Postcards from Mtskheta

31 March, 2016 | | 9 seen

Mtskheta is small and lovely town located some 20 km from nation' s capital Tbilisi. Some will find a lot of similarities in Mtskheta with town of Sighanghi, while others will enjoy architectural and religious pearls of Mtskheta. Svetitskhoveli church, Jvari monastery or Samtavro are just a few to name. 

In today' s Piece of Life series - Mtskheta as we saw it on International Women' s day (March 8)

Cobbled street in Mtskheta

With the famous Svetitskhoveli cathedral at the end of the street

Svetitskhoveli cathedral

Mtskheta and surrounding mountains

Mtskheta definitely is a photographers paradise

Group of tourists gathered near cathedral

Panorama of Svetitskhoveli cathedral

It is the second largest church building in the country, after the Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi (Sameba), and is listed as an UNESCO World Heritage Site along with other historical monuments of Mtskheta.

Massive fortification walls of Svetitskhoveli cathedral

Highway in Mtskehta

To the city centre…

Samtavro Monastery

31 March, 2016 | Churches and Monasteries | 31 seen

Samtavro Monastery together with Svetitskhoveli cathedral and Jvari monastery are one of the main sights of historical town of Mtskheta, located some 20 km from nation's capital Tbilisi. 

Official nam of this place is Samtavro Transfiguration Orthodox Church and Nunnery of St. Nino in Mtskheta, Georgia. It is believed that church were built in the 4th century by King Mirian III of Iberia. Nowadays Samtvaro is very popular tourist destination in Mtskheta with much greater popularity among Georgian believers - it's always crowded here. The nuns living and praying here speaks very good English, and don't allow photograph inside.

Samtavro monastery in Mtskheta

Tombs near the church

Visitors at Samtvaro monastery in Mtskheta

Beheaded angels sculpture at Samtvaro monastery

Church photography has always been interesting for me.

Prayers candles

 The famous Georgian monk Gabriel is buried in the yard of Samtavro Church.

Archimandrite Gabriel born Goderdzi Urgebadze is one of the most renowned…

Guest House / Restaurant 'Āķa Gals' in Pāvilosta

30 March, 2016 | Restaurant reviews | 15 seen

If there is a reason I would love to return to Latvian coastal town of Pāvilosta - cuisine served at restaurant Āķa Gals will be probably at top of my priorities. 

Cozy tavern located in the dunes of Pāvilosta, only 100 meters from the sea, is a great place for celebrations, relaxation and recreation with family and friends.

Guesthouse / Tavern Āķagals in Pāvilosta

Visitors both of simple and refined tastes will enjoy traditional Latvian dishes and international cuisine served in pleasant atmosphere by kind staff.

Salmon cream soup - a traditional Latvian dish

Here you can taste dishes cooked from the local fishermen fished fishes.

Potato pancakes with salmon

One of mine all times favorite traditional Latvian dishes

Creme brulee

Āķagals in Pāvilosta is a must have dinning place, highly recommended! 

Pāvilosta piers and Lighthouse

30 March, 2016 | Tourism objects | 14 seen

If planing your trip to Latvian coastal town of Pāvilosta don't forget to plan a trip to Pāvilosta piers, grab your camera and make some stunning sunset photography here. 

I first visited the piers of Pāvilosta and the town at the end of Summer 2015, and let me express my desire to acquire a small summer cottage here, thus I you plan to make some investments here - hurry up, a lot of foreigner have already bought real-estate at this Latvian coastal town and the prices might be up (haven't checked actually).

It might sound a little bit overstated, but allow me to say - Latvians have their own Portofino (hmm, should we call it part of Latvian Riviera?)

Pāvilosta pier

Pāvilosta is a popular destination for surfers as well - I'm not a surfer dude, but seems locals are pretty excited about wind and waves here. You can try to lend a yacht if you prefer more calmer relaxation.

Boat decks in Pāvilosta

Much of the Pāvilosta history and foundation is related to harbor here - Information about the history of Pavilosta dates back to the period of Duke Jekabs (1642-1682) when ships could enter the Saka…

Gujari Restaurant Museum in Mtskheta

29 March, 2016 | Restaurant reviews | 118 seen

Gujari restaurant - museum is another absolutely brilliant restaurant I have lately discovered. Located in the historical and picturesque town of Mtskheta, some 20 km from nation's capital Tbilisi.

Discovered again - by accident - after just wandering around town of Mtksheta, After visiting Svetitskhoveli cathedral I decided it would be great to walk around Mtskheta and find some non-touristic places. And wuola - instead of tourist attractions - another great restaurant.

Giraffe at Gujari restaurant in Mtskheta

This restaurant features a very good landscaped territory, equipped with a lot of interesting garden elements - I had a chance to take some ideas for our upcoming home remodeling tasks here

Menu at Gujari restaurant

The menu consists mostly of local Georgian cuisine, prices at first seems well above average, but portions they are serving here are at least double if compared to Tbilisi restaurants.

