10 Best Andorra la Vella Hotels
| Hotel reviews | 5 seen
Riga Zoo
| Entertainment | 72 seen
Riga Zoo is a city-owned zoo in Riga, Latvia. It is located in Mežaparks neighbourhood next to the Mežaparks park, on the western bank of Ķīšezers lake. Riga Zoo houses around 4000 animals of nearly 500 species and is visited by 250-300,000 visitors annually.
Ocassionaly I love visitin Riga zoo, in this article some of my pictures and data when I visited Riga Zoo together with my mom at the start of May 2016
I took my DSLR camera with myself and captured more than 600 images here, just 17 survived to you my dear reader.
Entrance gates at Riga zoo
Riga Zoo is located in a lovely neighbourhood of Mežaparks.
Flamingos at Riga Zoo
A camel at Riga zoo
A peacock at Riga Zoo
At Riga Zoo
Riga Zoo
Although it's forbidden to feed animals at Riga zoo, some little fella couldn't resist to feed this one with a carrot. Where did he got that carrot?
At Riga Zoo
Giraffe at Zoo
Secretary-bird at Riga Zoo
Now, I enjoyed this creature the most. From Wikipedia: The secretarybird or secretary…
Dobele Castle Ruins
| Tourism objects | 16 seen
Right, lets speak about a topic I like a very much - Castle ruins. Recently I visited Dobele Castle Ruins (Republic of Latvia) and spent here some 30 minutes trying to make some decent photos of this place. History of this castle dates back to the 1335 AD. But prior to that there was another castle (Read more at the end of this post)
Fortification walls of Dobele Castle
Fortification walls of Dobele Castle
Dobele castle ruins
Dobele castle ruins
Here I laid down in the grass and experimented with a photography. Personally I have found this technique gives me best photos in case I'm not using a tripod. Actualy I did use here a small gorilla pad tripod. In a result I got a pretty interesting image (at least I believe so)
Dobele castle ruins
Again, the same technique
Don't climb up there
You can get a decent fine for doing that. The sign stands here from times Latvia did use Latvian Lats as its national currency. 250 Ls equals to some EUR 355.
Inside territory at Dobele castle
View to the Dobele town from Castle ruins…
Dobele Evangelical Lutheran Church
| Churches and Monasteries | 7 seen
I was surprised to learn that this church is more than 500 years old. Prior I learnt that I was even more surprised to learn that Dobele town has a lovely historical centre. This church is located just next to this historical centre.
I took my camera and tried to make some great pictures here.
Dobele Evangelical Lutheran Church
I believe all is said with just this one photo. Just marvellous.
Entrance at this church
Info table
This church is now already 520 years old
Back view
As usual in Latvian churches, the doors were closed (some construction works were held inside) and I hadn't any chance to photograph inside interior.
About Dobele Evangelical Lutheran ChurchThe Dobele Evangelical Lutheran Church is situated in the town centre next to the Marketplace. The church was built in 1495 of the order of Valter fon Pletenberg, Master of the Livonian Order. The church was rebuilt for several times, the tower steeple got its present look in 1907. In 1995, on the 500 anniversary of the church, a new roof was covered and the outer walls were painted.
The Historical Centre of Dobele - Marketplace Square
| Tourism objects | 10 seen
Dobele is a small town located in historical region of Zemgale in Latvia some 60 km South West from nations capital city Riga. One thing a tourist should visit while in Dobele definitely is it's historical centre - marketplace square. In recent years this place has gone through some renovation and last time I visited it - it looked just amazing.
Well if you are hoping to see both old and new architecture, like it's for example in German city Bonn's marketplace, then no - you wont find here any skyscrapers. For some reason I got this feeling that time at this place has stood still from some 19th century.
Historical centre of Dobele
A tourist info board explaining history of this place
A fountain as central element here
I must admit a very interesting design for this fountain
Dobele Evangelical Lutheran Church
This church has been built on AD 1495
Fountains built in the pavement
I used a gorilla pad and got a lovely angle
Dwelling house and a fountain
Speaking of this dwelling house - a typical Latvian 19th century dwelling house
…
Cafe 'Dzirnaviņas' in Biksti
| Restaurant reviews | 82 seen
Cafe Dzirnaviņas is located on the roadside of Riga - Liepaja highway in a small county of Biksti. This place serves a traditional Latvian cuisine for a very affordable prices.
