Restaurant 'Three crowns' in Tallinn

21 February, 2016 | Restaurant reviews | 8 seen

The restaurant “Three crowns” is located in the heart of Old Town, in the center of street Vene 8. Cheerfully opens the door’s for all people who love well-prepared cuisine, there is combined Estonian and European cuisine with interesting wine list of Old Town and New world. 

Although hotel we stayed during our short stay in Tallinn also featured a restaurant it ain't no fun eat at you hotel if you can go and eat at neighboring hotels restaurant, right?

Three Crowns Restaurant in Tallinn

At time we discovered this restaurant I was informed that kitchen will be closed in 20 or something minutes and we can''t actually order any course, but we can have some appetizers and of course some Estonian beer.

We had already intake some beer and vodka at Mad Murphy's Irish pub, so another beer seemed the right choice to have.

Greenery on the terrace at restaurant Three Crowns

While we were waiting our beer to be served we were joined by some Suomi (Finish couple), who seemed had intake already some 10 times more alcohol than we had and the real fun talk started. We spent next few hours in funny,…

Mad Murphy's Irish Pub in Tallinn

21 February, 2016 | Restaurant reviews | 31 seen

Mad Murphy's Irish Pub is located in Tallinn very close to city's town square on Mundi street 2. If you are up to for a Nightlife in Tallinn, make sure you visit this pub,

I visited this pub back in Summer of 2015, during our short two days trip to celebrate my thirty birthday, shortly we were checked in at our hotel (Read my review here: St. Olav Hotel in Tallinn) we decided to explore our lively neighborhood, and it was a very lively. It was a warm August evening. 

Mad Murphy's Irish pub in Tallinn

I'm not that kind of person who loves to spend his time in bars and pubs, but... what happens in Tallinn, stays in Tallinn. Mad Murphy's pub was a very interesting experience - It was a Saturday's night, live Irish music was performed on stage, we are standing at bar desk enjoying our God knows what cocktails - vodka, beer e.t.c. when we notice something strange - we are the only ones in the pub who actually moves in the rhythms of Irish folk music.Estonians stay cool, the most Estonian public affords - to click fingertips while sitting still at their desks. 

Cheers mate is not an…

Bar Rialto Candiana

20 February, 2016 | Restaurant reviews | 6 seen

I have always loved local cafes and restaurants where tourists barely step their foot in, we were of from Venice and traveled to Modena, when I said, let's visit some of the local villages and see what's good there. 

Back at this stage I even didn't know that village we were to enter is called - Candiana, shortly we parked our car and noticed a local pub/bar/restaurant - so we entered this place, which I learnt latter is named - Bar Rialto Candiana and ordered a cup of cappuccino. It was January 1st, some local folks were inside, lady approached me - raised her hand, hugged me and told - bueno ano, which probably translates as Happy New Year. I replied - bueno ano!

We were just about 30 km of from Venice and people were totally different. That was strange and lovely. 

Some special offer from Bar Rialto in Candiana

The only two words I understood here - pizza and cafe

Snacks at Bar Rialto

Interior at Bar Rialto

The above scene reminds me pretty much of how it looks in a regular Georgian cafe. See Tbilisi restaurants

Italian coffee at Bar Rialto in Candiana,…

St Mark's Square in Venice

20 February, 2016 | Tourism objects | 7 seen

St Mark's square probably is every travelers dream destination when traveling to Venice, Italy. So did it was among mine - must have destinations. We traveled to Italy and especially to Venice for a New Year's eve to celebrate 2016. 

I was so found of photography, and especially fireworks photography, that I started to prepare already about a month before our departure. huge was my disappointment, when I was not able to find a single spot to make any decent fireworks photography from St Mark's square. It's hard to tell, but I believe there were at least some 10,000 folks that night gathered in St Mark's square, together with buildings at square literally blocking any access to fireworks photography. 

