Birtvisi Canyon in Georgia

11 April, 2019 | Tourism objects | 33 seen

Birtvisi canyon is located in the Tetri-Tskaro district in Kvemo Kartli  region about an hour drive from Tbilisi. Canyon is ideally suited for those loving hiking (see: Hiking In Birtvisi Canyon (Hidden Trails Of Georgia)) and outdoor activities.

There are many smaller and larger gorges, rocks and of course amazing nature. Also, the Birtvisi fortress is located here (which I still haven't found after some 4 years of inactive searches).

The canyon is managed by Georgian Agency of Protected areas, to learn more see: http://apa.gov.ge/en

Birtvisi Canyon in Georgia

Birtvisi is essentially a natural rocky fortress of 1 km², secured by walls and towers, the most prominent of which – known as Sheupovari ("Obstinate") – tops the tallest rock in the area. Various accessory structures, an aqueduct included, have also survived.

Hiking in Birtvisi canyon

In written sources, Birtvisi is first mentioned as a possession of the Arab amir of Tiflis of which he was divested by the Georgian nobles Liparit, Duke of Kldekari and Ivane Abazasdze in 1038. In medieval Georgia,…

My 17 Year Old Dividend Portfolio (From Single Nasdaq Baltic Stock)

10 April, 2019 | Investments | 13 seen

The inspiration for this post came from a Dividend Empire article titled My 33-Year-Old Dividend Growth Portfolio.

Also, I would like to mention that a couple of weeks ago I met a fellow Italian investor here in Tbilisi (Massimo, if you are reading this -  hi to you), we spent about 90 minutes enjoying a cappuccino and discussing investments in Tbilisi, Georgia, investments in oil, gas, and of course dividend investing. Massimo told me he has been investing for about 17 years and that lead me to realize that in fact, me too - I have been investing since 2001/2002.

I apologize for the somewhat misleading title.  Unfortunately, I do not actually have such a portfolio.  But I sure can model one.  

Now, about 17 years ago I was 16/17 years old, and in fact, bought my first stock using privatization certificates. I bought Latvijas Kugnieciba stock. Which latter in 2005 I sold for about 500 or 600 Latvian lats and bought a Canon camcorder which didn't last long (my mom drowned camcorder somewhere in the Red Sea). Later on, around 2007 I bought some Lietuvos Dujos stock (which again I sold soon…

Google Market Kazbegi

9 April, 2019 | Shopping Venues | 19 seen

There has been a Google market in Georgian Stepatsminda / Kazbegi town at least since 2011. 

No, you cannot get here cloud storage or keyword ideas for your next AdWords campaign, instead, there are tasty Georgian lemonades and other goodies you can find in almost every regular kiosk in Georgia.

First discovered back in 2011, in April 2019, the Google Market was still there, though seemed closed at the time I visited it. 

Google Market Kazbegi

Enjoy!

Kobi Gudauri Cable Car Station

8 April, 2019 | Tourism objects | 329 seen

Kobi Gudari cable car has been opened for public since January 2019.  I first discovered in it early April 2019, while having a road trip Tbilisi - Gudauri - Kazbegi (Stepatsminda).

Not far from the cable car station there is located Kobi mineral water plant. 

Kobi cable station

Gudauri - Georgian Winter Capital for skiing, snowboarding, paragliding and heli-skiing

According to agenda.ge the ropeway is 7.5km long and the total cost to build it was 81 million lari. The cable car connects  Kobi with Gudauri in 15 minutes.

The cable car will serve to make both Kobi and Gudauri more functional winter resorts, offering easier transportation in the area.

Kobi - Gudauri cable cars

Chiatura Cable-ways Central Station

Kobi is a village in Stepantsminda, while Gudauri is a ski resort located on the south-facing plateau of the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range.

The distance between Kobi and Gudauri is 15.2km and by car you can cover this distance in about 22 minutes – but since landslides and heavy…

Mount Arejvani

7 April, 2019 | Tourism objects | 11 seen

Mount Arjevani is located in the central part of Georgia, some 70 km west of the Tbilisi. The top of Mount Arjevani is 2,757 meters above sea level or 779 meters above the surrounding terrain. The width at the base is 24.5 km.

The terrain around Mount Arjevani is mainly hilly. Mount Arjevani is the highest point in the neighborhood. The nearest larger community is Tsalka located 19.4 km southeast of Arjevani. The area around Mount Arjevani is mostly agricultural land.

Photos were taken, doing (trying to do) a trip to Ninotsminda (in the region of Samtskhe-Javakheti)  in January 2019. 

Mount Arjevani from Koda - Tetriskaro road

Inland climate prevails in the area. The average annual temperature in the neighborhood is 7  ° C. The hottest month is July when the average temperature is 18 ° C, and the coldest is January, with -8 ° C.  Average annual rainfall is 821 millimeters. The wettest month is May, with an average of 131 mm of precipitation , and the driest is February, with 35 mm of…

Bīne Restaurant in Talsi

6 April, 2019 | Restaurant reviews | 24 seen

Bīne restaurant is located in Talsi, on Krišjāņa Valdemāra street 13, close to the Hotel Talsi.

