Flights to Mestia from Tbilisi will resume starting July 18th by Service Air

14 July, 2014 | Living in Georgia | 8 seen

<p>Today I red splendid news on Georgian news - <a href="http://newsgeorgia.ru/economy/20140714/216770339.html&quot; target="_blank">starting July 18Th flights from Tbilisi to Mestia will be resumed</a> - and will be performed by Georgian flight company - Service Air.</p><p>According to news - the flights will happen 3 times in a week - Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Flight will leave Tbilisi at 11:00 and will return from Mestia 14:00. Ticket price will be 65 GEL.</p><p>I was so impressed and eager to visit Svanetia, I immediately called "Service Air" company - to make a reservation. Unfortunately women at the other end of phone - explained me - that they (Service Air) don't know anything yet, and full confirmation should be announced today/tomorrow. Answering on my question - yes, but the news are already in newspapers, she told me - that newspapers have rushed events.</p><p>Anyway - that's great news - and I do believe flights will resume to Mestia soon. It's awaited that flight duration will be about 45 minutes - that's just brilliant - instead of 7-8 hour drive by car -…

Vazhatravel.com - tours and travel in Georgia

13 July, 2014 | Drupal Development | 11 seen

Vazhatravel.com was a Drupal-powered site a built for a friend. Vazha Travel offers one of the best rates for tours and transfers in Georgia. With Vazha Travel you can order airport transfer from Tbilisi airport to the Tbilisi city centre as low as 25 GEL (Most taxis at Tbilisi airport will ask you more), so do you can book a transfer to and from Kutaisi or Batumi airport.

The further developments of Vazhatravel website has been canceled, though the service is still available, feel free to contact Vazha by phone numbers listed in this article or visit VazhaTravel Facebook page, alternatively see: Organized tours in Georgia

This site is built with Drupal 7 under its hood, and its expected to use the multilingual feature on it soon. It's awaited to add Russian, Polish and other languages. Right now it's more just the "core" with more functions to come in future.

Vazha Travel front page.

One of the features I wanted to build into this site - booking function - availability for customers to book online tours and transfers. For such a behavior I'm using simple, but yet powerful combination of Drupal nodes and node…

How I turned my Instagram account into a Photo Blog

12 July, 2014 | Drupal Development | 11 seen

In April I bought my first ever "smartphone" - Android phone with Dual SIM... It actully has WI-Fi router built in and in days I have no "ground" Wi-FI I can use Mobile Internet to connect to my laptop. Anyway - I'm very satisfied with my first Android phone.

I must admit I'm using phone for it's sole purpose - to call, but that has changed - with my new Android phone - I'm using few apps on it (Google Adsense, Google Analytics, some news apps and Instagram).

Some already probably knwo - I'm an expat in Georgia (South Caucasus), when I first arrived here, more than 3 years ago. I arrived already with an aim - to build Travel site for Georgia. Since I didn't know anything about this amazing country - I decided this will be amazing expierience. To put my Drupal knoweldge together with something exciting - exploring a new country from A-Z.

I wanted to build something fancy, something cool - I wanted to build kinda a Lonely Planet site for Georgia alone. I believe I created a really good job in terms of site architecture. Site involved complex structure, it used XML feeds to Parse Flickr, Wikipedia, it had geotagged content attached to almost every node.…

18 Kutaisi Hostels That Won't Break Your Travel Budget

11 July, 2014 | Hotel reviews | 9 seen

<p>Kutaisi although second largest city in Georgia, comes with pretty bad infrastructure. In 2012 new Kutaisi airport was opened in Kutaisi (actually it's located some 30 km out of Kutaisi city centre). Wizzair cheap avio flights come to Georgia, new routes from Kiev, Warsaw, Vilnius and other destinations has been added and new hostels popped like a mushrooms after a rain in Kutaisi. These hostels are not typical hostels with standards you might seen somewhere else in Europe. Most often they come with basic necessities. My observations - that many owners of Kutaisi hostels are Ukrainians. I guess the reason is Kiev-Kutaisi flights.&nbsp;</p><p>Anyhow - &nbsp;if you are one of the "lucky ones" arrived at Kutaisi airport, and are desperate finding an accommodation for your future discoveries in rest of Georgia, then here is the list with:</p><p><strong>18 Hostels in Kutaisi with price less than 50 GEL for 2 persons per night.</strong></p><p><strong><br></strong></p><h2 class="item"><span id="hp_hotel_name" class="fn"><a href="http…