St Marks square in Venice, Italy

Piazza San Marco, often known in English as St Mark's Square), is the principal public square of Venice, Italy, where it is generally known just as "the Piazza" (la Piazza). The Square is dominated at its eastern end by the great church of St Mark.

Fireworks photography from St Mark square

I took more decent fireworks photography two…

Fourth Traffic Spike - How to get 10,000 Pageviews in One Day

19 February, 2016 | Blogging | 16 seen

Yesterday (February 18) marked another important milestone for my blog - for the very first time my blog traffic crossed 10,000 page views in one day. Now, don't get me wrong - I would love to report 10,000 daily page views instead of 10,000 in one day, which happened thanks to the huge traffic spike made by a dozen of referring links. 

By now my blog gets about 2,000 page views per day, which of course is already a very great result, but having that traffic bump made me smile this morning. OK, I was actually closely monitoring stats already since yesterday and hoped I will manage to crack 10,000 unique users per day. I was short for about 1,300 users at the end.

10,000 page views in a day

When speaking about traffic spikes - in most cases (at least for me) - it doesn't mean my earnings are up as well. As you can see from te above screen - pages / session ratio is superb low, barely reaching 1.1. Normally my pages / session ratio is between 1.3-1.5. Although I believe I should aim something closer to 2 pages per session. The same applies for average session duration - 28 seconds instead of about…

St.Olav Hotel in Tallinn, Estonia

19 February, 2016 | Hotel reviews | 15 seen

St. Olav Hotel is located in the heart of Old Tallinn just a few hundred meters away from Tallinn's Town Hall square.

We stayed at this hotel in August, 2015, during a short travels to Estonian capital to celebrate my thirty birthday.

Lai street in Tallinn

Our hotel was located in the heart of Old Tallinn, since it was a Summertime, many cafes and restaurants were opened in our and nearby streets, so we had a plenty to choose from.

St.Olav hotel in Tallinn

The St. Olav is located in a historic building, and is decorated with antique furniture. The heated rooms have stone and brick elements, along with wooden furniture. Guests have an option of buying bathrobes and slippers.

Our room at St.Olav hotel in Tallinn, Estonia

Room features flat-screen TV, safe, minibar, work desk and free Wi-Fi.

St. Olav is only 400 m from Balti Jaam Railway Station. The Toompark is within 240 m. There are many restaurants, cafés and shops in the vicinity.

We paid about EUR 140 for a two night stay, what can I say - its decent hotel offering free breakfasts and Free Wifi. But…

Tallinn Town Hall Square

19 February, 2016 | Tourism objects | 18 seen

One of the most impressive tourist sights in Tallinn, most probably is Tallinn Town hall square and its surrounding restaurants and cafes. Speaking of the Town Hall it is the oldest town hall in the whole of the Baltic region and Scandinavia.

We visited Tallinn's Town Hall square while headed to our hotel (located somewhere close) during a short 2 day trip to Estonia's capital to celebrate my 30th birthday.

To enter into Old Town we had to cross Viru gate

Viru Gate in Tallinn, Estonia

The barbican of Viru Gate was part of the defense system of Tallinn city wall built in the 14th century. By the 16th century, it had 8 gates that consisted of several towers and curtain walls connecting them. The main tower of a gate was always square and the barbicans were equipped with one or two small round towers. As the entrances to the Old Town were widened, several gates were demolished. The Viru Gate had to pay its dues to a horse-drawn tram route that connected the Old Market with Kadriorg. However, the corner towers were preserved; also, you can still see a part of the bastion that is called Musumägi.…

Vardzia Cave Town Monastery Complex in Georgia

18 February, 2016 | Churches and Monasteries | 22 seen

Vardzia cave town is definitely a must have tourist attraction when traveling to Republic of Georgia, located in region of Samtkshe - Javakheti in about one hour drive from Akhaltsikhe town. For years I have been reading and heard a lot of stories of this place, but first visited just at the end of 2015. I was missing a lot.