Cafe Dzirnavinas
Menu at Cafe Dzirnavinas
As usual it might happen in local Latvian restaurants - a pork chop is a most popular meal. Prices indicated here are in EUR. Portions? Enormous!
A daily dose of Coca-Cola
They serves Coke with ice here (on request)
Bread kvass
Another traditional element from Latvian cuisine - a bread kvass
Pork chop
Boiled vegetables
The Bottom LineCafe Dzirnaviņas seems is a very popular place among locals and foreigners I met here a few foreigners as well - Russians, Belarussians and even a noisy Estonian.
Food served here is tasty, portions are pretty large. Prices - very affordable.
Top 5 Drones For Photography For Sale On Amazon
| Laptop Reviews | 11 seen
Few months ago during a hiking trip in an amazing Birtvisi Canyon (Republic of Georgia) I first started to "fantasy" about a drone photography. Back then, shortly returning from this trip I started to do some basic research on drones (what's popular, prices e.t.c.) and created the ultimate list of Best Drone To Buy in 2015.
Now since I have been into a photography as well, I decided to take a closer look on drones for photographers / photography and here is what I have found: DJI Phantom still is the king among drones / quad copters. Either during last few months prices for drones have been dropped, either drones for photography are cheaper than Best drones. Anyway, please find the top 5 drones which are good for photography.
Please note this list contains affiliate links to Amazon.com, by clicking on links on this page and by making a purchase on Amazon site, I will earn an affiliate income from that. Prices for drones listed on this page is retrieved by using Amazon Product Advertising API and is updated daily.
DJI Phantom Aerial UAV Drone Quadcopter for GoProDJI's Phantom quadcopter is the gear of…
Skrunda Bus Station
| Railway / Bus / Ferry | 23 seen
Skrunda bus station is a regional bus station serving local Latvian cities and town. It mainly serves Riga and Liepaja route, but you can get from here to Kuldīga, Kazdanga and other local routes. If you are heading to Skrunda by bus you can either hire some local taxi here or walk to the closely located Skrunda abandoned military town (Distance ~ 6km).
Speaking of this station building - for me it looks like a pretty standard Soviet time architecture built from a concrete.
Skrunda bus station
Platform at Skrunda bus station
Buses from Platform NR1 goes to Riga
Waiting room at Skrunda Bus Station
Bus schedule
Skrunda Bus Station
Rudzisu Stone
| Tourism objects | 11 seen
We discovered Rudzisu Stone (Rudzīšu akmens) by accident driving some remote roads in Latvian countryside. What at start seemed an easy task turned to be a mini hiking tour. Although there is a tourist sign right next to the road some (perhaps you) will need walk to this stone some 500 meters (at least) from that road. You will have a chance to meet some snails, cross two wooden bridges, dive into a spooky forest in case you are up to for this mini hiking tour.
Here are approximate coordinates for this stone: Latvia, Kuldiga district, Laidi municipality, 300 m E from Snepele - Kazdanga road, in small gully 140 m N from Rudzisi.
Snails near Rudzisi stone
We met a lot of these small creatures here
A typical panorama of Latvian countryside
Well I believe the panoramas and little creatures (snails) makes 80% of a trip to Rudzisi stone
A forest near Rudzisi stone
Since I have been a lot lately into a photography I decided to make a good looking picture of forest.
A wooden bridge in the forest
As I said we made some extra 500 meters to reach this…
Berghof Restaurant Review in Dairy Manor, Sieksāte, Latvia
| Restaurant reviews | 15 seen
This restaurant is located inside the Dairy Manor Berghof complex. During my visit at this complex I had a chance to try a local delicacy like salmon tartar at this restaurant. I learned there exists a gadget called a tea timer while I enjoyed my meal here.
