Affordable Rental Prices in Catalonia, Spain - Starting EUR 400.00/month

25 January, 2015 | Travel guides | 14 seen

Today I was looking for long term apartment rentals in Spain and I was surprised of how cheap some of them are. Honestly, looking through some of the photos I was surprsied.

I have been in Spain just once, and I have seen just a small part of it, last autumn we headed to Catalonia, we visited places like Barcelona, Girona, Figueras, Roses, Cadacues, Sitges and other. You can read a full review of my Spain + Andorra travel guide here.

I found a rental site of http://www.kyero.com/ where according to Kyero are listed more than 175,000 real estate rental and sale offers from more than 2,000 agents in Spain.

I decided to higlight just some of the offers in Catalonia (in places I have visited during my latest Spain trip)

Barcelona:

Apartment for Rent In Barcelona EUR 550/month

0 bedrooms 1 bath 35 m2 built

heating - air conditioning, heating

utilities - city gas, water, telephone

outside - terrace

other - lift

View rental offer here

Girona

Town house for rent in Girona EUR 1,300/month

3 bedrooms 2 baths 230 m2 built 420 m2 plot size Pool

Living on the Golf of Girona. A beautiful semi-detached house on the Golf de Girona located only 5 minutes from the city and 30 from the Costa Brava. For golf lovers, the Golf de Girona is one of the best designed and maintained golf course in Catalonia. This house has recently been completely renovated with modern and practical designs. It has open spaces , plenty of light and is bright, cheerful and comfortable. The house is on one floor and has a loft of 30m2 giving access to a terrace. There is a private garden, and a large porch for spending quality time outdoors. Wood is present throughout the house, and gives it a warm and friendly feel. The property has all the amenities that modern life demands: central vacuum, electric shutters, alarm and many more features. The huge garage accommodates 5 cars. This property is part of a small community and has access to a shared swimming pool surrounded by grass and trees, designed with simplicity. A house enjoyable indoors and outdoors.

View rental offer here

Roses

Apartment for Rent in Roses EUR 450.00/month

1 bed 1 bath 40 m2 built Pool

Located in newly built residential. It has 1 double room, sunny living room, large terrace, equipped kitchen, bathroom with shower, TV with French channels, parking, swimming pool and garden. For the rent must to pay 2 months deposit, one month, agency, and the current month's rent. We need the last three payroll and contract work.

View rental offer here

Sitges

Apartment for rent in Sitges EUR 400/month

1 bed 1 bath 80 m2 plot size

For Long Term Rent
Bright and airy
Double bedroom apartment for rent Sant Pere de Ribes of 45m2
Very large 30m2 terrace that gets the sun all day. Perfect for relaxing and dining outside. 
Located in the beautiful Spanish village of St Pere de Ribes, just a 5 minute drive to Sitges centre
The apartment offers open plan living and is well equipped with a fully fitted kitchen and spacious living areas. 
being offered part furnished.

View rental offer here

Personally speaking I'm more interested in small costal town like Roses, Caduceus rather big cities like Girona or Barcelona. And doing my quick "investigation" I have found that in such remote costal towns prices are more than suitable.

Restaurant 'Деловой ...' Review in Tskneti

24 January, 2015 | Restaurant reviews | 17 seen

Welcome to another Tbilisi Restaurant review - today I will speak of a restaurant located in Tbilisi Suburbs in Tskenti.

The problem is that I don't know name of this restaurant, today I asked a locals and they told it's called a 'Biz... of something', in Russian they used a word 'Деловой'... well sorry I cannot give you a more details of this restaurants name. But I must admit I like 'Деловой...' very much.

We arrived here after a bowling match at Kopala bowling centre.

Before I will dig into food photography - let me mention one more thing, here they speak Georgian only, so either have a interpreter with yourself, or learn some basic Georgian.

We managed to order mcvadi, kava, kitris i pomidori, imeruli khachapuri, ghvino, lemonadi, tkemali, sacabeli and some other goods. for counting thing all you need to know - erti, ori, sami... and finally asking for a check - angarashi ashelaba!

As usual for taking photographs I'm using my Samsung phone and usingInstagram(link is external) (then taking them from Instagram and adding to posts - you can read a blog post on how I turned my Instagram account into a photo blog 

Restaurant sign in Georgian

Restaurant located near Tskenti road

Grilled barbecue

Gazebos at this Tskneti restaurant

Heh, I learned a word 'gazebo' from a South African guy when he showed me his fish farms here in Georgia. And now I have a chance to use it :)

Imeretian Khachapuri at this Tskneti restaurant

Pork Barbecue at this Tskenti restaurant

Tomato and cucumber salads

Though they don't speak here any other language than Georgian, damn, this is one of the most delicious and yummiest places near Tbilisi.  

Kopala Bowling Review in Tskneti

24 January, 2015 | Entertainment | 55 seen

Kopala Bowling is a bowling center located in the suburbs of Tbilisi, the mountainous village of Tskneti.

This is one of the few places in Tbilisi and the neighborhood to play bowling. 

We have been familiar with this place for ages, as in the past we came here quite often.

Kopola is not only a place where to play bowling, actually Kopola is a hotel with bowling and other entertainment facilities inside. 