We arrived here after sightseeing of Rabati castle in town of Akhatsikhe. Twilight was approaching and I was left with no options as to use best photography techniques I was familiar with, to get a decent photo story from Vardzia Cave town.

Vardzia cave town in Republic of Georgia

This was my first attempt of a decent photography, I opted using HDR here

The caves stretch along the cliff for some five hundred metres and in up to nineteen tiers. The Church of the Dormition, dating to the 1180s during the golden ageof Tamar and Rustaveli, has an important series of wall paintings. The site was largely abandoned after the Ottoman takeover in the sixteenth century. 

Vardzia cave town from a distance

While above image is just a…

Armenian Apostolic Church of Tallinn

17 February, 2016 | Churches and Monasteries | 85 seen

Huge was my surprise when walking from Tallinn Bus Station to the city centre I discovered an Armenian Apostolic church, surrounded by skyscrapers. Just a year ago I spent my birthday in Yerevan, Armenia.

Now a year latter, seeing an Armenian Church seemed like a sign for me. I still don't know what kind of sign, but that was a great reason to photograph here.

Armenian Apostolic church in Tallinn, Estonia

Surrounded by skyscrapers, this Armenian church in Tallinn is almost invisible for untrained eye.

Inscription plate in Armenian and Estonian

Although I don't speak either language, I believe it's saying - Armenian Apostolic Church

Now, I wanted to learn more about this church, and here is what I have found: (Source: Karine Grigorjan) 

June 17 2001, when Armenian Apostolic Church celebrated Church day, there was inaugurated Armenian temple in Tallinn. This church is situated in the beginning of the Tartu highway and before that it was Estonian church St. Yan.

The idea to create the Armenian Apostolic Church Community was brought by Vanush Carapetjan and Suren Saakjan  with the…

Wizz Air: Opens Seven New Routes From Kutaisi Airport

17 February, 2016 | Living in Georgia | 15 seen

Budget travelers - rejoice - 7 new routes will be launched from Kutaisi airport in Georgia. Berlin, Munich Memmingen, Milan Bergamo, Dortmund, Thessaloniki,  Larnaca and Sofia

I believe it is just a next logical move from Wizz Air, after recently European Union agreed to lift Visa requirements for Georgians entering European Union. Could this possibly mean a new start of possible immigration wave?

Wizz Air, the largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe, on February 17 announced it will begin base operations in September at David the Builder Kutaisi International Airport with one A320 aircraft and add seven new routes to Europe.

Wizz Air will launch new twice-weekly service from Kutaisi to Berlin Schönefeld, Munich Memmingen, Milan Bergamo, Dortmund, Larnaca and Sofia, while flights between Kutaisi and Thessaloniki will be flown three times a week. With these new destinations, Wizz Air’s network from Georgia consists of 11 routes to eight countries. Fares start at EUR 24.99.  

Kutaisi, famous for its many gardens and tree-lined streets, is the second-largest city in Georgia. Its most famous…

Tallinn Bus Station

17 February, 2016 | Railway / Bus / Ferry | 33 seen

The Tallinn Bus Station  is the main long-distance bus station of Tallinn, Estonia. The bus station is located in the southeastern part of the city centre (Kesklinn District), in Juhkentali neighborhood. 

When I was a young exchange student in Finland, I used this bus station frequently to travel back to my native Riga (Helsinki - Tallinn by ferry). Last time I was here, probably was back in 2006.

We arrived here from Riga bus station using Lux Express bus to celebrate my 30th birthday in Tallinn and I was pleasantly surprised to see how this place has changed (seems it has gone though renovation in 2012 or 2013).

Tallinn Bus Station in Summer 2015

You should be able to travel from Tallinn bus station to Tartu, Parnu, Viljani, Narva, Riga (and some more domestic routes. Please check ticket info here.

Fried Land Fast Food in Venice

16 February, 2016 | Restaurant reviews | 71 seen

After we finally arrived to Venice, settled up in our hotel room, it was still a few hours until New Year, we decided to locate some charming Venice restaurant, but they all either were fully booked or just looked suspicious, suddenly we noticed a small fast food shop, and I decided to take a look, so that's how we found Fried Land in Venice.