That's how I actually discovered this place back in 2017, while I stayed for a couple of nights at Hotel Talsi this restaurant/cafeteria was the closest dining place from the hotel.

Restaurant Bīne serves typical Latvian cuisine for very affordable prices. Actually, this place is more a bistro than a restaurant (food is heated in the micro oven).

Cafe / Restaurant/ Bistro Bīne in Talsi

Typical Latvian cuisine dish

Taglaura Restaurant on Tbilisi-Kojori street road

4 April, 2019 | Restaurant reviews | 30 seen

Taglaura is one of the most successful restaurant chains in Georgia owned by VD Capital group, the same group owns several other popular restaurant brands in Tbilisi and Georgia. 

The one I will talk about today is located on Tbilisi - Kojori street 10, and the best way to get here is by driving to Kojori. The same road from the downtown Tbilisi will take you to the Mtatsminda Amusement park

Now, this place serves typical Georgian cuisine in a bit tourist way. And seems they are manufacturing their own Georgian lemonade under Taglaura brand.

Georgian lemonade Taglaura

I can even read - on the left side it's written - "limoni" and the one with grapes on labeling it's said - "saperavi". Make sure to give them a try. Georgian lemonades are fantastic.

Schnitzel served with French fries

Now, this was one great schnitzel, almost as good as you can get in places like this.

The best, the schnitzel with French fries cost just GEL 11 (as of 2019)

Fried khinkali with soy sauce

They call them Asian style. Fried khinkali are really delicious. if you haven't tried yet - highly…

March 2019 Dividend Income Report - $188.36

3 April, 2019 | Investments | 34 seen

Welcome to the twenty-third (#23) dividend income report, covering earnings I've made from dividend-paying stocks, peer to peer lending (both fiat and cryptocurrencies) in March 2019.

The last March was very exciting, it has not only beaten the previous year's March by quite impressive 256%, but it also was the first month I earned money from trading options.

Spring finally has come to Tbilisi and more time we want to spend outdoors, unfortunately not always it happens so. Hope to be more outdoors in April.

Blue snowdrops near Turtle lake in Tbilisi at early March

Learn more: Spring in Tbilisi (near Turtle lake)

Now, when speaking about the dividend income, the last March was very good, it turned out the second highest after July 2018.

$188.36 was taken from dividend stocks and peer to peer lending in March 2019. Additional $114 were made from options trading, but as options trading is not actually a dividend income, I won't include them here. 

Here are a few articles to learn more:

• Investment Goal #7 -…

Tbilisi for kids (17 Places to Visit)

1 April, 2019 | Travel guides | 116 seen

Shopping, eating ice cream, spending time outdoors or at cool amusement parks.

Tbilisi has a lot to offer for both grownups and their offsprings. Keep reading to find more about 17 kid-friendly places in Tbilisi

April 1st marks already the eighth anniversary since I've been living in Georgia. It was back on April 1st, 2011 I first put my foot on holy Georgian land.

During the past eight years, I've traveled across Georgia a lot, built a popular Tbilisi restaurants guide, documented my travels across the country, and so on. Also, I have become a father, and have switched the regular places I hang out to more kid-friendly places

To celebrate this little anniversary, I've decided to share 17 kid-friendly places in Tbilisi

Asureti / Elisabethtal

31 March, 2019 | Tourism objects | 202 seen

Asureti is an interesting village situated on the road Koda - Tetriskaro, some 45 km from Tbilisi in Georgia. 

Discovered by accident, while doing (trying to do) a trip to Ninotsminda (in the region of Samtskhe-Javakheti)  in January 2019.

I had heard before about former German settlements here in Georgia from German expats in Tbilisi,  and in fact a couple of weeks ago we visited one such settlement area (Katharinenfeld) in Bolnisi (see Day trip to Bolnisi and nearby vicinity)

German style dwelling house in Asureti, Georgia

You can find many such style buildings in the region of Hesse in Germany, actually some time ago I had a chance to book an apartment in one such building in Gudensberg/ Germany, see Apartment Alte Pfarre in Gudensberg, Germany or Postcards from Germany

Now here is what I was able to find out about German history in Asureti:

The village was founded on 19 November 1818 by Caucasian Germans under the name Elisabethtal or Elisabeththal by 72 German immigrant families. The then civil governor chose this name…

Cinevilla Studio backlot

30 March, 2019 | Tourism objects | 20 seen

Cinevilla is a backlot in the Tukums Municipality in Slampe parish, Latvia, and was created for the outdoor shootings of the feature film Defenders of Riga.

