Katskhi Pillar

25 December, 2016 | Tourism objects | 19 seen

The Katskhi pillar is a natural limestone monolith located at the village of Katskhi in western Georgian region of Imereti, near the town of Chiatura. It is approximately 40 metres (130 ft) high, and overlooks the small river valley of Katskhura, a right affluent of the Q'virila.

If you have seen those amazing video clips about Georgia, you have most probably noticed this interesting object at some of them. It took me more than five years since I have been living in Georgia to actually visit it. Frankly speaking I have wanted to see Katskhi pillar since day one I arrived to Georgia, but things are as they are and it was on a late Autumn Saturday's afternoon we planned our trip to Chiatura and to this amazing place.

It's pretty hard to make a decent photography here without framing a lot or shooting from a long distance.

Katskhi pillar

The rock was once accessible to male visitors through an iron ladder running from its base to the top, but has recently been deemed inaccessible to the public.

The rock, with visible church ruins on a top surface measuring c. 150 m2, has been venerated by locals as the Pillar of Life and a symbol of the True Cross, and has become surrounded by legends. It remained unclimbed by researchers and unsurveyed until 1944 and was more systematically studied from 1999 to 2009. These studies determined the ruins were of an early medieval hermitage dating from the 9th or 10th century. A Georgian inscription paleographically dated to the 13th century suggests that the hermitage was still extant at that time. Religious activity associated with the pillar was revived in the 1990s and the monastery building had been restored within the framework of a state-funded program by 2009.

Monk at Katskhi pillar

Religious activity started to revive in 1995, with the arrival of the monk Maxim Qavtaradze, a native of Chiatura. Between 2005 and 2009, the monastery building on the top of the pillar was restored with the support of the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia.

The Katskhi pillar complex currently consists of a church dedicated to Maximus the Confessor, a crypt (burial vault), three hermit cells, a wine cellar, and a curtain wall on the uneven top surface of the column. At the base of the pillar are the newly built church of Simeon Stylites and ruins of an old wall and belfry.

The church of St. Maximus the Confessor is located at the south-easternmost corner of the top surface of the Katskhi pillar. A small simple hall church design with the dimensions of 4.5 × 3.5 m., it is a modern restoration of the ruined medieval church built of stone. Beneath and south of the church is an elongated rectangular crypt with the dimensions of 2.0 × 1.0 m., which had served as a burial vault. Digs at the ruined wine cellar revealed eight large vessels known in Georgia as k'vevri. Also of note is a rectangular cellar grotto with the entrance and two skylights—on the vertical surface of the rock, some 10-metre (33 ft) below the top. At the very base of the pillar there is a cross in relief, exhibiting parallels with similar early medieval depictions found elsewhere in Georgia, particularly at Bolnisi.

Katskhi pillar

In historical records, the Katskhi pillar is first mentioned by the 18th-century Georgian scholar Prince Vakhushti, who reports in his Geographic Description of the Kingdom of Georgia:

"There is a rock within the ravine standing like a pillar, considerably high. There is a small church on the top of the rock, but nobody is able to ascend it; nor know they how to do that."

No other written accounts of monastic life or ascents survive. A number of local legends surround the pillar. One of them has it that the top of the rock was connected by a long iron chain to the dome of the Katskhi church, located at a distance of around 1.5 km from the pillar.

Hotel Zen Airport Torremolinos, Spain

24 December, 2016 | Hotel reviews | 25 seen

Hotel Zen is a 3-star hotel located in Torremolinos, Spain - a good location, pretty close to the Malaga airport. We booked Hotel Zen as our last hotel during our week long travels in Spain before departing to Oslo, Norway.

This property is 16 minutes walk from the beach. Featuring a heated outdoor pool and 2 terraces, Hotel Zen Airport is located in Torremolinos. This hotel offers air-conditioned rooms and free WiFi. A free airport and beach shuttle service is available.

Hotel Zen offers free shuttle service to airport and to/from beaches. We checked in early and decided to use free shuttle service to beaches, and spent very lazy afternoon in the beach.

Statue of Buddha at Hotel Zen

Kind of pretty spiritual hotel. 

Rooms at Hotel Zen Airport are built around an interior patio. Some offer modern design and décor, and others are in the classic Andalusian part of the hotel. All are en suite and include a TV.

