History of Tram and Trolleybus systems in Tbilisi and Georgia

18 December, 2014 | Living in Georgia | 456 seen

Currently (2022) there are no tram or trolley lines in Tbilisi, but not so long ago in history, there were plenty of tram and trolleybus lines not only in Tbilisi but also in Batumi, Kutaisi, Gori, Zugdidi, Ozurgeti, Poti, Rustavi, and even Chiatura. 

What has happened to once pretty impressive routes of trams and trolleys in Georgia?  I guess the harsh history happened. After the Collapse of the Soviet Union - Georgia got troubled with civil wars, and economic hardships so neither trams nor trolleys were a priority.

While you are exploring bits of Georgian history, consider Batumi Real Estate Crypto Investment

I have found an interesting resource http://photo.tramvaj.ru/ (In the Russian language) where some almost 20-year-old pictures (dated 2003) with trams and trolleys in Georgia are listed. Author of all images listed below: © Mike Russell, Reading, GB. Pictures were taken at the begging of September 2003.

You can read the original here: http://photo.tramvaj.ru/georg2003.htm

Tbilisi Tram

From Wikipedia: Tbilisi had a tram network, since 1883 starting from horse driven trams and from 25 December 1904 electric tramway. When the Soviet Union disintegrated, electric transport went to a degradation state within the years and finally the only tram line left was closed on 4 December 2006 together with two trolleybus lines which were left. There are plans to construct a modern tram network. 

Tbilisi Tram

Car Nr 599 on Route 12 (Didube - Avchala)

Tbilisi Tram KTM 5

Car Nr 181 on Metro Station Didube

Tbilisi Tram Nr 7 (Isaani Line) KTM -5 car

Tbilisi Trolley

In service from April 21, 1937 to December 4, 2006

Tbilisi Trolley Škoda 14Tr

Tbilisi Trolleybus Škoda

Škoda Trolleybus painted green in Tbilisi

To make it more easy to maintan looks they have decided not to use secondary doors.

ZiU-9 Trolleybus at Vake

ZiU-9 Trolleybus on its route (Tbilisi suburbs)

ZiU-9 Trolleybus on Rustaveli Prospect

Tbilisi Troleybuses

Gori Trolleybus

Included interurban line to Tiniskhidi village. In service May 1, 1972 - March 24, 2010

Trolleybuses in Gori

ZIU-9 Trolleybus in Gori

Zugdidi Trolleybus

In service: February 25, 1986 - July 2009

Zugdidi Trolleybus

There was only one route in Zugdidi, ZIU-9 and Škoda trolleybuses run on it.

Ozurgeti Trolleybus

Included interurban line to Dvabzu village. In service: November 28, 1980 - June 2006

Ozurgeti Trolleybus

Poti Trolleybus

Included interurban line to Maltakva village. In service: May 9, 1981 - December 2004

Poti Trolleybus

Rumor has they didn't have enough eletricity to power those ZIU-9 trolleybuses in Poti

Batumi Trolleybus

Included two interurban lines to Makhinjauri and Khelvachauri. In service: November 6, 1978 - 2005

Batumi Trolleybus

Kutaisi Trolleybus

In service: September 11, 1949 - July 25, 2009

Kutaisi Trolleybus

ZIU-9 Trolleybus in Kutaisi

Chiatura Trolleybus

Interurban line to Sachkhere. In service: November 7, 1967 - 2008

Trolleybus in Chiatura

There was a trolleybus line Chiatura - Sachkhere

Rustavi Trolleybus

In service: February 16, 1971 - September 24, 2009

Rustavi trolleybus

As you can see from those pictures taken more than 10 years ago - neither trolleys or trams, neither roads looks in their shape. I guess it's just logical that those lines were abandoed after all. On other hand it's sad. It's sad there were on investments made to upgrade existing cars, modernize lines. After all both trams and trolleys are "green". In our days there is a lot of talk of sustansable energy in Georgia, so I pressume some lines might return, at least to Tbilisi somewere in future.

