Rike Park from a DJI Mavic Mini Drone Flight
| | 9 seen
Rike park is a popular recreational area located in Tbilisi. We have been heading here ever since it was opened to public back in 2012.
Park is great for photography, a lot of interesting architectural elements. It was at the end of July 2020. I got DJI Mavic mini shipped to Tbilisi and it was agreed to go and test it out at the Rike park.
Air balloon over Rike Park in Tbilisi
There is a cable car station connecting Rike park with Narikala fortress
Rike park from above
A little amphitheater and many pathways
Rike park from above
The Bridge of Piece
The Bridge of Peace in Tbilisi is a pedestrian bridge and one of the most famous tourist spots in the city. It connects district of Tbilisi Old Town with Rike Park over a river of Mtkvari.
Tbilisi music theater and concert hall
Cows Cooling off in a lake in Georgia
| | 4 seen
It was in mid-July, we were heading to the Dashabashi canyon near the Tsalka town in Georgia when suddenly on the roadside we noticed a strange view - cows were cooling off in a small mud lake.
Such senses are more typical to Africa, it was the first time I have seen something like that in Georgia. Luckily I had a camera to take a few shots.
Cows cooling off in a muddy lake
DJI Mini Mavic Drone Review
| Gadget Reviews | 14 seen
DJI Mini Mavic drone has been around for a while already (since the end of 2019). It was at the start of July 2020, when I decided to order a drone for me.
As I didn't have any idea what's good and what's not, I just headed to Amazon and looked for best-selling drones/ quadcopters. I did order under $100 SnapTain 650 D, but once it was out for shipping and I started to familiarize better with the product from the description, I understood that this drone most probably is not for me - I was looking for something smarter, something with larger flight radius and something not working from my phones WI-FI.
Huge was my surprise when I discovered DJI MINI MAVIC drone for just $399. I actually order a combo box set for $499.
A quick note: This article contains affiliate links to Amazon.com, by clicking on links on this page, and by making a purchase on Amazon site, I might 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 to the product page on Amazon…
Hotel 'Castello Visconteo' in Cassano dʼAdda, Italy
| Hotel reviews | 8 seen
Castello Visconteo is a 13th-century fortress located in Cassano d'Adda, Italy.
We booked a hotel room here for a one night back in November 15, 2019 and paid about EUR 100 for that. We choose to book this hotel as it was pretty close to the Bergamo airport, as on the second day we had a flight back to Tbilisi
Stay at this hotel left an authentic medieval time feeling.
Our room at Castello Visconteo
Rooms at Castello Visconteo are air conditioned and come with parquet floors. Free WiFi is available throughout.
View to the nearby square from the hotel
Seems this place is very busy during the high-season. During our visit here in November, there were just a couple of guests.
Courtyard at Castello Visconteo
With its impressive interiors, which include frescoes from the Giotto school of painting, the Visconteo features a historic atmosphere. It once hosted Leonardo da Vinci.
Hall at Castello Visconteo
Hotels restaurant features high vaulted ceilings with original frescoes, and serves Italian and local specialities.
July 2020 Dividend Income Report - $136.90
| Investments | 13 seen
Welcome to the thirty-ninth (#39) dividend income report, covering earnings I've made from dividend-paying stocks and peer to peer lending in July 2020.
Just like the previous months, the last June we also spent in a self-isolation (because of Covid-19) here in Georgia. More of the strict lockdown measurements were lifted (inner tourism, restaurants, and hotels were opened for public) we did a few weekend trips with an overnight stay at local resorts here in Georgia. The baby girl attends her pre-school, she is doing great - talking a lot, putting together sentences, mixing languages, figuring out new words. Awesome. Quite fascinating what a two-year-old can do. Development is very rapid.
Last July I ordered a DJI Mavic Mini drone ($499) and spent a lot of time learning how to fly this little thing, but most important taking nice aerial photos and videos:
Saint George Church in Dashbashi canyon, Georgia
From the perspective of dividend income - last July was neither good nor bad, we keep suffering from trimmed dividends, and by the end of…
Mziuri Park in Tbilisi
| Outdoor Activities | 85 seen
Mziuri Park in Tbilisi is located in the Vere River valley and has two main entrances: one from Chavchavadze Avenue and another from Chabua Amirejibi Highway (also known as the New Road), directly across from the Tbilisi Zoo.