Seems we got so called classical Andalusian part.

Room at Hotel Zen

Well - basic things, a bed, some chair, TV set,bathroom (not the best) and a tiny outdoor terrace as a complimentary item.

Outdoor terrace

Well - for one night stay - pretty decent - on the other hand... way too much of cheapness.I doubt you can call this hotel a 3-star, but you can cal it a 2-star with plus for sure.

Bad Discovery - Missing foundation for house

23 December, 2016 | Home Remodeling | 11 seen

Today I decided to keep digging trench around existing house fundament to prepare works for upcoming concreting works.

Yesterday I bough a concrete mixer and mixed first test of concrete, load of gravel were already waiting and of course a sacks of cement were bought. It was just a matter of shovel and hand work.

And then the bad news came - our house is partly missing foundation. 

It turned out that at the end of house, there is no foundation at all, for about 2,5 meters. Well that makes things a little bit complicated, as I need to lay down the foundation at this part of the house from a scratch - I will need to dig deeper and more wider here. Should I mention I was really pissed of after such discovery? 

Missing foundation

I kept digging and at the end dig 1 meter wide and about 1.5 meter deep pit just under the house. Tomorrow I will start first concreting works, but today I will sleep very restlessly.

Samtavisi Cathedral

22 December, 2016 | Churches and Monasteries | 34 seen

Samtavisi is an eleventh-century Georgian Orthodox cathedral in eastern Georgia, in the region of Shida Kartli, some 45km from the nation’s capital Tbilisi. The cathedral is now one of the centers of the Eparchy of Samtavisi and Gori of the Georgian Orthodox Church.

We discovered this church during our recent trip to town of Chiatura. My driver told me, this church seems to him as a copy of Kashveti church in Tbilisi. Although, recently Mikheil contacted me and told following:

Actually, it is vice versa (and makes an interesting story in itself): the current Kashveti church, built in 1904-1910, is an intentional exact replica of the Samtavisi cathedral. 

I love church photography and I love remote sites, so we agreed to spend some time here.

Samtavisi cathedral

The cathedral is located on the left bank of the Lekhura River, some 11km of the town of Kaspi. According to a Georgian tradition, the first monastery on this place was founded by the Assyrian missionary Isidore in 572 and later rebuilt in the 10th century. Neither of these buildings has survived however. The earliest extant structures date to the eleventh century, the main edifice being built in 1030 as revealed by a now lost stone inscription. The cathedral was built by a local bishop and a skilful architect Hilarion who also authored the nearby church of Ashuriani. Heavily damaged by a series of earthquakes, the Cathedral was partially reconstructed in the 15th and 19th centuries. The masterly decorated eastern façade is the only survived original structure.

Samtavisi Cathedral

The Samtavisi Cathedral is a rectangular 4-piered cruciform domed church. It illustrates a Georgian interpretation of the cross-in-square form which set an example for many churches built in the heyday of medieval Georgia. The exterior is distinguished by the liberal use of ornamental blind arcading. The apses do not project, but their internal position is marked by deep recesses in the wall. In contrast to earlier Georgian churches, the drum of the dome is taller surmounted by a conical roof. Artistically, the most rounded portion of the church is its five-arched eastern façade, dominated by the two niches and enlivened by a bold ornate cross motif.

Beyond the main church, the Samtavisi complex includes a badly damaged two-storied bishop’s residence, a small church (5.8х3.2m), and a three-storied belltower (5.7х7.3m) attached to the 3-5m high fence made of stone and brick. All these structures date to the 17th-18th centuries.

Vano Gamkhitashvili burial

Vano Gamkhitashvili was a famous Georgian sambo wrestler, holding titles of European and World Champion. Died in accident. Buried at Samtavisi cathedral.

Lazy Day in Beach (Torremolinos, Spain)

21 December, 2016 | | 4 seen

It was on our last day from trip to Spain (region of Andalusia). Our trip ended at the same point where it started at Malaga, or more precisely at Torremolinos. We checked in at hotel, left our belongings at went to spend this afternoon at beach, turns out we have visited this same beach some 7 days ago already, see Playamar beach in Torremolinos.

I took the telephoto lens and experimented kind of portrait photography (wide aperture, blurry background e.t.c). Not many portraits actually but some cool mood photography.

White sands, blue sky and many palm trees

Spain is definitely a true vacation destination.