Used resources:

• http://photo.tramvaj.ru/georg2003.htm
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tbilisi#Tram
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_trolleybus_systems#cite_note-7

First High Speed Railway Launched in Poland

17 December, 2014 | Railway / Bus / Ferry | 113 seen

<p>On this lovely 17th December afternoon I decided to add a new blog category to my blog - <a href="http://www.reinisfischer.com/railway">Railway</a>.</p><p>Railway is a transport system I have been interested ever since I can remember my self.&nbsp;</p><p>Railways (<strong>as I like to think</strong>) is a back-bone of country's economy. Railway system is a mirror which reflects economical growth and stability.<strong> On the other hand Railway has lost it's importance it had in 19th century</strong>. Railway symbolizes industrialization (<strong>again, at least for me</strong>).</p><p>Though we are living in times when importance of Railway is decreasing there are still many regions in World where Railway is just yet to be developed.&nbsp;</p><p>For a last 3 years I have been paid some interest of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project (it's more cargo) connecting <a href="http://www.reinisfischer.com/caucasus-overview">Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey</a>. I have paid a huge interest of Rail Baltic project which should connect Helsinki, Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius and Warsaw any-time soon.</p><h2>High Speed Railway service has been opened in Poland</h2><p><img src="http://www.reinisfischer.com/sites/default/files/polandrailway.jpg&quot; alt="Railway Map in Poland" title="Railway Map in Poland" width="600" height="487"></p><p><em>Railway Map in Poland (Image source: www.railwaypro.com)</em></p><p>High speed rail service commenced in Poland on the 14th of December, 2014, with the introduction of 20 non-tilting Pendolino trainsets operating on 4 designated lines radiating out from Warsaw.</p><p>Polish State Railways started passenger service trains PKP Pendolino operating a speed 200 km/h on 80 km line Olszamowice-Zawiercie (part of railway line called CMK, from Warsaw to Cracow). Polish state railways PKP launched the high speed service under the Express Intercity Premium (EIP) brand name.</p><p>PKP Intercity is initially using nine sets a day to operate 23 EIP services from Warszawa to Gdynia, Kraków, Katowice, and Wrocław. Most operate on the core Kraków – Warszawa – Gdańsk – Gdynia route, running hourly at peak times and every 2 h off-peak. There are two Pendolinos each way per day on the Katowice and Wrocław routes. Headline journey times are 2 h 58 min from Warszawa to Gdańsk, 2 h 28 min to Kraków and 2 h 34 min to Katowice. EIP services from Warszawa to Wrocław run via the CMK trunk line, Częstochowa and Opole, taking 3 h 42 min against up to 6 h for the previous route via Poznań.</p><p>In addition to the Central Rail Line from Warsaw to Kraków and Katowice, and from Warsaw to Wrocław, the Pendolinos also operate on the 350 km (221 miles) route from Warsaw to Gdańsk and Gdynia on the Baltic Sea. In 2011-2015 the Warsaw-Gdańsk-Gdynia route is undergoing a major upgrading costing $3 billion, partly funded by the European Investment Bank, including track replacement, realignment of curves and relocation of sections of track to allow speeds up to 200 km/h (124 mph), modernization of stations, and installation of European Train Control System Level 2, which is to be completed in June 2015.</p><p>When Pendolino services started on 14 December 2014 the previous Warsaw-Gdańsk rail travel time of 4-1/2 to 6 hours was reduced to 2 hours 58 minutes by Pendolino, and will be reduced further to 2 hours 40 minutes when upgrading is completed.</p><h2>About Pendolino tilting trains</h2><p><img src="http://www.reinisfischer.com/sites/default/files/pendolino.jpg&quot; alt="A PKP Intercity ED250 Pendolino" title="A PKP Intercity ED250 Pendolino" width="800" height="600"></p><p><em>A PKP Intercity ED250 Pendolino (Image author:&nbsp;Andrzej Otrębski)</em></p><p><span><span>Pendolino is an Italian family of tilting trains used in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, Russian Federation, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Slovakia, Switzerland, China, Poland and shortly in Romania. </span></span></p><p><span><span>Based on the design of the Italian ETR 401 and the British Advanced Passenger Train, it was further developed and manufactured by Fiat Ferroviaria, which was taken over by Alstom in 2000. The idea of a tilting train became popular in the 1960s and 1970s when various rail operators, impressed by the high-speed rail services being introduced in France and Japan, wondered how they could similarly speed up travel without building a dedicated parallel rail network (as those two countries were doing). </span></span></p><p><span><span>By tilting, the train could go around curves designed for slower trains at higher speeds without causing undue discomfort to passengers</span></span></p><p><strong>Used resources:</strong></p><ul><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_rail_in_Poland">http://en.wikip… href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_rail_in_Poland">http://www.rail… href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_rail_in_Poland">http://en.wikip… photo from:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/passenger/single-view/view/polish-pe…;

