How to open a bottle of wine with a hand drill
| Home Remodeling | 7 seen
There are many options to open a bottle of wine without using a cork screwer, last summer I tried a new method - using an old school hand drill.
f you have been following my blog and especially home remodeling series you have probably noticed I have been trying out a lot of interesting tools lately, how about mowing a grass with a scythe?
Tools you will need:
- A bottle of Badagoni, semisweet Khvanchkara wine (produced in Republic of Georgia)
- An old school hand drill
- Optional: A good company
Author of this blog captured in action
Opening bottle of wine with hand drill
Stacking firewood in barn
| | 6 seen
Last summer taught me a lot of new things. I tried mowing grass with a scythe after which I "upgraded" to a trimmer. After all I was doing a new thing for me - home remodeling.
In today's Piece of Life photo series I will share with you another great outdoor activity I did last summer - stacking firewood in barn.
Firewood waiting to be stacked in barn
Stacking firewood in barn
Stacking firewood in barn
Stacking firewood in barn
Turns out there are even tutorials on how to stack firewood in barn the right way:
When it comes to preparing firewood, stacking may be the most pleasant part of the job. The hard and sometimes dangerous work of disassembling a tree with a chain saw is done. The tedious splitting is over. Now comes the time to convert a loose, messy pile of wood into an orderly stack—a satisfying transformation that appeals to the builder in me. Read more: The Right Way to Stack Firewood
How to prepare traditional Solyanka soup
| Food blogger | 15 seen
In today's food blogger series I'll share a photo recipe on how to prepare traditional Solyanka soup. Solyanka is among my favorite soups and I prepare this some 3-4 times in a year. Pictures in this article are back from summer 2015 when I boiled a large pot with this delicious soup.
Solyanka is a thick, spicy and sour Russian soup that is common in Russia and other states of the former Soviet Union. There are three basic types of solyanka, with the main ingredient being either meat, fish, or mushrooms. All of them contain pickled cucumbers with brine, and often cabbage, salted mushrooms, smetana (sour cream), and dill.
Ingredients for Solyanka soup
I spent about EUR 10 to buy ingredients for this soup: instead of meat, I prefer to use smoked sausages. There are not many ingredients for this soup - meat/sausages, potatoes, carrots, onions, pickles
Start with pealing potatoes
Since it was mid Summer already, there were available new potatoes, so instead of actually pealing them I scrubbed them
…Michelangelo Square in Florence, Italy
| Tourism objects | 27 seen
Michelangelo Square is one of the best place in Florence to take picturesque panoramic views of Florence. We found this place thanks to suggestions on some travel guide and indeed, the pictures taken here are amazing.
We were lucky enough to find this place quickly as it was located in just some 3 minute drive from our hotel. Read more: Villa Carlota hotel review. We parked our car at Michelangelo Square, I installed a tripod and took some lovely views towards city of Florence.
Views toward Florence from Michelangelo Square
Views toward Florence from Michelangelo Square in HDR
Yup, I couldn't resist here to take HDR photography.
Bronze cast of David facing Florence from the center of the square at Michelangelo Square
This Florentine piazza was designed by architect Giuseppe Poggi and built in 1869 on a hill just south of the historic center, during the redevelopment of Oltrarno, the left (South) bank of the Arno river. In 1869, Florence was the capital of Italy and the whole city was involved in an urban renewal, the so-called "Risanamento…
How To Take and Post-Process Night HDR Images
| Digital Photography School | 9 seen
In today's digital school photography project I'll show how to take night HDR images and post-process them in Adobe Lightroom and Postmatix.
A year ago - taking a decent night photo sounded mission impossible for me, since I have acquired a DSLR camera a lot has changed, and I'm starting to feel being capable of creating even night HDR's now. Take a look on this tutorial: Practicing Photography: Doing Night Shots - Tbilisi By Night.
Although I don't like to spend a lot of time on post processing images, I must admit - post processing is very valuable science to master to make your photos look even better. Since there is post processing involved in HDR photography, I'll shoot in RAW mode just not to loose details of scene (as it might happen shooting in JPEG mode). Another important tool you will need to have - a sturdy tripod, because shooting at night involves long exposures, without a sturdy tripod your long exposures will be blurry. For post processing our HDR night images we are going to use Adobe Lightroom and Photomatix. Actually I have a basic tutorial on HDR photography for HDR Efex Pro , you can take a look on that article. Actually…
Hotel Villa Carlota in Florence, Italy
| Hotel reviews | 15 seen
Villa Carlota hotel in Florence is a 4-star hotel. We stayed here overnight just day before New Year in 2015. We arrived here after paid a visit to the leaning tower of Pisa and short wanderings around Tuscany vineyards.