The renovated park reopened to the public recently. In mid-July 2020, after receiving my first drone delivery in Tbilisi, I decided to test it out — and Mziuri Park turned out to be an ideal location.
Mziuri Park in Tbilisi
The photo above is my first HDR shot captured with a drone.
The park offers walking paths, an educational center, a sports complex, and various activities for children. In the central area, there is an amphitheater where performances, film screenings, concerts, and different events are held throughout the year.
Inside the park, you’ll also find Café Mziuri — a cozy and cheerful place to relax. This is a social café, and all profits are used for the development and maintenance of the park.
The idea of creating Mziuri Park belongs to the Georgian writer Nodar Dumbadze. In 1975, he wrote in the newspaper *Literaturuli Sakartvelo*:
“How do you like the idea of building a park…
Week long trip to Kakheti in Georgia (Lopota Lake, Kvareli)
| Travel guides | 12 seen
This is a round-up post from quite an easy, about a week-long, trip to the region of Kakheti in Georgia. We did this trip at the start of June 2020, traveling by car.
We booked a stay at the famous Lopota lake resort and spa, departed in the afternoon from Tbilisi, picking up our baby girl from the preschool - first stop Telavi. The next stop is Lopota lake for the next couple of days, enjoying a heated outdoor swimming pool and a very spacious family room. Chill and tranquil time here. On the third day made some driving to the town of Kvareli with a short stop at a small monastery to pick up some linden.
Milano Centrale railway station
| Railway / Bus / Ferry | 49 seen
Milano Centrale is the main railway station of the city of Milan, Italy, and is the largest railway station in Europe by volume. The station is a terminus and located at the northern end of central Milan.
It was officially inaugurated in 1931 to replace the old central station (built 1864), which was a transit station but with a limited number of tracks and space, so could not handle the increased traffic caused by the opening of the Simplon tunnel in 1906.
It was back in Summer 2003, when I first visited this place, during my hitchhiking / train travel back home from French Foreign legion (from Marseilles, France). Back then I arrived to Milano Centrale railway station from Turin.
Milan central railway station
My latest visit here was much recently, back in November 2019, during about a week-long trip in Italy, and no I visited Milano just to take some photos or buy some pants at Zara mall.
Milano Centrale has high-speed connections to Turin in the west, Venice via Verona in the east and on the north-south mainline to Bologna, Rome, Naples…
First DJI Mavic Mini Aerial photography (Lisi Lake / Tbilisi)
| Digital Photography School | 10 seen
At the end of July 2020, I finally received my DJI Mavic Mini here in Tbilisi, Georgia.
I was very eager to test it out, and one of the first spots to test DJI Mavic mini, which come to my mind was the Lisi lake.
As our daughter has a preschool in that area, it was agreed to make the first test flight with this little drone near the Lisi lake.
DJI_0001 officially first drone photography at the Lisi lake
Not the best shot, obliviously, as the first flight was more about learning the controls
Author of this blog captured in action
Flying a drone is a lot of fun, no doubts
Lisi lake in Tbilisi from about 30-40 meter heights
The drone kept saying that there is a high wind and I didn't take the risk to go higher.. Not the best shot, but you get the idea
View towards Lisi lake in Tbilisi
One of the things I wish to learn quickly, is how to control exposure and start shooting lovely HDR sunset/sunrise photos with drone.
Vine Yard Restaurant in Kvareli
| Restaurant reviews | 14 seen
Restaurant Vine Yard in Kvareli is located just next to the city walls fortress opposite to the Kvareli Public service hall building. This place serves typical Georgian cuisine, VISA accepted.
This restaurant has been our radar since late 2018, when we discovered this place while stayed at Kvareli Eden hotel, we have been heading here ever since, when in the area.
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Typical Georgian Supra at Restaurant Vine yard in Kvareli
Simple, tasty, and quite affordable. Our total bill here some GEL 70 for mcvadi, French fries, badrijani, coffees, lemonades and more.