About Georgia: Newspappers and Internet Sites in English Language

17 December, 2014 | Living in Georgia | 7 seen

<p>The other day I was contacted by one of the local Georgian English-language newspaper offering me to write some articles for them.</p><p>I don't know did this offer included some payment as well (actually I have no idea how journalists receives salary - either they have some contract salary, maybe they receive per written words or it's all about sponsored stories - if you are a journalist - please leave me a comment regarding this)</p><p>Though this offer might sound tempting - I doubt I have any journalist talent, and instead of building traffic and awareness for others I prefer <a href="http://www.reinisfischer.com/blog-statistics">build traffic and awareness for my blog</a>. But I agree such deal might sound tempting and there is nothing wrong with it.</p><p>Anyway I decided to give a brief overview of newsletters in Georgia written in English language:</p><h2>Georgian Journal</h2><p><span>Welcome to the first English-speaking news channel in Georgia, provided by the Palitra&nbsp;Media House - the largest independent publishing house in the country. With our brand new internet television site we are proud to serve both English-speaking audiences in Georgia and abroad with breaking stories and with features relevant to the English speaking community.</span></p><p><br><span>We are a new site, a new product and a new team comprised of seasoned journalists. We welcome as much feedback as possible. Tell us how you want your news and we will try to make it happen.&nbsp;</span><br><br><span>We are here to provide quality balanced news and to save your time by processing and filtering relent media into English. Yet our goal can only be truly achieved if our audience works with us and provides requests and suggestions for how we should grow and shape our website.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span><a href="http://www.georgianjournal.ge">www.georgianjournal.ge</a></span></p><h2… is operated by The FINANCIAL, US focused newspaper with offices in Tbilisi, Georgia and Kiev, Ukraine. Website provides daily news updates of up to 1 000 global companies worldwide.</span></span></p><p><span><span><a href="http://finchannel.com">http://finchannel.com</a></span></span></p><h2><… Today</span></span></h2><p align="justify">Georgia Today is Georgia’s leading independent English-language newspaper, published weekly since 2000. Georgia Today is distributed throughout Georgia and internationally, and has an office on the East Coast USA. With the largest distribution area and the highest quality of printing and layout, we pride ourselves on Georgia Today’s reliability, professionalism and constant striving for improvement.</p><p align="justify">Georgia Today aims to create the most comprehensive, objective, and unbiased information about contemporary Georgia and spread it throughout the world. However, we recognize that any international workers or visitors to Georgia rely almost solely on the English-language press for information on news and current events, so our local and international editorial staff ensure that Georgia Today provides a sensible balance for its diverse readership.</p><p dir="ltr" align="left">We hope you enjoy your time with us.</p><p dir="ltr" align="left"><a href="http://www.georgiatoday.ge">www.georgiatoday.ge</a></p><h2 dir="ltr" align="left">The Messenger</h2><p dir="ltr" align="left"><span>The Messenger, published daily in Tbilisi, is the Georgia's leading English language daily newspaper.</span></p><div>The Georgian Messenger was first published on February 25, 1919, during the time of the first Georgian independent democratic republic (1918-1921). On February 25, 1921, Russian Bolsheviks occupied Georgia. The Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper at that time was Elisabeth Orbeliani. The original Georgian Messenger was a weekly newspaper and only 13 issues were ever published.</div><div>The newspaper was revived in October 1990 after Georgia regained its independence from the Soviet Union. The Georgian Messenger was then published irregularly until August 1993 under Irakli Kenchoshvili.</div><div>The Editor-in-Chief of&nbsp;<em>The Messenger</em>&nbsp;is Zaza Gachechiladze, Ph.D, a specialist in English literature and the author of books on Dylan Thomas and Geoffrey Chaucer. Before the Messenger, he founded and was Editor-in-Chief of the English language Georgian Times from 1994-2001.</div><div>The Messenger's subscribers include foreign embassies and governments, NGOs, top hotels, airlines and other businesses, as well as home readers. It is distributed in more than twenty countries throughout the world including the United States, Britain, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Holland, France, Iran and Turkey.</div><div>Among the newspaper's contributors are leading experts in political science, economics and Georgian culture. The Messenger's reporters work throughout Georgia to cover breaking news stories and explain their significance, providing a vital source of information both for those living here and those planning to visit Georgia for the first time.</div><div>The newspaper's coverage includes Georgia and the South Caucasus, as well as the broader post-Soviet space.</div><div>The Messenger's trusted reporting is regularly cited by analysts with the Jamestown Foundation and Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty among others, and its editors have been interviewed by BBC World, the Guardian, NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and other leading news outlets.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div><a href="http://www.messenger.com.ge">http://www.messenger.com.ge</a></div><div>… can find your free copy of these newspappers at <a title="Tbilisi Airport" href="http://www.reinisfischer.com/tbilisi-airport">airports</a&gt;, your hotel lobby, popular restaurants and other places.</div><div>Time afer time I visit some hotel lobby or some restaurant just to read those newspappers. Once I even tried to make a <a href="http://www.reinisfischer.com/spar-enters-georgian-market-scania-produce… Press Review</a>.</div><div>Hope this helps</div>