Large table at garden

Double portion of cucumber/tomatoes salads and freshly baked shotis puri

Grilled fish

An excellent meal - expensive (20 GEL) but worth of…

Georgian Yard (Kartuli Ezo) in Mtskheta

29 March, 2016 | Restaurant reviews | 38 seen

Restaurant "Georgian Yard" is located in the central part of Mtskheta - the ancient capital of Georgia, near the Cathedral Svetitskoveli in the territory of the central square of parking.

This restaurant is famous among tourists and guests serving delicious traditional Georgian dishes, medium prices, interesting and pleasant environment.

Georgian Yard in Mtskheta

Restaurant "Georgian Yard" unites few companies - "Fast Food," where you can enjoy delicious meals as well as hot and cold drinks;  "Wine shop" where you can taste for free and purchase the desired type of alcoholic beverage - wine, brandy and "Chacha"; 3. The most important thing - the restaurant, which is famous mainly for Georgian traditional dishes.

Wine shop Enoteka in Georgian Yard / Mtskheta

Seems this wine shop is owned by Winery Khareba - if you are not familliar with their wines and wine making traditions, I highly recommend to take you another trip to Wine Tunnel near Kvareli.

Shotis puri

Mmm a loaf of freshly baked Georgian bread - shotis puri  - can anything be better than that?

Saka Baptist Church

28 March, 2016 | Churches and Monasteries | 12 seen

An interesting church I discovered driving Aizpute - Pāvilosta road, back at the Summer 2015 - Meet Saka Baptist church in the middle of nowhere. Thus the church was closed, I was amazed of how well the territory around Saka Baptist church was landscaped. 

Saka Baptist church

There is an inscription plate above the main entrance doors at church saying this church was built in 1888, although there is written in strange (old?) Latvian - Bap.Basniza, which would translate as Baptist church, thus there is no such  word as Basniza in modern Latvian, instead there is Baznīca.

Priest's house at Saka church

We didn't met any people here today, but as I told above, I was really surprised of seeing very well landscaped territory, freshly cut lawn, flower garden and more.

Mole repeller

Awakening garden in Aizpute

28 March, 2016 | Tourism objects | 8 seen

Almost in the city center of Aizpute, on Atmodas street is located Awakening garden (Atmodas dārzs, in Latvian). It's created by group of people from cross-art organization 'Serde' ('Core')

The second life is given to empty water bottles in which tomatoes, cabbage, strawberries, mint and many other popular plants are grown. 

Awakening garden in Aizpute

I really love such sustainable development ideas, Less is more. Some time ago we planted veggies at our rural house in wooden boxes and got really good harvest.

Veggies in plastic bottles

Dirt cheap way to have a mini garden. Each plastic bottle is with a little tube at the bottom, making it effective way to water plants and save resources. Love it.

Svetiskhoveli cathedral in Mtskheta

27 March, 2016 | Churches and Monasteries | 72 seen

Svetitskhoveli Cathedral is an another must have tourist attraction site not to miss when traveling to Georgia. Located in historical and picturesque town of Mtskheta some 20 km from nation's capital Tbilisi.

It is the second largest church building in the country, after the Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi (Sameba), and is listed as an UNESCO World Heritage Site along with other historical monuments of Mtskheta.

Rumor has it - Jesus robe (mantle) is buried exactly here - well, there are at least three official church versions of Jesus robe destiny, and among them Svetitskhoveli stands out as well:

According to the tradition of the Georgian Orthodox Church, the chiton was acquired by a Jewish Rabbi from Georgia named Elioz (Elias), who was present in Jerusalem at the time of the crucifixion and bought the robe from a soldier. He brought it with him when he returned to his native town of Mtskheta, Georgia, where it is preserved to this day beneath a crypt in the Patriarchal Svetitskhoveli Cathedral. 

There is even an official holiday…

Plaza Hotel in Batumi

27 March, 2016 | Hotel reviews | 34 seen

Are you looking for a budget friendly hotel in Batumi? I can highly recommend one -  Plaza hotel, located next to the Batumi bay.

Plaza Hotel is located close to Batumi Port and in very short distance from city center. We booked Plaza hotel using local Georgian coupon site - hotsale.ge and got a lovely room with balcony and access to the Olympic swimming pool for just 50 GEL per night (with breakfast included). 

We stayed here for two nights at the start of March 2016.

It was already late night when we arrived to Batumi (with rail from Tbilisi) - and just shortly we checked in to our room I decided to make a lovely night photography - so I installed a tripod (on balcony) and got following night scenery from our room:

Batumi by night

By now I felt super tired and went to sleep, next morning I repeated the same scene.

Batumi in day

Now it was time to try in the rooftop pool

Rooftop swimming pool at Plaza Hotel in Batumi

Wow- an Olympic swimming pool offering great views to Batumi

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View towards Batumi bay from roof

From here you can take…

Day Trip to Kakheti in Georgia

26 March, 2016 | Travel guides | 18 seen

Day trips to the region of Kakheti in Georgia are quite possible and I would actually recommend taking one if you have a chance. I have explored the region of Kakheti in different ways (mostly by marshrutka and car). I prefer a personal car with a driver. If you feel you are indie or rough traveler you might try marshrukta leaving from Tbilisi.