We actually booked one night stay at the start of Septemebr 2022, and enjoyed both playing bowling + having indoor swimming pool.

Prices:

• For bowling 1 hour working days: 20GEL*
• For bowling 1 hour weekends: 40GEL*
• Turkish coffee at cafeteria: 3 GEL*

*Prices are as of 2015; in 2022 there have been high inflation and the cost have risen. We paid GEL 30 for 1 hour blowling, but we got a 20 GEL discount because we were staying at the hotel.

About Kopola Bowling Centre

The entertainment and Bowling center “Kopala” is situated in downtown of Tskneti resort area, which is fifteen minutes drive from Tbilisi center. It is comparable to European highest-level standards with its contemporary equipment and guest service. It is the interesting place for adults as well as for children, for both newcomers and professionals. Bowling is the competitive to traditional means of relaxation such as restaurant, dancing halls, movies and computer games. Kopala Center also has a billiard club, entertaining machines, fitness center, swimming pool, sport bar, comfortable hotel rooms, and of course all in low prices that create ideal environment, where we offer you the splendid opportunity to get a maximal pleasure and satisfaction.

Mobile Devices in Digital Economy: My Case Study with Black Friday and Cyber Monday

22 January, 2015 | Blogging | 12 seen

Today I red an interesting article on Forbes The Digital Economy Is The New "App Economy"  By Ross Mauri, IBM. 

According to the annual IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark results, overall online sales rose 13.9 percent for the 2014 holiday season. Cyber shopping during November and December set another record high, while mobile traffic accounted for 45 percent of all online traffic. On Black Friday, for example, mobile devices accounted for one-in-four online purchases. In essence, with this increasing reliance on mobile devices, the digital economy is rapidly become the app economy.

Since I'm a proud Amazon's Associate since August 2014, I too have some data to report. In short, yes last Black Friday and Cyber Monday helped me to earn pretty decent income, it started with $704.00 in November and grown to best so far $2029.00 in December.

Tracking Outbound links

I'm using Google Analytics to track my blog's progress over time, and I have set there event based goals to track clicks on outgoing links (Links to Amazon, for example)

Clicks to Amazon (Black Friday)

As you can see from image above desktop users still are the majority with 64.89% of total visitors on November 28, 2014 (Black Friday), leaving mobile users (26.03%) second and tablet users third (9.08%).

Now, the interesting part comes here  - while total mobile user count was 26.03%, there were 50.65% outgoing clicks to Amazon store from mobile users, while only 33.87% from desktops and 15.48% from tablets.

Clicks to Amazon Cyber Monday

You will find pretty the same scenario on December 1, 2014 (Cyber Monday) as well. While there are 69.26% of total users coming to my blog from desktop, just 38.31% desktop users were clicking on Amazon outgoing links. Mobile users kept first place with 46.20% of outgoing links to Amazon.

Now - I must admit - both of Black Friday and Cyber Monday were the best in terms of income report for my blog, still I would like to see more overall picture of full November and December 2014

Outgoing Clicks to Amazon November - December

Well - I'm not seeing here nothing unusual (different from first two images) - while desktop users still are the majority of my blog visitors (69.41%), mobile users (49.15) are more into clicking to outgoing links to Amazon, and (probably) making any further purchases there.

In over days, I believe there is a lot of misunderstanding of mobile users, desktop users, tablet users e.t.c.

There are folks claiming that mobile has overtaken desktop already in 2013, or 2014, well I believe there is a lot of such websites, which primary audience comes from mobile devices, but I wouldn't call it 100% sure for all web. In my case, there are still 69% of visitors visiting my blog from desktop computers. 

Yes I agree - more people are clicking on Amazon links browsing my blog from their mobile devices and hopefully making purchases, earning me minimal but fair commission.

Another interesting pattern  - bounce rates are lower for mobile and tablet devices that for desktop. The same applies for average session duration, for mobile and tablet users it's higher than for desktop. 

It will be interesting to observe what will bring year of 2015. 

Second Traffic Spike Happened - more than 3,500 Unique Visitors on January 19

21 January, 2015 | Blogging | 4 seen

Another major traffic spike to my blog happened on January 19, 2015, when total unique visitor count reached 3,584.

Update: Read how I got 10,000 page views in day a year later.

Previous or first major traffic spike happened about a year ago on January 24, 2014, when unique's totalled in more than 1,000.

I believe there will be some who are going to smile about such results, I mean those of you who are receiving traffic more than 5,000 unique visitors per day, but for me - well, it's a great achievement. Best so far!

Traffic Spike more than 3,500 unique visitors per day 

As you can see in above image my traffic went up on January 19, 2015 and totalled in 3,584 unique visitors. 

First thing I was concerned when I noticed a traffic surge - will my VPS will handle this spike, there was no need to be worried, my Linode VPS handled it with ease:

Linode VPS CPU Usage

Nothing unusual here, got around 32% of CPU on January 19, 2015

Linode VPS Network Usage

The only thing I noticed on my Linode VPS - increase in outgoing network traffic.

This leads me to think that with my existing server configuration I could go up to 100,000 monthly visitors without headaches, but I'm not 100% sure about that.

What made such traffic spike?

In July I wrote a post about minimum wages in European Union in 2014. At the end of 2014 that post started to gain some attention, got shared on several forums and then (as I believe) got shared on Facebook.