It is the only backlot in Latvia, and consists of replicas of historical buildings and constructions of Riga, the capital of Latvia. The backlot has a small canal to resemble the Daugava river quays of the Riga old town. The Stone Bridge is also there as well as the historical Lübeck and Pontoon bridges.

I first visited lovely Cinevilla townlet at the end of June 2018 and was more than surprised of how realistic things are done here.

One of the many pavilions at Cinevilla 

There is a huge parking lot at film town and the entry fee inside the territory was something like EUR 3

at Cinevilla filmtown

Cinevilla is now a major tourist attraction and is the only such large-scale open-air cinema exhibition in the Baltic States. In 2008, Jānis Streičs shot the film Rudolf's Gold on the lot, simulating a Kurzeme farmstead.

Quite realistic…

My First Option Trade: FTR Aug16'19 2 Put @0.45

29 March, 2019 | Options trading | 43 seen

Now, this is exciting - in the late evening of March 28th, 2019 (GMT) I made my first options trade (s).

To get to this point it took me a couple of months and a lot of reading, talking and watching YouTube videos. A huge learning curve and a lot of incomprehensible. Anyway - I just made it, my first options trade - probably really dumb, probably I will lose after all, but I feel very excited that at least I get it through.

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Now, as you already can see from the title, here is what I did:

FTR Aug16'19 2 Put @0.45

What does it mean?

Investment Goal #7 - Selling Puts to Own / Generate Income

It means that I wrote (sell) a put option to buy FTR stock (X100) at $2 with expiry on August 16th, 2019. For that, I got paid $0.45 per share. Or $45. Also, I paid in a commission for this trade $2.40.

For me, It looks like a 22.5% yield in 142 days or 57.82%/year, now here is the bad news, the FTR stock is doing really bad lately, and there is really huge…

Investment Goal #7 - Selling Puts to Own Stock / Generate Income

28 March, 2019 | Options trading | 11 seen

If 2017 I spent learning a lot about crypto investments, starting a simple buy and hold, swing trading, lending on Poloniex.com, and even building a custom Ethereum mining rig.

2018 was more about high-yielding US stocks.

Seems that for 2019 I have a new subject to explore - options trading.  Now, I have heard about options a lot in the past ... it's just I have never had any interest in them, as it has always seemed like a scam to me, now I'm not saying it's a scam, but I'm also not advocating for it, as I believe options just like crypto, stocks are a high-risk investment and theoretically, you could lose some or all of your money.

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Instead, I have decided to make my first options trade to better educate myself and hopefully make some profit. I want to start with probably (IMHO) the easiest approach - selling puts against dividend stocks.

Here is actually a really good read from which I will take a few excerpts…

Georgia Projected GDP Forecast 2019 - 2023

26 March, 2019 | Living in Georgia | 10 seen

Wow, time flies, it has been already 5 years since I last time reviewed Georgia's GDP growth rates, back in 2013 I come up with a simple article: Georgia then, now, future

Here is what the International Monetary Fund projected for Georgia for 2018:

According to IMF, Georgian GDP will rise average 6% per year until 2018, and in 2018 it could be approx 21.81 bln USD

Georgia GDP Forecast 2014-2018

Although we don't yet have exact data for 2018 yet, it's believed that the GDP in Georgia was around 16,142 billion USD in 2018, in short, that's about 25% less than it was actually forecasted back in 2014.

Now, let's see what is forecast for the next 5 years (2019-2023) by the International Monetary Fund

Georgia GDP Forecast 2019-2023 (Data Source: List of countries by past and projected GDP (nominal)) 

According to the IMF, Georgian GDP (nominal) in 2023 could reach about 23,83 billion USD. Seems that IMF has used an average GDP growth rate at 8% annually. I would say these number looks a bit too high to me now,

As it turned out even those 6% annually…

Day trip to Sighnaghi and Back

24 March, 2019 | Travel guides | 15 seen

Day trips to Sighnaghi (or any other destination in the region of Kakheti, Georgia) are quite possible, in the past, I have already covered few routes to consider, like Day Trip to Kakheti in Georgia or Day trip to David Gareji monastery complex and Sighnaghi

In today's article, I'll share our route details and discoveries from the latest day trip to Sighnaghi on January 12, 2019 (it was my name day according to Latvian calendar). 

For longer travels to the region of Kakheti, consider: Best Hotels & Guesthouses in Sighnaghi, Georgia or Weekend trip to Telavi (Georgia) and Vicinity

We started this route at around 9 AM, left our apt in Tbilisi in our almost brand new VW Tuareg car, we bought a couple of weeks ago (Rustavi Auto Market (Buying a Car in Georgia)). First stop was Carrefour store located in East Point shopping mall, just to buy some food.

The road to Sighnaghi from Tbilisi takes little more than an hour, before actually driving inside the Sighnaghi town, there is a lovely Bodbe monastery located. After a short stop at the Bodbe monastery,  we drive to Sighnaghi.