Lazy day in beach

Now, this is a true Piece of Life!

Lazy beach life

Sand Sculptures

Concrete Mixer FXA 130L

20 December, 2016 | Home Remodeling | 6 seen

Another addition to my home remodeling tools collection has arrived (been bought at local DIY store) - concrete mixer FXA 130L - with help of what I'm planing to concrete fundament for our rural house. 

Concrete mixer is a must have tool for any self home builder and I would say it should be featured at any rural house. Concrete mixer is the second useful tool after a trimmer purchase this year.

FXA 130 liter concrete mixer unpacked

Huge was my joy after this purchase, now was time to set it up - what seemed an easy task to handle turned out to be a rocket science.

Installing concrete mixer

It took me about 3 hours, countless phone calls to the DIY store, as I just didn't get any idea how to install it correctly, even after reading manual. After three hours and much negative vocabulary I finally did it.

Concrete mixer ready for work

Now it was time to put it on first test - few days ago I already ordered a load of gravel, have been bought some sacks of cement, for the test I decided to finish foundation works for garden pizza oven (a side project, besides complete home rebuilding stuff, you know)

Let's mix some concrete- author of this blog captured in action

It was matter of one mixing to finish foundation works for garden oven.

Finished concreting for garden oven

Now, it's time to leave cement to solidify and build over it an awesome garden pizza oven.

Bulachauri restaurant

19 December, 2016 | Restaurant reviews | 45 seen

Bulachauri restaurant probably is the restaurant I have visited the most - unfortunately I have never paid attention to the name of this place - I always know, that's that restaurant we always take meals when hiring our driver for trips to region of Mtskheta-Mtianeti.

Probably this is our driver's most favorite dining place. 

I wanted to change this and ad this restaurant to the blog - so last time I visited this place I paid very much attention to remember the name of this place- here you go - Bulauchari restaurant. Simple. The village is named Bulachauri, so do the restaurant is named after village.

Speaking of this place - it's a decent restaurant serving typical Georgian cuisine, very popular among locals and foreign tourists. Tourist friendly place.

Exterior at Bulachauri restaurant

Typical Georgian meal - hachapuri and mcvadi.

Hotel Los Dolmenes in Antequera, Spain

18 December, 2016 | Hotel reviews | 7 seen

Hotel Los Dolmenes in Antequera is among my favorite hotels I have stayed so far. 

We booked this hotel during our latest trip in Spain (a week in Andalusia) in June 2016. Set in the olive grove, close to the El Torcal this is a really valuable hotel deal. We paid less than EUR 40 per night here (breakfast and free parking included)

Hotel Los Dolmenes

Set around a traditional Andalusian courtyard, the rooms at Los Dólmenes come with wooden floors, a terrace, flat-screen TV and plenty of natural light. Each one comes with a private bathroom including a hairdryer and bath tub.

Our room

Los Dólmenes is located just outside Antequera, 5 minutes’ drive from the city centre. It offers air-conditioned rooms with free Wi-Fi and a free continental breakfast.

View from balcony towards olive grove

3 Day Trip Across Lithuania

17 December, 2016 | Travel guides | 11 seen

Traditions should be respected. For the third year in a row I have been celebrating my birthday at one of the former Soviet Union member country's capital city. Year ago, I spent awesome birthday in Tallinn (Estonia) and two years ago in Yerevan, Armenia. 

It was planned to visit Minsk (Belarus) for this year, but instead of Minsk, my better part took me on a lovely three day ride across Lithuania, reaching Vilnius (capital of Lithuania) in a second day.

Now, another year, another awesome birthday - rural tourism with urban dressing! Not to speak more, here are TOP 17 sites we visited during my 31st birthday trip

Bazaleti Lake in Georgia

16 December, 2016 | Lakes | 17 seen

The Bazaleti Lake is a lake in eastern Georgia some 60 km northwest of the nation's capital Tbilisi and 5 km south of the town of Dusheti. It is used for fish culture, irrigation, and recreation. The nearby village and the historical district around the lake are also known as Bazaleti.

I had heard about Bazaleti lake before and thought there are some recreational facilities built around it. In fact, kind of, there are some buildings and even some restaurants. Thus when I first visited it, after returning from Vazha Pshavela house museum in Chargali in November 2016, I found just a lot wind and a lake. Kind of reminded me the Lisi Lake in Tbilisi. Not many recreational activities, not counting in some lazy walks around the lake.