Setting my first Booking.com affiliate goal

10 July, 2014 | Blogging | 11 seen

I'm new to affiliate marketing and I'm new to Booking.com affiliate marketing. Although I have been using Booking.com affiliate marketing for more than one year already - I haven't made much of it. But that doesn't mean this affiliate marketing program sucks. That means - my affiliate marketing tactics sucks. And I have decided to change that. To make changes we must change our behaviour. It so simple. If I want to succeed with Booking.com affiliate marketing - I must define some goals at first.

I could now write down - how I plan to get 80K in a year from Booking.com - but I wont do that. That doesn't mean I wouldn't be happy to make 80k with Booking.com, what it means - I'm to small to make such a money in such a short time. Instead I will write how I plan to send my first 50 visitors in a month to Booking.com site.

Yes, that's right -

I'm not talking right now for any actual bookings, I'm talking to drive traffic to my site(s) to drive traffic to Booking.com

Why my goal is so modest?

As I already…

Former Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze died at 86

7 July, 2014 | Living in Georgia | 14 seen

<p>Today at 12:00, Tbilisi time - former president of Georgia Eduard Shevarnadze after continues illness has died.&nbsp;</p><p>Many including me - remember Eduard Shevarndadze not only as president of Georgia, but also as a foreign minister of Soviet Union. There were time Mr. Shevernadze was considered second person after Mikhail Gorbochov in USSR.</p><p>Eduard Shevernadze after collapse of Soviet Union became a 2nd president of Georgia in 1995 and held his position till 2003, when resigned from office after Rose Revolution, which led Mikheil Saakashhili in power.</p><p>There has been many talks about Mr. Shevernadze impact on Soviet Unions foreign policy as well his role in newly independent Republic of Georgia. But one is for sure - such an important political figure be hard to find soon in Georgia.</p><p>Taking in consideration that Mr. Eduard Shevernadze was not in active politics for last decade, he was considered prominent consultant. I remember some time ago I red an interview with Eduard Shevernadze, where &nbsp;- quote:</p><blockquote><p>Mikheil Saakashilli was best gift Russia could dream…

Feature Film Mayrig Review

7 July, 2014 | Worth to Watch | 58 seen

Mayrig is a feature film about Armenian immigrant family living in France, shortly after they have emigrated from their motherland - Armenia. Set on the streets of 1920-ties in Marseilles, France this film shows different aspects of life and struggles of an Armenian family.

You can access this movie on Youtube

A chapter or some 30 minutes is dedicated to Armenian Genocide in 1915 - when Ottoman empire humiliated, starved and mass killed a large population of Armenian people.

Mayrig movie is about a mother. As far as my Armenian language knowledge reaches - Mayrig, means mother in the Armenian language. 

The story is told by young Armenian boy - Azad Zakairian, who later becomes a famous director of theater and changes his name to Pierre Zakar. He never forgets his native Armenia.

There is a great scene in this film when young Azad together with other French schoolboys attends Sunday school at French Catholic Church, and pastor impacts to schoolboys - There can be no forgiven without Catholics Church,  young Azad silently in his thoughts replies to the pastor:

Armenian Apostolic church was built 17 centuries…

Related nodes based on taxonomy terms

5 July, 2014 | Drupal Development | 29 seen

Today I will show you, how you can create a list with related items for your Drupal site using taxonomy terms and Drupal views. At first you will need you actual content with taxonomy terms on it. If you are not familiar how to add taxonomy terms to your Drupal site, you might want to read this guide on that.

I presume you have your content set up, it's tagged with different terms. Now lets add a block with related items on that.