Previous night we spent at another 4-star hotel in Lucca. Read more: Albergo Celide Hotel Review in Lucca, Italy. Villa Carlota compared to Albergo Celide is a truly a 4-star hotel and I will definitely return to this hotel next when spending time in Florence.
Villa Carlota hotel in Florence, Italy
Villa Carlotta is a 19th-century country manor surrounded by parks and gardens. It is near the panoramic terrace of Piazzale Michelangelo, and a 15-minute walk from the Ponte Vecchio bridge. This 4-star hotel offers free parking, a pool and free Wi-Fi. Each room comes with air conditioning, satellite TV, and elegant parquet floors. The style is classic, with chandeliers, and furniture in lacquered wood. At Hotel Villa Carlotta you can relax out on the veranda and in the garden. International cocktails are served at the bar, while for lunch and dinner you can choose from a selection of hot and cold dishes. …
Vineyards in Tuscany, Italy
| | 3 seen
If there are a thousands things to see before we die - I believe to see vineyards in Tuscany are among them. At the end of December 2015, we traveled around region of Tuscany in Italy and to memorize those fascinating places I created a few panorama photos. Vineyards in Tuscany - Piece of Life.
Vineyards in Tuscany
It is amazing to observe how using a simple DSLR camera with kit lens I figured out to create a panorama photo here (stitching together some 6 photos). I believe it is all about experiment and never stop, so even when in travels you can end with a decent looking final images.
Panorama photo of vineyards in Tuscany
Vineyards in Winter in Tuscany, Italy
I believe in Summer when those vineyards are actually flourishing it is 100% better here
Road and vineyards in Tuscany, Italy
View to Italian town from distance in Tuscany
Vineyards in Tuscany region
'I Fossi' Restaurant in San Gimignano, Italy
| Restaurant reviews | 6 seen
I Fossi is a small roadside restaurant located in San Gimignano town in Italy. We arrived here just shortly we paid a visit to the Leaning tower of Pisa.
We made a stop here by chance, just because noticed there is one free parking spot available. Unfortunately we managed to order just two cappuccinos and noticed there is a queue with cars on the nearby street, some lady had arrived to the hotel (turns out there is a hotel as well at this place) and waited to park her car. I told her, could she wait for some 10 minutes while we will finish our cappuccinos and then she well have a place to park her car, she was happy of such offer and agreed, so we enjoyed our 10 minutes here and headed deeper in Tuscany, but during those 10 short minutes here I asked to the restaurant staff members could I make a few photos of this place, got permission and intensively pressed shutter button on my camera.
Roadside restaurant I Fossi in San Gimignano, Italy
Would you like to see how a roadside restaurant looks in Republic of Georgia? Take a look: Roadside cafe near Surami Mountain Pass
I Fossi restaurant in San…
Roadside cafe near Surami Mountain Pass
| Restaurant reviews | 16 seen
I'm not quite sure what name this pace actually wears - I started to call it Perevelnaya (From Russian: Перевальная) which in English might sound like Next to the Mountain Pass. Since this cafeteria is actually located next to the Surami mountain pass, I believe there is nothing wrong with such of interpretation by me.
This cafe is a regular stop for me, whn traveling from Tbilisi to Kutaisi by car, in most cases I'm heading to Kutaisi airport to pick up some friends or relatives who have arrived there and needs to get back to Tbilisi, it's always lovely to enjoy a cup of Turkish coffee or eat some sausages at this place.
Roadside cafe near Surami mountain pass
While it was a sunny and bright day in Tbilisi, without precipitation, it was a snow white here when we arrived (at the end of December, 2015). Actually, its not rare to observe such weather changes exactly near Surami mountain pass.
Roadside cafe near Surami mountain pass
Seems this is a popular place, even taxi's are heading here.
Simple but tasty sausage at this place
Roadside cafe near Surami pass
Cafe 'Jumis' in Skrunda
| Restaurant reviews | 15 seen
Cafe Jumis in Skrunda was among my top dining places during Summer 2015, because of it's close location to our rural house.
Located next to the highway connecting Riga with Liepaja in Skrunda town, they serve a typical bistro food here for a very attractive prices. They definitely have the best desserts I have tried in these parts of Latvia. Banana, plum and other milkshakes just rocks here.
Cafe Jumis in Skrunda
Daily menu at Jumis cafe
Typical Latvian bistro food - boiled potatoes, cabbage salads and meat sauce
The same menu, but instead of meat sauce you can choose meatballs
They have a free WiFi so you can check your e-mail as well (take a look in the background)
Tremendous out flake jelly
Banana milk shake
The Bottom lineWhen traveling to or near Skrunda, make sure you make a stop here and have a lovely Latvian style dinner.