As of today that post has attracted 330 Facebook shares and likes.

The country of origin - Lithuania. I believe for Lithuanians it was interesting to compare their minimum wage with rest of European Union member states.

If you are interested in minimum wages in EU, please, feel free to visit that post and compare.

Traffic from Lithuania accounted for 54.65%

When first traffic spike happened to my blog I wrote following words about things I probably did wrong:

What about social share buttons - again wrong - I have removed them from site. So nobody, had possibility to share this link, and get even greater exposure.

So it's time to implement Google Adsense the right way, add social share buttons, and wait for another traffic spike. 

It has been already a one year since I said that - what has changed?

I decided to compare how well I was prepared for second traffic spike,and compared that one with first one:

Traffic Spike 2015 vs Traffic Spike 2014

First - this time I got 3 times more traffic than first time, the stats that makes me glad are:

• Average session duration: it's up for 144.42% from 18 seconds in 2014 to 44 seconds in 2015
• Bounce rate: It's down by -4.16% from 91.00% in 2014 to 87.22% in 2015
• Average page per session is the same: 1.15

In Conclusion (Waiting for third traffic spike)

Traffic spikes come and go, I'm not focusing on traffic spikes, I'm more interested in steady (predictable) traffic growth. One thing is common for traffic spikes, they might come a a surprise (as it happened this time and did happened first time to my blog).

One thing you should pay attention is your hosting plan, either you sit on a shared hosting or have your VPS, investigate how much traffic it can handle. Speaking of me - I believe my existing server configuration could handle up to 10,000 unique visitors in a day (of course, time will show)

I believe you won't get rich if you are montezing your site with Google AdSense only, in case some of your affiliate posts goes viral I believe there is a huge chance to earn some decent chunk of money from that.

The Dezerter Bazaar (Market) in Tbilisi - Day Before New Year's Eve

20 January, 2015 | Living in Georgia | 29 seen

In this article, I have listed a few photos from the visit to the Tbilisi Dezerteer market on December 30, 2014 (

Warning - Some of the images may be inappropriate for some users, on few of them are pictured slaughtered animals.

I'm not a vegetarian but I must admit, there are times when walking through this market I have considered becoming one.

Georgian version of Christmas trees

Well, to explain this version of a Christmas tree I would need to wrap up another blog post, but in short - I have no idea why Georgians make such Christmas trees.

Pumpkins for sale at Tbilisi Dezerter market

Mandarins at Tbilisi Dezerter market

Tbilisi Dezerter Bazaar

Piglets for sale at Tbilisi Market

Well, this is another interesting trend in Georgia. As New Years comes closer, more piglets are eaten. 

Chicken for sale at Tbilisi market

I don't know why they are yellow, personally I would avoid to buy any of meat products at Bazaar, probably they are just fine, but my inner feeling just keeps me avoiding of such products.

Onions for sale at Tbilisi Dezerter Bazaar

Vegetables at Tbilisi market

Crowded Tbilisi market

Pickles at Tbilisi market

Fireworks for sale at Tbilisi Market

Another issue in Tbilisi - during holiday season you will notice a lot of petards blown in front of your footsteps. 

Fruits at Tbilisi Dezerter Bazar

In short - Tbilisi Dezerter Bazaar is just a regular market, well if you are hopping it will be like La Boqueria Market in Barcelona, you are wrong - it wont.

The infrastructure at Tbilisi Dezerter bazaar is poor, market is overcrowded and you have a chance to get knocked down by a car which will deliver goods in a markets rush hour. 

Of course - here you can get plenty of vegetables, fruits, meat and even fish for much better price than in local shops.

Public Coffee Tbilisi Review (Aghmashenebeli avenue)

16 January, 2015 | Restaurant reviews | 17 seen

Welcome to another Tbilisi "restaurant" review. This time I would like to talk about Public Coffee on Aghmashenebeli avenue (Right next to McDonald's).

Update: Seem this place is out of business

The reason I enjoy this place - because they have toasts and delicious Cappuccino, It's one of the rare places in Tbilisi, I like to have my morning coffee and breakfasts.

Visit of this place will cost you a bit more than average but in most cases service and food will be delicious.

Entrance at Public Coffee

Inside interior at Public Coffee

Inside interior at Public Coffee

Inside interior at Public Coffee

Cappuccino at Public Coffee (Price ~4,90 GEL)

Crepes at Public Coffee (~5,90 GEL)

This was first time I tasted crepes at this Public coffee - though they are eatable, I wouldn't call them a real crepe - salads in a pancake, hold ham (I wouldn't recommend crepes at Public Coffee)

Greek salads at Public Coffee (Price ~ 8,90 GEL)

Toast of egg and chese

The main reason I enjoy Public Coffee is because of their toasts and cappuccino. Though ordering here a toast is a pretty the same as to play a lottery, there might be times when cheese is cold or toast is overburden. In 80% cases they are gone be fine, but I have warned you.

P.S. They have tasty pizzas at Public Coffee as well.