Related nodes based on taxonomy terms

In above screen you can see an example with node page and related nodes in block. You can see a live example as well here.

This is achieved by using views and placing it on themes region. 

Create a new content based view - call it Related Items (or so) add title, image and body fields to it. We will need to use 2 contextual filters. Nid and Has taxonomy term id.

Configure your nid filter as following:

• Provide default value: Content ID from URL
• Under More tab - Check next to Exclude

Configure your Has taxonomy term…

Turtle lake - My working place for today

5 July, 2014 | Living in Georgia | 11 seen

In summertime it's hot as hell in Tbilisi city - there are two options  - air conditioner or Turtle lake. I prefer second option. 

The features of working at Turtle lake - here is a free Wi-Fi internet available, all across the lake (Silkspot), here is a great coffee bar - Intelligentsia, which Turkish coffee is among the best available in Tbilisi and Georgia overall.

Turkish coffee at Intelligentsia coffee bar (Turtle lake)

And best of all you can get out of your everyday Tbilisi routine. Did I mentioned? Weather here is more windy and for a few degrees lower than in city? Why it so? That's an easy question - Turtle lake is located up in the Tbilisi mountains, the altitude is some 400-500 meters.

Simply put your laptop on table, connect to Silkspot and enjoy

Intelligentsia coffee bar

I must admit it's not about working only - it's about being outdoors and getting breath of fresh mountainous/lake air.

Speaking of internet connections here, as I said - here is free Wi-Fi available, but in case it's not working (it's Georgia) you might to use your phone as a Wi-Fi router. I do…

Tbilisi hostels: 15 hostels in Tbilisi for couples

4 July, 2014 | Hotel reviews | 13 seen

<p>Tbilisi is a brilliant city. &nbsp;Once heading to Tbilisi you might consider your options for safe and clean home away feeling. In this article I have listed 15 hostels that are suited for those who travel as couples and offer great value for even better price.</p><p>Although Tbilisi is a home for some 2 millions inhabitants, don't be scared, it's pretty easy to navigate around Tbilisi. Good strategic locations for your hostel could be considered - Rustaveli Avenue &nbsp;or Marjanishvilli neighbourhood.. anyway, there is plenty of taxi's who will take you to any destination in Tbilisi and even beyond.</p><p>Most of the hostels listed here are close to the city centre, and all offers Free Wi-Fi internet. In this list you will find some guest houses and boutique hotels as well.</p><p>For budget travellers - Tbilisi offers great hostels, guest houses and even boutique hotels. Most of here listed hostels varies in price from 30 - 50 GEL ($17 - $28 or EUR 12.5 - EUR 20) per night.&nbsp;</p><p>If you are really on tight budget you might consider to book a dormitory room.&nbsp;</p><p>…

SPAR enters Georgian market; SCANIA to produce fuel from wine making waste; Georgia celebrates EU AA and Free Trade

3 July, 2014 | Living in Georgia | 16 seen

<p>On the other day I spent interesting afternoon walking around one of Tbilisi's neighbourhoods - Saburtalo. Made a ton of instagrams, visited local shopping chain Goodwill, tasted sushi and other different activities.</p><p>On days like that - is great opportunity to observe what is happening around in city and in country. You might ask how? Well, it's easy with your eyes. I usually prefer free business newspapers available in different city's place. So it got my free newspapers at <a href="http://www.tourgeorgia.eu/goodwill-saburtalo">Saburtalo Goodwills</a> shopping centre.&nbsp;</p><h2>Georgian Press Review</h2><p><strong>First SPAR supermarket to open in Georgia</strong> - interesting article about Dutches owned supermarkets store, soon will be available in Georgia - it seems that SPAR will acquire two other local Georgian supermarket stores - IOLI and Foodmart. I have no idea what is Foodmart, but IOLI is small chain with few store across the city.</p><p>I guess after entrance in Georgian shopping market - SPAR will aim to get 1st place. On the other hand there are…

My online income report - June 2014

2 July, 2014 | Blogging | 8 seen

Last month was great in terms of my online earnings. I managed to earn $16.49 from Google Adsense alone. It's 174% increase compared to my earnings from Google Adsense in previous month.