Update: We returned to Bazaleti lake at the end of May 2021, not many improvements could we see. Except it looked like some more houses are built around the lake. Which is good and gives a lot of potential for this area in the future.

Bazaleti lake

A wooden deck and catamarans for rent - should be a lot of fun in Summer.

Floating cafeteria

The surface area of the lake is 1.22 km². and its maximum depth is 30 m. The area around the lake housed a flourishing medieval town and is surrounded by many legends. In 1626, the Battle of Bazaleti between two rival Georgian factions took place there.

Currently, the area is a popular recreational area served by a modern tourist complex. It is known that Bazaleti lake has an outflow but it has not been discovered. Locals claim that the water recirculates. They tell a story about a bull which was drowned in the lake and was later found in a well in the nearby village.

Bazaleti lake from a drone flight at the end of May 2021

According to local legend, a golden-haired child is lying in a golden crib on the bottom of the lake. The lake was formed from his mother's tears. The story is retold in a Georgian poem.

El Torcal de Antequera

15 December, 2016 | Tourism objects | 14 seen

El Torcal de Antequera is a nature reserve in the Sierra del Torcal mountain range located south of the city of Antequera, in the province of Málaga off the A45 road in Andalusia, Spain.

It is known for its unusual landforms, and is one of the most impressive karst landscapes in Europe. 

It was on our day 4th or 5th in Spain (traveling around region of Andalusia), when El Torcal de Antequera popped on our radar. It was not easy to get there for us, see: In The Searches For El Torcal - Wilderness in Spain, but after all we made it. It was already getting late, and I rushed to make the most of ending golden hour (HDR photography).

El Torcal kind of reflected me memories from our Spontaneously visit to Montserrat Mountain near Barcelona, during our previous trip to Spain (Region of Catalonia), kind of reflected, but was totally different experience. Thus there is one thing common for both - the crazy serpentine road to access these amazing sites.

El Torcal de Antequera

The Sierra del Torcal (or El Torcal) is a small mountain range separating the cities of Antequera and Málaga. It has four geological sections: Sierra Pelada, Torcal Alto, Torcal Bajo and Tajos and Laderas. The highest point in El Torcal is Camorro de las Siete Mesas (1336 m) in the Torcal Alto.

The Jurassic age limestone is about 150 million years old and was laid down in a marine corridor that extended from the Gulf of Cádiz to Alicante between the present Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. These seabeds were uplifted to an elevation of over 1300 meters during the Tertiary era, resulting in a modest mountain range of flat-lying limestone, which is rare in Andalucia. Later, a series of fractures, cracks and faults at right-angles (generally NW-SE and NE-SW) were exploited by erosion and produced the alleys between large blocks of limestone visible today. The blocks themselves have been subjected to both dissolution by water (karstification) and freeze-thaw splitting action which, working on the limestone’s horizontal beds, resulted in the various shapes visible today, many of which resemble, and have been named after, everyday objects such as the Sphinx, the Jug, the Camel, the Screw, etc. Other flat surfaces have been karstified into rugged, rocky lands where travel on foot is difficult.

Rock formations

Like many massive limestones, the Torcal includes caves and other underground forms, some of them of historical importance like the Cueva del Toro (Cave of the Bull) with its Neolithic artifacts. Their origins are also related to the dissolution of underground limestone by rainwater.

View towards  Antequera

​El Torcal supports an impressive array of wildflowers including lilies, nazarenes, red peonies, wild rose trees and thirty varieties of orchid. The many species of reptiles include the Montpelier Snake and Eyed Lizard, both endemic to El Torcal. Other life includes the Griffon vulture, the Spanish Ibex (Andalusian mountain goat), and nocturnal mammals such as badger, weasel and rodents.

Viewing platform at El Torcal

El Torcal is accessible by paved road from the village of Villanueva de la Concepción. A small gift shop and interpretive center at the parking area is the starting point for a short walk to an impressive viewpoint and three color-coded hiking trails of 1.5 km, 2.5 km and 4.5 km length which include many scenic viewpoints.

Because of temperature extremes, most visitation occurs in the spring and fall.