Proposed New High Speed Rail Line - Moscow - Beijing could cost ~$ 230 bln

15 January, 2015 | Railway / Bus / Ferry | 3 seen

<p>While <a href="http://www.reinisfischer.com/pictures-khazar-islands-azerbaijan-tower">… are building it's super expensive project Khazar Islands</a> with estimate costs of ~ $100 bln, Russians together with Chinese are looking to build a high speed rail connecting Moscow to Beijing in 33 hours with estimate cost of around $230 bln.</p><p><img src="http://www.reinisfischer.com/sites/default/files/russia-new-hs-train.pn…; alt="Russia China high speed train" title="Russia China high speed train" width="1200" height="587"></p><p><em>Russia China high speed train (Image source:&nbsp;businessinsider.com)</em></p><p>According to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-china-russia-mull-high-speed-moscow-… Insider</a> -&nbsp;The project would <strong>cost more than $230 billion and be over 7,000 kilometres (4,350 miles) long</strong>, the Beijing Times reported -- more than three times the world's current longest high-speed line, from the Chinese capital to the southern city of Guangzhou.</p><p>The railway would be a powerful physical symbol of the ties that bind Moscow and Beijing, whose political relationship has roots dating from the Soviet era and who often vote together on the UN Security Council. They have strengthened their relationship as Western criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin mounts over Ukraine and other issues.&nbsp;</p><p>The two signed a memorandum of understanding earlier this week during Premier Li Keqiang's visit to Moscow in which Beijing expressed interest in building a fast rail link between the Russian capital and Kazan in the oil-rich Tatarstan region, state broadcaster China Central Television reported.</p><p>The 803-kilometre line would be the first stage of the route to Beijing, CCTV said.</p><p>At present, trains between the two run along the Trans-Siberian railway that links Moscow and Vladivostok, before switching to a branch line heading south through the Mongolian capital Ulan Bator.</p><p>Direct passenger trains between Beijing and Moscow went into operation in 1954 and there are still two services per week, CCTV said. The new link would cut the train travel time from six days at present to under two days, the Beijing Times quoted Wang Mengshu, a tunnel and railway expert at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, as saying.</p><blockquote><p>"If the funds are raised smoothly... the line can be completed in five years at the quickest," he added.</p></blockquote><p>The paper cited a research report that put the cost of one kilometre of Chinese-built fast rail at $33 million. The country has the world's largest high-speed rail network, built from scratch in less than a decade, relying on technology transfer from foreign companies, including France's Alstom, Germany's Siemens and Japan's Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Its reputation was tarnished after a bullet train collision in July 2011 near the eastern city of Wenzhou that killed at least 40 people and injured hundreds.</p><p>But China is now keen to promote the export of its technology, and has been building high-speed rail networks in Turkey and Venezuela.&nbsp;</p>

Pictures of Khazar Islands, Azerbaijan Tower

15 January, 2015 | Macroeconomics | 511 seen

I have never been to Azerbaijan, but have heard a lot of it's plans to build a super expensive project of Khazar Islands and worlds highest tower - Azerbaijan, somewhere close to it's capital city Baku.

More than a year ago - I wrote about Baku to build Worlds Tallest building:

Azerbaijan is aimed to build artificial island archipelago called Khazar Islands with worlds largest building on it - Azerbaijan Tower. Estimated cost for such a mega project is 100 bln USD, which is more than total of Azerbaijan's GDP.

The cost of Azerbaijan Tower will be 3 bln USD: The $3 billion tower is to be the centerpiece of the Khazar Islands, a $100 billion city of 41 artificial islands that will spread 3,000 hectares over the Caspian Sea.

The city is being planned to house 1 million residents, contain 150 schools, 50 hospitals and daycare centers, numerous parks, shopping malls, cultural centers, university campuses, and a Formula 1 quality racetrack.

All of these facilities are planned to be able to withstand up to magnitude 9.0 earthquakes. The city will be equipped with 150 bridges and a large municipal airport to connect the islands to the mainland

Construction works on the Azerbaijan Tower is set to begin in 2015 and will be completed around 2019. The Khazar Islands are scheduled to be finished between 2020 and 2025.

Residential complex at Khazar Islands

Khazar Islands

Khazar Islands

Construction works at Khazar Islands

Construction works at Khazar Islands

Construction works at Khazar Islands

Bridge at Khazar Islands

Boulevard at Khazar Islands

Boulevard at Khazar Islands

Pool at Khazar Islands

Construction works at Khazar Islands

Visualization of Khazar Islands

Visualization of Khazar Islands

 Visualization of Khazar Islands

 Visualization of Khazar Islands

 Visualization of Khazar Islands

 Visualization of Khazar Islands

Azerbaijan Tower - Worlds Highest building

Visualization of Khazar Islands

Visualization of Khazar Islands

Azerbaijan Tower - Worlds Highest Skyscraper

Khazar Islands built by Avesta

The Avesta concern is building complex with developed infrastructure, on artificial islands in the Caspian Sea.
Khazar Islands (Yeni Sheher) is being developed 23 km south-west of the capital, towards Primorsk and within sight of the coast. The furthest island is 7 km from the shore. The development will cover 2,000 hectares (two parallel lines of buildings on the main island, high-rise constructions on several isolated islands and villas on stand-alone islands). Bridges will connect all facilities in the complex.