Cafe 'Pagrabiņš' in Kuldīga
| Restaurant reviews | 26 seen
If you are the lucky one and you have a chance to visit picturesque Latvian town of Kuldīga, make sure you make your dinning out at town's of of the best cafe's/ restaurant - Cafe Pagrabiņš.
- Or take a look of another Kuldīga restaurants here.
Located in the heart of Kudlīga Old town on Baznicas street, this place offers traditional Latvian cuisine for a very reasonable prices.
Cafe Pagrabins in Kuldīga
Located next to the town square in Kuldīga, where major town events are held, like Feast in Kuldīga
Cafe Pagrabins Logo
Interior at Pagrabiņš
Menu at cafe Pagrabins
They have a wide selection of traditional Latvian cuisine here, prices are reasonable.
Coffee Amerciano and additional hot milk
Traditional Latvian dessert at Cafe Pagrabins
The Bottom LineI just love this place, and so do will you!
Check out official website of cafe Pagrabiņš: www.pagrabins.lv
Blog Traffic and Income Report for 2015 - 347,035 users / $9,819.71
| Blogging | 19 seen
This time of the year have come when I'm looking back on previous 2015 year. In today's article I will reveal some data behind the scenes - both traffic and income for whole year of 2015.
If you have been following my blog for a while, you have already probably noticed that once in a month I cover monthly traffic and income reports. Make sure you check them out. This article is a round up posts for previous twelve reports.
This blog has gone a long way and has increased it's monthly visitor count from 19,798 in January to 43,941 users in December. November marked all times best result - more than 50,000 monthly users.
- In total this blog reached 347,035 users in 2015
- In average it is 28,920 monthly users or
- 950 daily visitors
Blog traffic report (monthly view). Data source: Google Analytics
As it happened back in 2014, the biggest traffic gains came in Q3 and Q4, with November making all times best. Page views my blog generated in 2015 reached pretty serious milestone of 0.5 millions
2015 vs 2014I can proudly report that in…
Leaning tower of Pisa in Italy
| Tourism objects | 42 seen
We all have heard about Pisa tower, I won't be too original by saying - it's that leaning tower located somewhere in Italy.
At the end of 2015 I had a chance to visit this place second time in my lifetime (my mom, told me that I was here back in 1990 or 1991, but was so tired that refused to leave our tourist bus and took a lovely nap instead of wondering at this oblique tower).
This time I felt very energized, armored with a tripod and a lot of new photography skills I have learnt since I started digital photography school project. I experimented a lot with HDR and Panorama photography at Tower of Pisa. The result? Take a look:
Pisa tower in Italy
It is situated behind the Cathedral and is the third oldest structure in Pisa's Cathedral Square (Piazza del Duomo) after the Cathedral and the Baptistery.
Author of this blog captured in action
Cathedral near Pisa tower
The Piazza dei Miracoli, formally known as Piazza del Duomo (Italian: Cathedral Square), is a wide walled area located in Pisa, Tuscany, Italy, recognized as an important center of European…
Restaurant Antica Drogheria in Lucca, Italy
| Restaurant reviews | 14 seen
Restaurant Antica Drogheria is located in Lucca, Italy, we discovered this restaurant by accident, just shortly checked in at Albergo Celide hotel and decided to make an evening walk beyond Lucca's city wall.
And here it was - another great Italian restaurant located on Via Elisa, 5.
Antica Drogheria in Lucca, Italy
We had to wait for about some 10 minutes to get a free table (seems this place is extremely popular), by waiting for a free place we ordered a cappuccino in the restaurant's anteroom
Italian cappuccino
Comes with a very low price here - just EUR 1 for a cup of cappuccino (although it's everywhere cheap in Italy)
Pizza oven
When in Italy you order pizza, right? When In Lucca, they serve pizza with prosciutto topping:
Four formage pizza topped with a lot of prosciutto
At Antica Drogheria in Lucca
Author of this blog captured in action
The Bottom LineAntica Drogheria is a place which will always associate me with Lucca. I haven't checked other dining places in Lucca, but I feel…
Feast in Kuldiga
| | 8 seen
A brilliant festival is held in town of Kuldiga (Western Latvia) each year just shortly after midsummer. In today's Piece of Life photo project series I would love to share some images from Feast in Kuldiga (taken July, 2015)
Such trade fairs are pretty popular in Latvia - visitors can buy goods from local craftsmen, artists or small producers.
Cider sold from retro car in Kuldiga
Feast in Kuldiga banner
Basket ware sold at fair
Smoked chicken
Visitors at feast of Kuldiga on Liepajas street
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