My earnings in June is not only highest this year, but it's also a personal record for my Google Adsense account lifetime results. Previous highest earnings per month I earned in January 2010 when it was $15.46. Hooray, I'm happy with my earnings this month.

It's interesting to observe that overall traffic to my web properties didn't increase so much as increased my Google Adsense earnings. So, more earnings is explained by higher CPC (Cost per click) rate.

It's against Google's TOS (terms os service) to reveal CPC and CTR ratings, so I wont reveal them, but I will just add that CPC doubled, while CTR even went a little bit down. Of course I had a some traffic increase as well to my web properties.

My average daily earnings last month reached $0.55 which is up by $0.36 a day - for some it might sound pathetic results - I know - but for me - it's a huge leap.

• Highest…

Blog statistics June 2014

1 July, 2014 | Blogging | 10 seen

This month was pretty good if compared with previous months in terms of website statistics. I reached 1491 unique visitors, what is 45.18% increase compared with my blog statistics in May.

My blog website stats in month of June

1491 unique visitors in a month makes average 49.7 unique visitors in a day, what is up by 16.58 visitors in a day compared with my average day visitor count in previous month (33.12).

In June I started to more aggressively work with Social Media, I opted in for 3 social media sites  - Twitter, Pinterest, Google+... I do have Facebook as well, but in previous month I didn't perform there any activities. Social Network sites generated me 19.64% of unique visitors and here is the breakdown for each of them:

• Twitter - 184
• Facebook - 46
• Pinterest - 36
• Google+ - 20

As I already said - I din't perform any activities on Facebook at all - but still got 46 unique visitor from there. I did a lot on Twitter and Pinterest although. And compared them - it's oblivious that Twitter can generate way more traffic. Speaking of Google+ - The…

GDP per capita in Ukraine: Past, Present, and Future (2014)

30 June, 2014 | Macroeconomics | 10 seen

The Ukrainian economy has struggled to reach its full potential, with a GDP per capita of $3,866 thousands in 2012. Despite recent developments, such as the signing of the Association Agreement with the European Union, Ukraine's economy remains far behind that of its neighbors, including Russia.

A look at the historical GDP data for Ukraine reveals a pattern of underperformance compared to Russia. Despite being a relatively large country, Ukraine has consistently had a GDP per capita that is about one-tenth of Russia's, with a difference of three to four times in terms of GDP terms per capita.

The reasons for this underperformance are numerous and complex, but it is clear that Ukraine's economy has been closely tied to Russia's, with a sharp decline in GDP per capita during the Russian financial crisis of 1998. The Ukrainian economy was also severely impacted by the global economic crisis of 2008-2009, which resulted in a significant decrease in GDP per capita.

However, recent events, including the annexation of Crimea by Russia and separatist movements in Eastern Ukraine, have prompted Ukraine to look towards the West and integrate its economy with…

Experienced my first Earth Quake - Tbilisi

29 June, 2014 | Living in Georgia | 10 seen

Today for the first time in my life I felt tremors of earth quake and it happened in Tbilisi, capital of Georgia. Nothing serious, as it's was announced in news - magnitude of this quake was 4.8. Although using other sources I found it was even 5.2.

My story will be as dumb as many other dumb stories you have heard, like  - I went to bath and then I noticed that water is swinging.

Indeed, my story is dumb - I laid back to take a nap and felt my bed is swinging. OK... at first I thought and continued to enjoy my nap. Then after few hours when again I was enjoying another great nap (Actually usually I don't take 2 naps in a day, I don't nap at all, but today 2 naps and two quakes) - and it happened again - my bed was swinging again.

And now I was sure - it's definitely was an earthquake.

I checked an online earthquake maps report and found this quake happened in the territory of Azerbaijan

Map reporting earthquake in the territory of Azerbaijan

M 5.2 - 9km NE of Zaqatala, Azerbaijan

DYFI? - II
Time
2014-06-29 21:26:12 UTC+04:00
Location
41.703°N 46.717°E
Depth
34.4km