Zakhar Zakharich - Tbilisi Restaurant Review

16 December, 2014 | Restaurant reviews | 36 seen

Welcome to another review of another great Tbilisi Restaurant. Today I'll share my thoughts of one of the hidden treasures I discovered just yesterday - Zakhar Zakharich restaurant.

For a prelude: I'm an expat living in Georgia (Tbilisi). You can find some articles covering topic Living in Georgia. I'm huge lover of restaurants and coffee shops, and Living in Georgia I have came even a bigger fan of eating outside the home. 

Since I'm eating out pretty regular - there are my favourite places, then there are places, that once was my favourite places, and then there are places better to avoid. 

I'm willing to make an description of them and to photograph the food I have tasted on those places.

Please note, this is just my subjective opinion.  For taking photographs I'm using my Samsung phone and using Instagram (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

Now - Zakhar Zakharich restaurant is located just right next to Dry Bridge on the Right bank (please see map at the end of this post, for more detailed location). 

I must agree I feel a little ashamed - I didn't know of such excellent restaurant in Tbilisi before and this was my first time visiting it.

Entrance doors at Zakhar Zakharich restaurant in Tbilisi

At start I was pretty sceptical of this place, because of - there were no happy customers, there were no customers at all at time we opened it's front door.

Empty hall at Zakhar Zakharcih

So after approaching bar counter to look for some waitress, we decided to play safe and order just a few items.

Bar counter at Zakhar Zakharich

Menu at Zakhar Zakharich

7 khinkali with chopped meat, 3 khinkali with potatoes, vareniki and Kubdari - nothing much, but for a test pretty good. In fact there are not many places I know about were you could get vareniki in Tbilisi.

