosing money. Due to a weaker Lari against USD and EUR I have win some additional 67 Lari ($30.00/EUR26.00) though I still have lost some 40USD or EUR39 from my savings in Georgian National currency. 

But thanks to a diversified money "portfolio" I have avoided to loose another 17% of my total money assets if exchanged to USD/EUR