You can find more pictures on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/khazarislandsofficial

South African Fish Farms in Georgia (Sagarejo, Sartichala)

14 January, 2015 | Farms | 33 seen

The other day I was contacted on my blog's contact form by locally living foreigner in Georgia originally coming from South Africa. It turned out Afrikaner guy (Johann Kritzinger)  is a manager of South African owned fish farms here in Georgia. 

Since I'm open to almost anything new and unknown for me, I asked is it possible to arrange some sightseeing tour in his properties.

I'm a complete noob in a fishery, fish farms e.t.c. I could barely find any difference between a carp and a salmon, so it's always interesting to learn new things.

My new friend agreed to showcase fish farms in Sartichala and Sagarejo (both located in Georgian province of Kakheti).

On a lovely Tuesday afternoon he picked me up in Tbilisi and story can be told now:

Fish Farm in Sartichala

If honestly I have no idea what devices are in this picture, I believe I was told of them, but as I said, I'm a complete noob in fishery

Fish Farm in Sartichala

Fish farm ravines in Sartichala

Fish farm located inside this greenhouse

House dog

Street in Sartichala

A stop for a coffee break

Looks like a Mini Canyon for me

Scenic views near Sagarejo

Scenic views near Sagarejo

View from a Dam building near Sagarajo

Waterfall on Iori river, Georgia

Beauty of Georgia

Fish pools near Sagarejo

Fish pools near Sagarejo

Parking lot near fish ponds

Old Soviet car - VAZ

Sheep's looking for food on a valley

Vasiliy and Rocky preparing to catch a fish

I got as a present two huge fishes

I would like to say a HUGE thanks to Johann Kritzinger for contacting me and given me such a great opportunity, not only to learn something new of fish farming, but also he explained me many interesting things of his native South Africa. Did you new, there is 11 official languages and 4 capitals in South Africa? 

Johann with smile pointed out, that Charlize Theron not Scarlett Johansson is a South African actress (as I mistakenly thought), but he agreed both of them are very beautiful actress. 

Again, Johann, thank you for being such a great story teller, I hope we will make some more trips in Georgia (and not only) together.

About Afrikaner Farmers migrating to Georgia

I did a quick search and found some interesting information about many Afrikaners emigrating away from South Africa, and seems Georgia is trying to attract some of them.  I will republish one of them: (You can read original here)

by James Brooke September 14, 2011 8:00 PM

A South African court on September 12 convicted Julius Malema, president of the African National Congress Youth League, of hate speech for singing "shoot the Boer, kill the Boer" at a rally last year. But some Boers (white South African farmers) say they have had enough of violence and racial tension in South Africa and are planning to move out. VOA's James Brooke visited one Afrikaner who started farming this year in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia.

Piet Kemp's family farmed in southern Africa for three centuries. But now at age 66, this Afrikaner farmer has traded South Africa's Eastern Transvaal for Eastern Georgia. Here, he is reviving wheat and corn production on what was once a Soviet collective farm. Kemp says he has no regrets.

"I have a new life here," he explained. "I try to make friends with all the people in Georgia, learning their culture. I have been here since 3rd of March, and I have not heard of one murder in Georgia in this time. I didn't hear about any bank robbery. I didn't hear about any one hijacking."

It was not just high crime rates that prompted Kemp to leave South Africa.  

"There is no security of land, absolutely no security of land in South Africa," he stressed.

Kemp said that over the last decade he successfully helped hundreds of white farmers hold on to their farmland in face of legal challenges from black farm workers and squatters.  But now, he says white farmers face threats of farm seizures by ANC Youth League President Julius Malema and other politicians.

"With a youth leader like Malema, he can go up and stand and say to anyone I want this land for South Africa, for the future of South Africa," noted Kemp. "He can take just what he wants. For me, I just say no."

The Bill of Rights in South Africa’s 1996 post-apartheid constitution protects land ownership rights, stipulating restitution for land that is redistributed.  This law, defenders say, has limited land expropriations.  A two-thirds vote in parliament is needed to change the constitution, a majority the ruling ANC does not have.

Georgia is playing on these insecurities, actively recruiting Afrikaner farmers to help revive the nation's moribund agriculture. In the 20 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union, half of Georgia's farmland has gone out of production.

"They have done exceptionally great job over the years in South Africa, and to give them an opportunity to do the same thing here and for Georgian farmers to learn from the experience they will receive from their new neighbors, from the South African farmers," said Georgia's Canada-educated Economy Minister, Vera Kobalia.

Kobalia praises Sandra Roelofs, the Dutch-born wife of Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, for promoting the program.  Dutch is the mother language of Afrikaans.

"It helped in terms of making them feel more secure in Georgia," Kobalia noted.  "There is definitely that connection, the Holland connection in Georgia."

Kemp says that Georgia's Dutch-speaking first lady impressed a visiting group of Afrikaner farmers last year.

"Sandra, she was touring a week with us," said Kemp.  "We pick[ed] grapes together. We spoke Netherlands."

Kemp is a devout Protestant and feels a strong connection to Georgia's overwhelmingly Christian Orthodox population.

"We believe in the same thing, believe in the same God," said Kemp.

Kemp says he and other Afrikaner pioneers feel welcome. But Mariam Jorjadze, who runs a farmers' aid organization, worries that the 10 Afrikaner families here now could lead to a big influx of foreign farm directors. As in the Soviet days, Georgian farmers could again be reduced to laborers on big industrial farms.