Motel Istros Aviaparkas

14 December, 2016 | Hotel reviews | 6 seen

Motel Istros Aviaparkas is among the strangest and definitely the most solitary hotel I have ever stayed. Located some 4 kilometers from town of Panevezys in Lithuania.

It was the evening of my 31st birthday and we returned home from our three day trip around Lithuania. Tired. After checking few rural houses in the vicinity we decided hell - let's sleep among helicopters and Old Soviet war planes.

Old Soviet war planes

Located just some 500 meters from Via Baltica route (E67) - this hotel/motel kind of offers WI-FI, a TV set (with mostly Persian language channels) and not the best quality water in the shower (water with a high iron content)

Lonely motel Istros AviaParkas

This is definitely not an expensive motel - they have rooms like for 40 EUR and they have one deluxe room for 60 EUR. We took the duplex deluxe room for 60 EUR.

Duplex room

Bedroom

Vazha Pshavela House Museum in Chargali

13 December, 2016 | Museums | 17 seen

Vazha Pshavela house museum in Chargali features objects connected with life and work of well-known Georgian son and poet Vazha-Pshavela (1861-1915). Various publications of poet's works, paintings, graphics, sculptures and photographs are featured here.

What makes this place important? Not to mention that Vazha Pshavela is one of the well-known Georgian poets (obliviously) - The Big Head in the front of entrance of this museum.

The Big Head - Sculpture of Vazha Pshavela 

Vazha Pshavela House Museum in Chargali

About Vazha Pshavela

Vazha-Pshavela, simply referred to as Vazha is the pen name of the Georgian poet and writer Luka Razikashvili, noted Georgian patriot and author of the highest calibre in the field of Georgian literature. "Vazha-Pshavela" literally means "a son of Pshavians" in Georgian.

How To Unsubscribe From Web Push Notifications

12 December, 2016 | Blogging | 7 seen

In case you are reading this - most probably I have just sent you a link here. In this article I will explain how to unsubscribe from notifications sent by ReinisFischer.com or (hopefully) from another website sending you push notifications. 

Why are you receiving push notifications from me or any other website? Chances are by 99.9% you have chose opt-in to receive them by visiting and reading some of the articles here or on the other site you are willing to unsubscribe.

Web push notifications are relatively new marketing channel, promising for marketers higher open rates than traditional e-mail newsletters - thus making some confusions. And one of the biggest most probably is how to unsubscribe from them. Here is how:

Unsubscribe from Chrome

Let's say you signed up for notifications on ReinisFischer.com. You thought I might send you notifications related to your interests, I made it wrong - sent some unrelated notification and you determined it's time to get rid of those spammy messages. I hear you, seriously  - I was wrong and you were right.

To unsubscribe from ReinisFischer.com Chrome notifications open chrome://settings/content/notifications in Chrome browser (Alternatively from Chrome toogle menu select Settings -> scroll down until Advanced settings, look for Content Settings tab and finally click on Notifications tab), you should see all your subscriptions here, locate https://www.reinisfischer.com and click on the block or remove button:

Blocking web push notifications

This will remove subscription entirely.

In The Searches For El Torcal - Wilderness in Spain

11 December, 2016 | | 2 seen

In the searches for el Torcal is a story worth to mention and complement with amazing (IMHO) travel photography - say - Wilderness of Spain

Earlier today I practiced for the first time as a bird photographer, see Flamingo Lagoon near Fuente de Piedra in Spain, while searching for flamingos, we marked another tourism object to visit today - El Torcal de Antequera, mainly important because of possible great photography of rocks. 

We checked in at amazing hotel in a olive grove, which turned out to be just some 12km from El Torcal. Right, after a quick shower - let's drive there.

In short - instead of 12 km we drive about 60km. Instead of comfortable highways we used some unpaved roads. Did we did it special? Nope! We got lost. This time we had a TomTom device, and it just fooled us. Gas was running low. It was getting dark already. Sounds tragic? Actually it was pretty scary. Lost somewhere in wilderness. On the other hand - that's one of the most tremendous memories we have.

And some amazing photography. Piece of Life after all!

Rural areas of Spain

Some form of hay stack in the above picture. 

Goatherd and goats

What's different in Spain and Georgia. Actually nothing much. See: Wilderness in Georgia

In the footsteps of El Torcal

​We are almost there - I will publish an article about El Torcal soon, but that's already another story!