Painting at Zakhar Zakharich

While our food was prepared I tried to make some instagrams of interior - made just this (see above)

Clay plates at Zakhar Zakharich

Finally our ordered food was served

Kubdari at Zakhar Zakharich

This was kinda interesting experience - usually kubdari is made from chopped meat while khinkali from minced meat. At Zakhar Zakharich Kubdari was made from minced meat, while khinkali from chopped meat. I must agree - first bites from this Kubdari was excellent, but latter it didn't tasted so great (I do not preffer minced meat)

Khinkali at Zakhar Zakharich

Honestly speaking - I'm not a huge fan of khinkali, reason usually they are made from minced meat. But those at Zakhar Zakharich made from chopped meat, made me realize khinkali are damned tasty (if prepared right)

Khinkali filled with potatoes

Vareniki at Zakhar Zakharich restaurant

Thoug Vareniki is more pan-Slavic meal than Georgian, they tastes great especially with sour cream

While I was capturing these delicious meals, it turned out empty hall at Zakhar Zakharich is not anymore empty

Folks gathering at Zakhar Zakharich

In conclusion

Our overall bill at Zakhar Zakharich was around 34 GEL (for a large Kubdari, chopped khinkali, khinkali with potatoes filling, vareniki, some Turksih coffee and soda. It might sound a bit pricey if compared to other Tbilisi places, but I assure you every tetri was worth of it - because of food was really qualitative.

Can I recommend this place? Definitely, go visit it!

ProCredit Bank Georgia will use Toyota Hybrid cars

14 December, 2014 | Living in Georgia | 9 seen

<p><span>Checking my internet bank for savings report I found an article informing that ProCredit bank Georgia has bought 10 hybrid Toyota cars and starting now they will be used in Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Batumi.</span></p><p><span>I guess it won't impact much my savings but it's good know, that bank which services I'm using is concerned of&nbsp;sustainable&nbsp;energy. So it's my pleasure to promote them on my blog.</span></p><p><span><img src="http://www.reinisfischer.com/sites/default/files/procreditbank.jpg&quot; alt="Toyota Hybrid cars" title="Toyota Hybrid cars" width="960" height="692"></span></p><p><em>Toyota Hybrid cars</em></p><p><span>ProCredit Bank stands for environmental leadership in its operations. In line with this commitment, the bank upgraded its vehicle fleet by purchasing new 10 hybrid Toyota cars.</span><br><span>Hybrid cars have improved fuel efficiency and caused lower CO2 emissions, especially in cities. If the speed is not more than 60 km/h, the gasoline engine switches off and the car runs on its electric motor. The new hybrids have already been distributed among three strategic cities of ProCredit bank - Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Batumi.</span></p><p><span><strong>Asmus Rotne, General Manager of ProCredit Bank:</strong><em>"Environmental problems are of great concern for the ProCredit Group, and we are investing in new solutions. Using modern technologies like hybrid, we can contribute to improving air quality in the biggest cities in Georgia as well as to fighting the problem of climate change”.</em></span></p><p><span><em><a href="http://www.procreditbank.ge/index.php?component=NEWS&amp;item_id=186">h… Hybrid Vehicle</h2><p>A hybrid vehicle is a vehicle that uses two or more distinct power sources to move the vehicle.The term most commonly refers to hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), which combine an internal combustion engine and one or more electric motors. However, other mechanisms to capture and use energy are included.</p><p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_vehicle">http://en.wikipedia.org/wi… &amp; 2015 New Toyota Hybrids</h2><p>From the Toyota Prius, with its aerodynamic styling and EPA 51 mpg rating7, to the 200 Hybrid System Net HP Camry Hybrid, one of the most fuel-efficient sedans in its class, Toyota hybrids are designed to create harmony between man, nature and machine. Browse all of the new hybrids, including the Highlander Hybrid, Avalon Hybrid, and the Prius Family, and discover legendary efficiency, reliability and power for the 21st century. Customize your vehicle your way with your hands on the wheel, to parallel parking with your hands off it. Seems the only thing Toyota hybrids can’t help you do is waste fuel.</p><p><a href="http://www.toyota.com/hybrid/">http://www.toyota.com/hybrid/</a></p&gt;

Does Turkey is seeking closer ties with Russia and coming Eurasian Union?