"If the trend will be many South Africa farmers coming and there will tendency to convert people in rural areas again into labor force for foreign investors, I don't think that this system is viable. It resembles the former Soviet system," said Jorjadze.

Kemp believes that Afrikaners will help jump start Georgian agriculture. But he cautions that they must integrate into Georgian society.

"We must go into Georgia as Georgians - in Georgian culture, in Georgian language - so that they see us as Georgians, not as South Africans coming to Georgia," Kemp explained.

Kemp adds that he does not want his new life in Georgia to be like his old life in South Africa, where he was part of a successful minority envied by the majority population.

Travellers from Poland, Germany and Greece Among Top countries from European Union visiting Georgia - EU From Total Just 4.21%

13 January, 2015 | Macroeconomics | 13 seen

According to Georgian National Tourism Administration in 2014 there was a total of  5 493 492 international travelers arriving to Georgia, what is a increase of 1.9% compared to previous year (2013)

Most of the travelers arrive from following 5 countries - Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia and Ukraine, if counted together international travelers from those 5 countries makes 4 992 934 or saying in percentage - makes 90.88% of total travelers,  leaving the rest of the World travelers with 500, 588 (9,22%)

I decided to count - how many travelers arrives to Georgia from European Union member states

Data source (Georgian National Tourism Administration)

Most travelers visiting Georgia from European Union member states comes from Poland (46,024), Germany (33,315) and Greece (21,408).

Speaking of Greece - I believe many Greek passport holders are actual Georgians who have got citizenship of Greece. I'm not so sure regarding Germany, but I believe some percent of ethnic Georgians holding German passports are as well.

The biggest traveler increase is from Lithuania, up from 5,647 in 2013 to 10,858 in 2014, making a total of 47.99% increase -  as I believe is thanks to a new direct flights connecting Vilnius with Kutaisi. 

I find it interesting to learn that travelers from Finland (-77%) and Estonia (-8,83%) has decreased in 2014. That led me to think following - while I believe Lithuanian travelers have increased to Georgia, mainly thanks to cheap direct Vilnius - Kutaisi flights with Wizz Air, Finns and Estonians have decreased "thanks" to canceled line - Tallinn - Tbilisi, performed by Estonian Air. I might be wrong, but that's my subjective opinion.

Another interesting trend to observe is Hungarian travelers to Georgia, on autumn of 2014, the same Wizz air launched direct flights from Budapest to Kutaisi, and we can see that Hungarian traveler count to Georgia has increased already by 29% in 2014, well in total nothing impressive, making 2,658 travelers in 2014, but I guess this number could crack 10,000 milestone this (2015) year.

My overall evaluation of following traveler trend from European Union to Georgia is - it's really really modest result.

I mean, if in 2014 there were a total of 5,4 million travelers to Georgia, and just a 0,23 million travelers of them were from European Union, it's a tiny fraction in overall pot, making just 4,21%. It is a very very tiny result. Well I'm not saying it's bad that vast majority of international travelers to Georgia arrives from it's neighboring countries, like Turkey, Russia, Azerbaijan or Armenia, I'm saying that there is a huge potential to attract more travelers from European Union.

I believe that those ones who arrives from Germany, Sweden or even Estonia will be those ones who will stay at hotels, eat at restaurants, ski at mountains and spend more euros, so needed for Georgian economy. 

So the question I would like to ask now - why there is such low percentage of travelers from European Union to Georgia?

Is it a lack of services, not being well informed of travel options to Georgia? Or maybe Georgia just isn't a very attractive country for travelers from European Union?

Methodology

• Air: Tbilisi International Airport, Batumi International Airport
• Sea: Poti port, Batumi port, Kulevi port
• Land: Tbilisi, Akhkerpi, Guguti, Vale, Vakhtangisi, Ninotsminda, Sadakhlo (air and railway border checkpoints), Sarpi, Kazbegi, Tsodna, Tsiteli Khidi, Gardabani, Samtatskaro, Kulevi

• http://stats.georgia.travel/Default.aspx

Rabati Fortress Complex in Akhaltsikhe, Georgia

11 January, 2015 | Tourism objects | 99 seen

Georgia will never end to surprise you (at least - me).

Few years ago a major tourist attraction was renovated and opened to the public, some would call it a Jewel in the Crown, while others would call it a Georgian Disneyland (appealing that like in Disney land, everything here is a butaforie).

My subjective opinion will stay somewhere in middle. Yes it's kinda of butaforie, built from lightweight materials in less than 15 month almost from scratch, but still, it's a jewel in the crown.

First time I visited the Rabati Fortress complex back in July 2014, during 2 day rafting trip. Back then we had our minds focused more on rafting than exploring Rabati Fortress. We decided to come back here when we will have more time.

That time happened at the start of January 2015. We booked Hotel Rabath, took a Tbilisi - Akhaltsikhe minibus, and in less than in 3 hours we were again in Rabati Fortress complex. This time armed with time and photo camera. The story can be told now.

Meet Rabati fortress complex with eyes of me - I managed to capture more than 200 pictures here, they all looked great for me, and it was hard to select few ones to display on my blog - at the end I selected 48 pictures of Rabati Fortress complex.