Dairy Manor (Piena Muiža in Latvian) Berghof is located in the remote Latvian village of Sieksāte some 160 km from capital Riga. This manor complex serves a hotel, restaurant, museum and a lovely park.
Outdoor Patio at this Restaurant
I believe some (perhaps you) will enjoy this patio in mild summer evenings.
Indoor interior
Indoor interior
Indoor interior
Embroidered blanket
Saying Enjoy your meal!
Tea timer
Some interesting and for me unseen element a tea timer
Recipe book
The menu at this restaurant is accompanied with some interesting food recopies. The one on photo above indicates how to prepare an egg cream liqueur.
Indoor interior
Salmon tartar
Some pasta
The bottom…My Germany and The Netherlands Travel Guide
| Travel guides | 6 seen
Back at the end of April 2015, we made a lovely trip to Keukenhof's Tulip Gardens.
This trip started and ended at a remote German Frankfurt - Hahn airport. Although the total time for this trip was just 3 days we traveled a lot. You will find a few landmarks, a few restaurants, and a few hotel reviews in this article
Dairy Manor Berghof
| Tourism objects | 22 seen
Dairy Manor (Piena Muiža in Latvian) Berghof is located in the remote Latvian village of Sieksāte some 160 km from capital Riga. This manor complex serves a hotel, retaurant, museum and a lovely park.
Bicycle parking at Berghof
Some (perhaps you) can rent a bicycle here and enjoy a lovely ride around this manor complex
Camper parking at Berghof
Dairy Manor Offers 17 well-equipped campers and daravan pitches and facility house, thus enabling travellers to spend holidays as close as possible to nature, at the same time having all comfort options of the Manor. Picturesque landscapes and pastures, centennial alley planted in the time of Baron, murmur of the leaves in the autumn inspire you to leave the city buzz and step towards the nature. To watch the morning dew in the rising sun, listen to the birds` warble, to please eyes with red deer on the pasture grounds of the Manor, or pet the little sheep.
Deers at Berghof
Sheep at Dairy Manor Berghof
Dairy Manor Berghof from back
A typical Latvian countryside
Sauna and pool inside Hotel…
Top 10 Best Selling Lenovo Laptops
| Laptop Reviews | 81 seen
Lenovo is known for the ThinkPad, IdeaPad, Yoga, and Flex line of notebook computers.
A couple of years ago, when looking at Lenovo laptops, I was very skeptical, today I'm calling a laptop from Lenovo a reliable business laptop. Even at our Tbilisi office, we have been using a few Lenovo Ideapad 320 laptops, and they are great. The latest Lenovo models are powered with powerful quad-core processors and feature a touchscreen
In this article, you will find Lenovo laptop models which are among the top sellers / most popular laptops on Amazon.com.
Top 20 Best-Selling Lenovo Laptops in 2023
Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links to Amazon.com, by clicking on links on this page and by making a purchase on the Amazon site, I will earn an affiliate income at no cost to you. Prices for laptops listed on this page are retrieved using Amazon Product Advertising API and is updated daily. For actual prices please refer on the product page on Amazon.
Lenovo Ideapad 3 Laptop, 15.6" HD Touchscreen, 11th Gen Intel Core i3-1115G4…The Northern Forts of Liepaja
| Military Heritage | 110 seen
If you just like me are into fortification systems you will definitely enjoy The Northern Forts of Liepaja.
Built by Imperial Russia at the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of 20th century to provide the protection of Liepāja’s naval base in case of enemy attack. According to history - In November of 1908, Tsar Nicholas II approved a decision to shut down the sea fortress in Liepāja. It has been now over 100 years since these fortification walls don't function anymore and just recently they have been placed on tourist maps.
The Northern Forts of Liepāja
Over a century old but still in a pretty good shape
Wind Generator near Liepāja
Located just next to the old Northern Forts (under it there is a free parking lot)
The Northern Forts of Liepāja
The territory of the Northern Forts of Liepāja
In recent years The Northern Forts of Liepāja have been placed on local tourism guides and nowadays everyone is welcome to visit them.
About The Northern FortsThe Northern Forts are a part of Liepāja’s fortress. The fortress was built at the end…
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