Huge was my surprise when searching for this places coordinates I found that on TripAdvisor Fried Land ranks #1 as Venice Restaurants (as on January 27, 2016) - Well, the explanation can be simple, the dude who prepared shaurmas for us, asked would we leave a review on TripAdvisor (and probably he has been asking it to all the rest folks visiting this place, and most probably that's the reason this place ranks so high, anyway - a good tip you can learn from this place, if you are an owner of small fast food shop and you're targeting your audience on TripAdvisor).

At Fried Land in Venice, Italy

We order two chicken kebabs and pasta with tuna fish, In total we paid about EUR 15. Don't get me wrong, this place is lovely and very affordable, but when it comes to the taste, nothing compares to kebabs you can get…

Hotel Guerrini Review in Venice, Italy

16 February, 2016 | Hotel reviews | 35 seen

We booked hotel Guerrini in Venice for New Years night (2016), because of it's location - Located just off the characteristic Venetian street of Lista di Spagna and 400 m from Santa Lucia Railway Station, Hotel Guerrini offers free Wi-Fi and simple air-conditioned rooms.

Now the biggest surprise was to learn out, that heating in our room didn't worked (seems it didn't worked for all the hotel), so called simple air conditioner also didn't helped much (it constantly showed +17C). Bathroom (for the price paid) was a parody (small, narrow)... I could complain of this place a lot, but probably that's just the way how they treat tourists in city center, right? Ask high price and give a bad service.

Queen size bed at Hotel Guerrini

No extra blankets or whatsoever, when I called to the reception desk and complained about freezing atmosphere in room, I was told they are going to fix this soon (in fact after some hour they did turned on heating, but turned it of after 2 AM, when we just returned from Marks Square, so, yes a pleasant surprise - to return to cold room in New Years night.

Inside yard at…

Replacing Roof - Part 3: Removing the old roofing (Losing Chimney)

15 February, 2016 | Home Remodeling | 10 seen

Now, when you are familiar with part 1 and part 2, it's time to tell the third part on home remodeling series replacing roofing. 

Today's roof replacing adventures were about the most dangerous so far (with happy ending). It all started in quiet August morning, when I get up earlier, to remove old roofing, so we can continue our works on leveling beams and dragging over crosswind sheet latter that day. I was waiting help (brother and dad) to arrive around a noon, so I had a plenty of time to excel my demolisher skills.

Today we faced unpleasant discovery, we had to remove atop of the chimney so the roof would  be in one straight level (more on that bellow)

Wooden boards around chimney

The floor / ceiling was already rotted (due to leaky roof), I created a simple construction to somehow strengthen this area, so I have an access to remove old wooden shingles. Some days ago I tried to clean this space, read more: Loft cleaning - Preparation works for replacing that leaky roof

Hole in the roof

I started to remove old wooden shingles from…

Replacing Roof - Part 2: Beam Leveling & Crosswind sheet

15 February, 2016 | Home Remodeling | 6 seen

It was second day morning when we re-started works on roof replacing. If you haven't already red, read Part 1: Removing Old Roof.

The idea was simple - if we are going to replace roofing, we will follow latest trends, and one of them involves using a crosswind sheet, which protects both against wind and humidity, I bought some super expensive crosswind sheet for about EUR 200 to cover in total about 180m2. 

Since we were replacing roofing by parts today we had to drag a crosswind beam over leveled beams and add lathing.

Measuring crosswind sheet

Yup, the surrounding views are amazing

Leveled beams

As you can see, its just one fourth of total work done yet (not speaking of actually covering a new roofing)

Beams and laths covered with sheet to protect against rain

For some reason, that Summer was pretty rainy

Lathing stretching over roof edge

We will use a chain saw to saw them in right distance from the edges.

Crosswind sheet and new lathing

Old and New: Roof replacement works

So that''s how looked second day…