Rocks near Rabati Castle Complex

Hotel Rabath & Gino Wellness

You can read my review of  Hotel Rabath & Gino Wellness here

View from Hotel Rabath

Restaurant Rabath

Vineyards on terraces

View to Rabati complex

View to Rabati complex 

I guess in summertime this formation becomes a fountain?

View to Akhaltsikhe town from Rabati fortress 

View to Akhaltsikhe town from Rabati fortress 

Rabati fortress towers

You can climb up on every tower at Rabati Fortress complex

View to Rabati complex

Hotel Rabath is located just inside of this complex

Another angle of Rabati complex

Stage in middle of Rabati complex

I guess in summertime Rabati complex is great place to held musical festivals

Souvenir shop at Rabati complex

Mainly you can buy here Georgian vine and other local goods

Arch bridge at Rabati complex

Rabati fortress Towers

Rabati Fortress Towers built in the rocks

Guard booth at Rabati complex (author of this blog captured showing entrance ticket to guards)

You must buy entrance tickets at tourism information kiosk which is located down at the entrance in Rabati complex. Ticket price - 5GEL

Aisles at Rabati Fortress

View to Rabati complex

View to Rabati complex

Georgian flag at the top of the building

I have no clue what is the name of this building - only thing what come to my mind - it's some Convent?! Correct me if I'm wrong.

Rabati Cathedral

Wooden building at Rabati complex

Rabati Fortress complex

Outdoor pool (decorative) at Rabati Fortress complex

Interesting architecture elements at Rabati Fortress complex

Inside view from Rabati cathedral

Vaults at complex

Grates at a monk's cell

Convent? built on the rocks

Stairways up to the Convent building

Rocky mountains around fortress and Akhaltsikhe town

Iron doors

On the way to reach Georgian Flag up in the tower

Flat Screen TV on rocks (inside Convent building)

Curved metal stairs heading up to the tower with Georgian Flag

View to Rabati complex from flag tower

View to Rabati complex from flag tower

View to Rabati complex from flag tower

View to Akhaltsikhe town from flag tower

View to rocky mountains from flag tower

View to surrounding villages from flag tower

Georgian Flag

Stairways down from the convent building

History museum of Samthske - Javakheti region

Inside territory of Rabati Fortress complex there is a local Samtskhe-Javakheti (region in which is situated Rabati fortress) history museum. 

History museum of Samthske - Javakheti region

Unfortunately it's not allowed to photograph inside in museum - so that's the only one photo I managed to illegally capture here

Tips

• Entrance fee in Rabati fortress complex - 5 GEL
• You can have a guided tour by additional 20 GEL
• You can reach Akhaltsikhe from Tbilisi by minibus in less than 3 hours
• You should allocate at least 3 hours for exploring Rabati fortress complex

Hotel Rabath & Gino Wellness Review in Akhaltsikhe

10 January, 2015 | Hotel reviews | 25 seen

Back in summer of 2014, we took a 2 day rafting trip, during which we visited Rabati Castle Complex for about an hour. in such short time we hadn't much chance to explore the so called "Jewel in the Crown" - Rabati Castle complex, renovated just couple of years ago, and aimed to become as one of the most popular tourist attractions in Georgia. 

Back then (in summer of 2014) we noticed a hotel located at the heart of Rabati castle complex, and we decided we should come back again, stay at local hotel and explore this charming place.

Our second trip to Akhaltsikhe happened at start of January 2015, using one of the cheapest travel options in Georgia - minibus, we reached Akhatlsikhe in less than 3 hours.

Hotel Rabath in middle of Rabati complex

Hotel Rabath & Gino Wellness sign

Stairs down to Spa

Bedroom at Hotel Rabath

Flat screen TV at Hotel Rabath

Lately, I have no luck of getting English language channels at Georgian hotels, here at Hotel Rabath during our stay was available just 3 Georgian language channels

Our Room with a balcony and view to towers

Room at Hotel Rabath

Bathroom at hotel Rabath

Nice place to wrap up a blog income report

I created my first yearly blog income report here

Christmas tree at Hotel Rabath

Georgians are an Orthodox nation, Christmas and New year here is celebrated according to Julian calendar

Salads at Hotel Rabath restaurant

Georgian Traditional cuisine at hotel Rabath

Restaurant at Hotel Rabath

Advent Wreath

Scenic views from Rabath square

Whirlpool at Hotel Rabath (Gino Wellness)

Sauna at Hotel Rabath (Gino Wellness)

Herbal sauna at Hotel Rabath (Gino Wellness)

For a two night stay, we paid in total 260 GEL (USD140.00/EUR 115.00), in price was included breakfast and a visit to the spa center for 2 hours each day.

We paid around 60 GEL for supper at first night at the Hotels restaurant. Another day we went to local Akhaltsikhe restaurants and got the same value for about 30 GEL.

In overall - Hotel Rabath in Akhaltsikhe is now my second favorite hotel in Georgia after Hotel Royal Batoni in Kvareli.

About Hotel Rabath

• Hotel Gino Wellness Rabath is the only hotel in Caucasus region which is placed inside the walls of the historic fortress Rabath. It has the best location, its old design, and comfort.
• The hotel offers Classic, Lux, Classic family and Apartment Lux rooms.
• The hotel offers a conference room, bar - restaurant, terrace, and wellness - spa center. Where are all conditions for a comfortable rest and vacation spot.