14 December, 2014 | Emerging Markets | 15 seen

More than year a ago I published article Turkey could join Eurasian Union were I tried to compare economy of Turkey by using GDP and GDP per capita for time period 2000-2012.

I found that Turkey might reach $1 trillion of GDP by the end of 2016, so did I found that Economy of Turkey has increased for about 3 times (2000-2012)

I did used following words a year ago:

That said makes me think, that Turkey has no serious plans to join Eurasian Union. IMHO Turkey is teasing European Union. And why shouldn't? Turkey has long, long history on it's attempts to join European Union, but there always are some obstacles from EU side. And that makes Turkey angry.

I ended that article with following words:

So that's said - I still not believe in any serious Turkey attempts to join Eurasian Union, I doubt Turkey's will to relay on Customs Union trade agreements, which would more likely to slow down Turkey's economy. I'm sure that will be accepted Germany offer for Turkey like it's with Norway. EU + Turkey.

On other hand - the ball is on Russian side now - Russians should act quickly, if they want to see Turkey in Eurasian Union. They should offer Turkey something really, really tempting.

Now - today I red an article Revitalized Turkey drifts away from Europe and towards Eurasia on RT (Russia Today) by Bryan MacDonald and I will re-publish some of the authors findings on my blog:

...Relations between Moscow and Ankara have been making headlines due to a new gas deal which will replace the ill-fated South Stream project. Nevertheless, from a Turkish perspective, warmer relations with Russia are part of a greater pivot to Eurasia. After flirting with Europe for decades and being constantly spurned, Turkey no longer seeks to be an attachment to a failing EU. Indeed, many Turks expressed the view that being rejected by Brussels has turned out to be a lucky escape...

...While Europe has spent six years flailing around for solutions to its economic malaise and lurching from one crisis to another, it’s been another story entirely in Turkey. Its economy grew by 9.2 percent in 2010, with a projected four percent increase this year. By contrast, the EU managed a meagre two percent in 2010, and an astonishingly paltry 0.1 percent is predicted for 2014. Thus, it’s fairly clear that Turkey benefits from keeping the Brussels behemoth at arm’s length...

...Turkey may also be a potential member of an expanded BRICS alliance, as it continues to slide away from its Cold War position in the pro-American camp. The nation is transitioning from being a relatively poor, 20th century backwater to a revanchist major power in the 21st...

...In foreign policy, much has changed. AKP’s leader, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, takes a firm pro-Palestinian line in the Middle East, which has diluted Turkey’s traditionally close relations with Washington and Tel Aviv...

...The present internal dialogue, in all corners of the country, concerns how far Turkey has drifted away from its traditional allies – the USA, Israel, and the EU – and which relationships it must develop instead. While no consensus exists, the concept currently winning out is the notion of becoming a Eurasian power. Ankara is now looking more to Moscow or Beijing than Washington or Berlin...

Though I cannot agree to all findings listed above, the part of Growing Turkeys Economy of 9.2% and 4%, while a "slow" growth at EU of 2% and 0.1%. It's hard to compare developing economy with developed economy, right? I can agree on one - Turkey has become a major player - but I still doubt Turkey will chose Russia or Eurasian Union for long term run. 

Shopping in Georgia: Tbilisi Mall

14 December, 2014 | Shopping Venues | 40 seen

Though I have been living in Georgia for 3 and a half years, I have never talked much about shopping in Georgia or Tbilisi. Starting today I decided to change that.

My first recommendation for those who are looking for shopping fun in Tbilisi will be Tbilisi Mall.

If I remember correctly - it was first opened at the end of 2012 and soon find its way to the hearts of customers.

One of the anchor tenants here is the Carrefour store, according to my observations it makes the most use of Tbilisi Mall. Though you will find here many other shops (non-food-related), like Prada, LC Waikiki, Marks&Spencer (are just a few from the brand represented here).