Today I'll show you one of my favorite Kakheti day trip routes which is accessible by car.

This route will take you from Tbilisi to Telavi, then to nearby Kvareli and in the evening back to Tbilisi. (You should plan this day trip as early as possible)

It might seem like an easy route, but it will take all your day (especially if you will take your time to take pictures at these sites). You will visit a few really interesting Georgian Orthodox Churches (Nekresi monastery complex is among my favorite), a wine tunnel (you can have a wine tasting here, for additional money), you will see a Giant Plane Tree (more than 900 years old and about 12 meters wide/ 46 meters high). I would suggest trying local Telavi khinkali at Zodiako bar, and if you will be lucky enough (the day won't…

Meet the New Roof (Pictures Before and After)

26 March, 2016 | Home Remodeling | 14 seen

Yesterday we told Goodbye's to our old roof by setting up a large bonfire. Today we are saying hi to the new roof. Although officially major roof works were done a few days before - today is the day when final images of new roofing appear.

We still have some unfinished roof related works to do, but the final roof construction is here. To make a better understanding what's going out - see before and after.

Moss covering the roof

Not only moss is covering roof, the construction is skew and what's major the right side of roofing is leaky. For a complete photo story of what we got, please see: home remodeling - how it all starts

Metal roof installed

Yes, we lost one chimney, see:replacing roof - part 3: removing the old roofing (losing chimney) . The new roof is not only almost linear, but gives a much attractive and lively overall view.

Back view of the house

New roofing

OK, I agree, with that uncut crosswind sheet it looks a bit ugly, but you got the idea. 

…

How to Make Traditional Italian Pizza

25 March, 2016 | Food blogger | 42 seen

An Italian pizza was the reason for our latest travels to Italy, it was at the start of November 2015, I was kneading dough for pizza, when my beloved told me - hey, we should visit Italy and try real Italian Pizza. So we did - we spent about a week in Italy, traveling a lot and trying real Italian cuisine. 

Speaking of Italian pizza in Italy, here is the craziest pizza topped with a lot of prosciutto I ever have tried - Restaurant Antica Drogheria in Lucca, Italy, those guys just rock, if you are in vicinity of Lucca (the most famous landmark of that area probably is the leaning tower of Pisa), make sure you check this place out. 

We returned home back to Georgia with a lot of new ingredients, including salami, prosciutto and many cheeses. In today's food bloger series I will show my perfect Italian pizza recipe.  

Making pizza is not hard at all, the hardest to make ideal dough for pizza (you could of course buy already made dough, but that wouldn't be the same - I really love and enjoy dough creating and kneading process - it's mind freeing hobby - clear your thoughts and focus on things that…

Vake Park in Tbilisi

25 March, 2016 | Tourism objects | 75 seen

Nestled in the Vake district of Tbilisi, Georgia, lies a historic recreational area known as Vake Park. Since its opening to the public in 1946, the park has undergone numerous transformations, becoming a popular destination for both ex-pats and locals.

Visitors can enjoy various free and paid kids playgrounds, carousels, ice cream shops, upper-end restaurants, and cafes located near the park.

 Vake Park is home to significant landmarks, such as a monument of Victory built during Soviet times and a beautiful staircase with cascading fountains. The park's beautiful landscapes, including hundreds of thousands of conifers, fruit trees, and shrubs, make it a green oasis in the heart of Tbilisi.

First opened to the public in 1946, it was built in the former wastelands. The park has gone through many reconstructions ever since

Designed by architect K. Dgebuadze and dendrologist N. Tsitsishvili a lot of work on the drainage and landscaping with the use of blasting was carried out, created soil, planted hundreds of thousands of conifers, deciduous fruit trees (successful experience of mass transplanting adult specimens) and…

Fire, Water, Burn - Goodbye Old Roof!

24 March, 2016 | Home Remodeling | 12 seen

It was time to make a bonfire and burn wood shingle (what use to be a roof cover). At the end of Summer (2015) our bonfire place ready to be set on fire, also it was very large. I still decided to wait for a rainy day, to minimize fire risks.

I negotiated with our construction worker, who turned out to be a semiprofessional industrial burner (10 years in forestry), called to the local fire station and asked for permission, informing about precise location. They have local watch towers, and just to make sure there is no misunderstanding it's good to inform local authorities (it might be even requested by law).

For me, it seemed like a simple task - pour with petrol that large pile of shingle and it's done. My burner told me - that instead of pouring all pile you need to start small and direct fire to the rest of pile, or more correctly transship the pile to the bonfire. I trusted him and meanwhile built a doghouse for Bob.

Bonfire place

Located next to the small pond, set on fire on rainy day

Start small

Instead of starting to burn that large pile all at once, burner did set a…