Tallinn Town Hall Square

19 February, 2016 | Tourism objects | 16 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 | 20 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 | 82 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 | 14 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 | 30 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 | 70 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 | 32 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…

How Valentine's day was celebrated in Tbilisi

14 February, 2016 | | 62 seen

We were of to Tbilisi streets looking for Valentine's day photography, when I concluded - Valentine's day, thus not popular in Republic of Georgia, makes some good for local economy - first of all for local flower markets, second for cafes, bars, pubs and restaurants. 

We made a dozen of photos today, experimented with black and white, panorama and other photography techniques. Tbilisi didn't seemed too busy on celebrating Valentine's day, but we found some interesting scenes in Old Town and local flower market. 

This is how we saw Valentine's day was celebrated in Tbilisi, 2016, Piece of Life after all.

Happy Valentine's day in shop windows

Where is she?

Children playground near flower market in Tbilisi

Multi color roses

There is no age for love

For my only one

Love is like a nectar

Do Not Scold Me, My Darling 

Valentine's day cakes in Tbilisi

Colors of life

Happy Valentine's day

As on first date

Postcards from Rabati Fortress

14 February, 2016 | | 9 seen

I first visited Rabati Fortress in Akhaltsikhe, Republic of Georgia, in Summer of 2014, during a two day rafting drive on river Mtkavri, next time we booked a lovely hotel inside fortress complex at the start of 2015, during our stay here I created a lot of pictures and crafted an article about Rabati fortress Castle featuring 48 pictures. (You think its a lot? I have an article from Keukenhof's tulip garden in the Netherlands with 136 images).

At the end of 2015 we visited this site for the third time, I was armored with a DSRL camera, tripod and knowledge of taking HDR pictures.

Rabati fortress complex in Georgia

The above image gained some popularity on Flickr, and after all ended as my Photo of the month  - December, 2015

Rabati fortress complex

Rabati fortress complex

Samikitno / Machakhela Restaurant review (Meidan square, Tbilisi)

14 February, 2016 | Restaurant reviews | 170 seen

Samiktno / Machakhela is a restaurant chain located in Tbilisi, Republic of Georga. One of it's prominent restaurants is located at Meidan Square, just in the heart of Tbilisi Old Town offering breathtaking views towards Metekehi church (in front of which is located Vahtang Gorgasali statue).

This is one of the rare places in Georgia where you can get combos

We are proud, that we were among the first to bring to Georgian market so-called ”combos”.  That is, combined portion dishes which are intended for one person and differ from the practice of delivering dishes to traditional Georgian feast, where food is shared by all members of the table. I would like to say, that the above-mentioned combos are very popular not only among local population, but among those numerous guests who come to our country.   

I have been heading here for dozens of times, in today's photo article I'll share some pictures I did here in frames of Piece of Life photo shooting: Tbilisi - Winter Fairyland

Menu at this restaurant

Written in three languages - Georgian, English and Russian. This time we opted for some…

Postcards from Venice, Italy

13 February, 2016 | | 9 seen

We went to Venice on New Year's Eve (2015/2016), for me as a beginner photographer it was a great challenge to photograph here. I prepared well (brought tripod and practiced a lot previously) but I made a huge mistake this night, I messed up with the clock (Flying from country to country is a mess with time, so I have stopped to look in watch when traveling), so we went out for a New Years fireworks one hour earlier. This extra hour resulted in a very cold and unpleasant weather and in aftermath we just got sick. 

Venice in fact didn't seemed very tourist friendly place, when we arrived here from Florence, the huge surprise we learnt was with getting actually a parking space in the city on water. After some hour or even more waiting in a queue we finally parked our rental car at one of the multi storey car parks, and went to our hotel deeper in the city. Hotel room was cold and ...  yeah, not the best travel experience here, but back to the postcards - I promised I will send a postcard from Venice to my grandmother, in fact I didn't sent, so I will most probably print best ones from our Italy trip…

Postcards from Florence, Italy

13 February, 2016 | | 6 seen

Florence is a destination to head for if you are looking for renaissance art. 

Florence is famous for its history: a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time, it is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has been called "the Athens of the Middle Ages"

In today's Piece of Life photo series - Postcards from Florence, taken at the end of 2015

View towards Florence

If you are new to Florence and might wonder where are the best points to photography the city, get to the Michelangelo Square, from this place all Florence is on your palm. I installed a tripod here and played a bit with camera here - above image is final HDR I rendered using Photomatix.

Panoramic view towards Florence

Some magic with photo stitching and in result - lovely panoramic view of Florence.

Next we headed by our rental car straight into the heart a city, parked our car near a cathedral and went in a few hour wandering tour around Florence

Mime in the streets of Florence

…

Sergos Duqani restaurant in Akhaltsikhe

12 February, 2016 | Restaurant reviews | 23 seen

Sergos Duqani is a lovely restaurant in Akhaltsikhe, serving traditional Georgian cuisine. Located just in the footsteps of Rabati Fortress complex.

We first discovered and met lovely owners of this place, when stayed in hotel in Rabati (Hotel Rabath & Gino Wellness) and were looking for some local place to have dinner. Frankly speaking sashlik served here is among the best I have ever tried in Georgia (and price for them are ridiculously low  - about 6 lari per skewer.)

Segos Duqani restaurant in Akhaltsikhe, Georgia

Menu items at Sergo Duqani restaurant 

Inside interior 

Turkish coffee

Soup Ostri

Sashlik on grill

Sashlik on plate