Plenty of Wine at Tbilisi Mall (Carrefour)

Seafood at Carrefour

Cheese at Carrefour (Tbilisi Mall)

Vegetables at Tbilisi Mall (Carrefour)

Christmas tree at Tbilisi Mall

Cafeteria at Tbilisi Mall

About Tbilisi Mall

Located in the west end of the city, Tbilisi Mall is the largest shopping mall within the Caucasus dedicated to creating discovery of a new lifestyle and living for all its customers.

With more than 100 worldwide brand stores, restaurants and hypermarket Tbilisi Mall offers great destination to visit with entertainment, Cinema and more fashion and food to follow.
http://www.tbilisimall.com

Fire Wok Tbilisi

13 December, 2014 | Restaurant reviews | 41 seen

Fire wok Tbilisi is a small, I would call it a boutique Wok place located on Shalva Dadiani street (close to Liberty square).

Here you can have noodles or rice woks for a really democratic prices.

Fire Wok Tbilisi

There is not much place inside - so if you are planing to take you loved ones to Fire Wok  - it won't be best place to sit around a table and talk about your impressions of Tbilisi. Instead you can order food for takeaway and have it at your hotel/hostel.

Menu at Fire Wok Tbilisi

Menu offer a Fire Wok is simple - you can have either noodle or rice based dishes. Chicken, Beef and Veggie are pretty straightforward terms - what is chao mian you should ask on place.

Prices are really democratic - 5 Gel for a wok. 

Unfortunately  I hadn't chance to try how it actually tastes, because of I didn't have enough cash with myself - debt cards are not accepted at Fire Wok.

Noodles and Rice at Fire Wok

Chef at Fire Wok

Though this place is more grab and go - I'm glad such place exists in Tbilisi.

If you are walking around Tbilisi Old Town or Liberty square and are looking for some woks - go visit this place, and don't forget to leave me a comment, and yeah don't forget to take cash with yourself, because they don't accept debt/credit cards here.

15 places and things to do in Georgia I have discovered in 2014

11 December, 2014 | Travel guides | 4 seen

No, you won't find here visit to Narikala fortress or Sameba church, you will learn that I have discovered Tbilisi Botanical garden instead.

Drinking wine? Well - not this year!

36 Reasons to Visit Georgia and Tbilisi

What about rafting with a crazy instructor from Ukraine? Or a ride to Tbilisi sea at +40° . Something romantic? - how about a ride on an aerial tram in Batumi to watch the sunset in the Black Sea? Something tasty? Italian ice cream at Luca Polare. Something unusual? - A dairy farm in Tbilisi suburbs. 

I have been living in Georgia for already 4 years - and this country never ends surprising me.

I decided to create a blog post of 15 interesting places and activities to do in Georgia I have discovered just in 2014.

My Spain + Andorra Travel Guide

10 December, 2014 | Travel guides | 9 seen

This is a round-up post of our travel discoveries in Spain at the end of October 2014, particularly in the region of Catalonia. I hope it can inspire you if you are planning your trip to Catalonia. 

Our trip started at Tbilisi, went through Istanbul, and landed at Barcelona El Prat Airport (by Pegasus)

We booked a car from the Firefly office at El Prat Airport and our one-week-long adventures started. 

This trip took us from Barcelona to Girona, then to Roses and Cadaques, and then back to Figueras to visit World famous Salvador's Dali museum, then again back to Costa Brava. Superb hotels and even a 2-hour drive to Andorra.  Did I mention a stop at one of the most popular gay resorts in the world? 

Below you will find more detailed descriptions of places we visited:

Budget?

Spain is a very budget-friendly country - we got the car for about EUR 68 for a week, for gas we spent approximately the same. Hotels ranged from EUR 40 - to EUR 130. 

I hope this guide could inspire you for your Catalonia trip. 

Amazon CPM ads review

9 December, 2014 | Blogging | 51 seen

I have been a proud Amazon Associate since this summer and during this time I have made some (as I think) pretty solid income from Amazon Associates program.