About Wellness & Spa

• fragrant aroma sauna is the best for relaxation.
• Salt has beneficial effects on the skin, it provides a natural smooth blood circulation. Salt inhalation is suitable for allergy and respiratory.
• The strength of menthol together with steam clears the airways and release the skin pores. Comfortable seating, moisture and heat, it is another relax for your body and soul..
• We offer Jacuzzi, Roman sauna, Finnish dry sauna, cold water pool, sea pebbles pool with foot hydro - massage, mini bar with soft drinks, good music that is heard throughout the sauna and resting place - Tepidarium, the combination creates a very special atmosphere and full relaxation.

Tbilisi - Akhaltsikhe by Minibus: Cost, Time & Distance

9 January, 2015 | Travel guides | 102 seen

As an indie traveler, I prefer to travel in Georgia by mini buses, they are cheap and most often the fastest way to get from one point in Georgia to another.

Not always, but most often (for example, I would prefer railway to travel from Tbilisi to Batumi over minibus).

My first time when I visited Akhaltsikhe was in July 2014, during our 2 day rafting trip. Back then we had a little time to explore Akhaltsikhe and I decided - we must return here another time for a longer stay.

That day came at the start of January 2015 -  we booked a superb hotel at a superb location in Akhaltsikhe, see Hotel Rabath & Gino Wellness Review in Akhaltsikhe

​Update: See how can I save you time and money by helping to plan your itinerary to Georgia, see organized tours in Georgia.

Departing

Turns out mini buses heading to Akhaltsikhe departs both from Didube station and from Tbilisi Railway Station. You can travel to Borjomi as well, using Tbilisi - Akhaltsikhe minibus. 

Price

Price per person was 8 GEL

Distance and driving time

Distance from Tbilisi to Akhaltiskhe is around 207 km. Travel time should be around 2 and a half hours (2.5h)

Timetable

Basically there is one minibus departing every hour or 40 minutes starting 6AM till 7PM 

Tbilisi -  Akhaltsikhe minibus

City minibuses parked near Tbilisi Railway Station

Building close to Tbilisi Railway Station

Liqueur store with entrance from carriageway

Minibuses at Akhaltsikhe (close to Rabati Castle Complex)

Timetable at Akhaltsikhe minibus station

Scenic Sights during Akhaltsikhe - Tbilisi ride

Blog Income Report 2014 - $3,334.20

8 January, 2015 | Blogging | 12 seen

Yesterday I published a round-up post for the total blog traffic in 2014.  It turns out my blog has attracted more than 40,000 unique visitors last year.

Today I decided to wrap up a blog income report for the whole of 2014.

I have been publishing my blog online income reports starting in January 2014, so by today, I have 12 reports for the previous twelve months.

In total, my blog in 2014 has earned $3,334.2, what is around $277.85 per month or $9.13 in a day. 

Blog Income Report 2014

As you can see from the above chart -  first months of 2014 (January, February, March, April, and May) are not even visible on this chart. Starting August there is a significant growth in the online income.

Here is why - starting January, I implemented only Google AdSense on my blog to monetize it, and income stayed low while I added Amazon Associates starting the month of August.

Blog online income report 2014

The best month in terms of online income in 2014 was December, when my blog earned pretty serious $2,029.67.

The worst month in 2014 was March with really modest $5.51.

In overall, the year of 2014 was full of surprises, but was closed in steady growth (at least I hope so, and hope that growth will continue in 2015 as well)

What monetization channels I have used in 2014

In total, I have used 4 or 5 channels to monetize my blog - Google Adsense, Booking.com, Amazon Associates, Amazon CPM, and some other affiliate programs.

By now, the most successful channel turned out is Amazon Associates, followed by Google Adsense and Amazon CPM equally. I dropped Booking.com affiliate program after I found the hotel industry is a way too competitive.

Expenses

Doing my monthly income reports I have never included expenses section, what might give not a fully transparent picture of what's really happening each month. I promise I will include expenses section in future reports. 

Speaking of expenses in 2014 - I have used some Facebook Ads to drive traffic or buy likes and of course, I had to pay monthly hosting payments.

I guess total "investment" in Facebook's ads are about $200.00 while I know for sure - I'm paying for my Linode VPS $40.00 each month. During this summer I got a Linode Promo code, and it saved me another $100.00.

So in total:

• Facebook Ads: = $200.00
• Linode VPS:$380.00
• Total: $580

Goals for 2015

Though I have been monetizing my blog for already 1 year - I still feel like a newbie at this thing. I have no idea were 2015 actually will lead me in, but I have some goals for it.

In total, I would like to reach $15,000 by the end of 2015. In average it's $1,250 each month or $41.09 every day. By writing these lines these numbers sound pretty high for me, but actually I don't think they are impossible. 

I'm looking to diversify my online income sources as well, though Amazon, for now, seems a "gold miner" - I believe there are more options to discover and add as a potential income stream.

I will keep Google AdSense on my blog, and who knows, maybe in 2015 I will figure out how to get more than $40.00 per month from it (I did setup a goal about a year ago)