Sevsamora Resort & Spa
| Hotel reviews | 31 seen
Sevsamora Resort & Spa is located in the village/town of Saguramo, some 15 minutes drive from Tbilisi.
We booked a family room for a 2-night stay here in the middle of June 2020, paying about GEL 600 (USD 200), with free breakfast included.
The main reason for us coming here was the proximity to Tbilisi and the outdoor swimming pool for our baby girl.
Sevsamora Resort & Spa
Among the facilities at this property are a 24-hour front desk and room service, along with free WiFi throughout the property. The property provides both outdoor and indoor pool, a garden and rooms with pool views.
Outdoor terrace with spectacular views
Tbilisi City is 30 km from the resort. The nearest airport is Tbilisi International, 45 km from Sevsamora Resort & Spa, and the property offers a paid airport shuttle service.
Family room at Sevsamora Resort & Spa
All units are equipped with air conditioning, a flat-screen TV with satellite channels, a kettle, a bidet, a hairdryer and a desk. With a private bathroom equipped with a shower and free toiletries, rooms at the resort also provide guests with a garden…
Restaurant 'Vero Cinese' Milan (via Boscovich)
| Restaurant reviews | 14 seen
Restaurant 'Vero Cinese' is located on Boscovich street in Milan, Italy. This place serves Chinese cuisine.
We had a chance to dine here in November 2019, during our few day trip to Italy, with stop in Milano.
I find it always interesting browsing through the travel photos and finding these places on map. It wasn't hard to map Ristorante Vero Cinese.
Restaurant 'Vero Cinese' Milan (via Boscovich)
We were traveling with our toddler baby girl, so we ordered something toddler friendly.
The staff speaks excellent Italian, but little English. This was not our typical Tbilisi Chinese restaurant, this was totally different.
Some dumplings and Chinese tea
Soup with egg
Top Georgian Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange
| Investments | 124 seen
It was back in 2011 or 2012 when I first heard about Bank of Georgia or TBC bank is listed on the London stock exchange.
Back then I thought - wow, cool, impressive. Fast forward to 2020, I still think this is impressive that Georgia has a few companies listed on the London stock exchange, but as my investment horizons have shifted towards dividend investing + options trading, I don't find investing on LSE interesting.
Anyhow, in today's article I'm going to look at four Georgian companies listed on London stock exchange: Bank of Georgia, TBC bank, Georgia Healthcare Group and Georgia capital.
As said, I'm not the biggest fan of investing in the London Stock exchange (I prefer NYSE or Nasdaq), but I do have one investment from the London - Blackstone.
Also, I'm more options + dividend investor. When looking at data from these 4 Georgian companies listed on the London Stock exchange, just one company (TBC bank) is paying a humble 0.071% dividend. None of these companies are optionable. Investments in one of these Georgian companies should be looked as the long term value growth…
Kindzmarauli Church and Monastery
| Churches and Monasteries | 11 seen
Kindzmarauli church and monastery complex is located in the region of Kakheti, some 3 km off from the main road (Road 43 Telavi - Kvareli)
We discovered this small monastery complex while driving from the Lopota lake resort to the town of Kvareli at the start of June 2020. There is a linden tree right at the monastery, my better part gathered some linden flowers to make a tea latter in the winter.
The surrounding area of the Kindzmarauli church
Roses, mountains and vineyards.
Bell tower at Kindzmarauli church
We didn't actually visit the church this time.
Top 10 Laptops with Intel Xeon processor
| Laptop Reviews | 495 seen
Xeon is a brand of x86 microprocessors designed, manufactured, and marketed by Intel, targeted at the non-consumer workstation, server, and embedded system market.
In today's article, I've listed top 10 laptops (featured on Amazon) with Intel Xeon processors.
Intel Xeon processors deliver workload optimized performance in space and power constrained environments, from the data center to the intelligent edge. These innovative, system-on-a-chip processors support high-density, single-socket network, storage, and cloud edge computing solutions with a range of integrated security, network, and acceleration capabilities
Top 10 Laptops with 128GB RAM (Mobile WorkStations)
A quick note: This article contains affiliate links to Amazon.com, by clicking on links on this page and by making a purchase on Amazon site, I might 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 to the product page on Amazon.…
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