Nowadays for me it's hard to remember what impulse got me to switch to Amazon, because for more than 5 years I have been using Google Adsense only to try to monetize my internet assets. But I'm glad that such impulse happened.

Well - why I'm mentioning Google Adsense here? Simple - Amazon CPM ads (I will talk about them latter on this article) might be the real alternative for Google Adsense. I'm liking to look to both of Google Adsense and Amazon CPM ads as - set and forget tools to monetize your website. But difference is here - while you will get paid for clicks with Adsense, you will get paid for impressions with Amazon CPM ads.

What is Amazon CPM Ads?

Amazon CPM Ads is a display advertising program that enables you to show ads from Amazon and other premium advertisers on your web site(s). You will be paid on a cost per thousand impressions (CPM) basis for each ad impression served.

How to get started with Amazon CPM ads

If you are an Amazon Associate already, you might noticed a new screen on your main page at affiliates dashboard

Amazon CPM Ads

If you are a new to Amazon Affiliates and would like to learn more read this article on how to apply for Amazon associates.

Once you are in - move forward:

To get your ad code, you will need a target CPM and passback code

Target CPM:

We’ll show ads if we can meet your target CPM (cost per thousand impressions). We suggest you use your current average CPM for the ad unit as the target.

Passback Ad Code

We’ll pass any unmatched ad requests to your specified ad provider. Please copy and paste the provider’s ad code from your web site or ad server.

Amazon CPM Ad Code

You can chose your ad size from 4 defined dimensions: 300x250, 160X600, 300X600 or 728X90 (if you are already using Google Adsense, you will find they are standard dimensions and there should be no problems to implement them on your site)

For a passback Ad code you can choose to show either ads from Google Adsense, Amazon Banners or create some of your custom banners.

Speaking of Target CPM - i did set them to $0.1 to get started, latter on you can change it to higher values.

You will get ad code which you should add to you website.

Amazon CPM ADS Dashboard

Amazon CPM Ads Dashboard

You will be presented with the results for up to last 30 days, the results seems are with 4 hour delay.

Payments

If you are already getting paid with Amazon Affiliates the sad thing is earnings made with Amazon CPM will be issued as separate payment. If you are not using affiliates and or not interested of using them - it should be fine with you.

Will my Amazon CPM Ads earnings payment be combined with my other Associates program earnings?

No. You will be issued two separate payments – one for Amazon CPM Ads earnings and one for all other Associates program earnings.

In conclusion

Amazon CPM Ads might be a great alternative to Google Adsense, but still I wouldn't  suggest using it (or Google Adsense) if you are receiving less than 10,000 Pageviews per month.

So if you are into your blogs starting process - and looking to make some money online - work hard to get as much page views as you can :)

On the other hand - I'm 99% sure CPM ads wont reach such high levels like affiliate marketing could. Though speaking of affiliate marketing and Amazon Associates in particular - I'm seeing here treats to Amazon Associates program here - it might turn out, that Amazon is looking for ways how to shot down it's Affiliate program, and Amazon CPM Ads might be the solution. I mean - Amazon has data and they can target your websites visitors as well as Google can, so they can provide you with really targeted CPM Ads - while paying you pennies (I'm not familiar what's CPM for others, but mine CPM of $2.00 is pennies compared to around $50.00 per 1000 page views I got with affiliate links. 

But again - it's like comparing oranges and apples. Display Ads vs Affiliate links.

What are your thoughts, are you using Amazon CPM Ads? Leave a comment!

"Piena Ceļš Georgia" - Visit of Dairy Farm

6 December, 2014 | Farms | 23 seen

In my childhood there was a time I lived in countryside next to a cattle farm. They had around 100 cows and as for a child in a village were nothing else interesting is happening I spent pretty much time with cows though I never have milked a one.

Some time ago in Tbilisi happened Georgian - Latvian business forum were a guy from Latvia (Jānis Bērtulsons) made a presentation of his company in Georgia - a dairy farm - "Piena Ceļš Georgia". 

In Georgia there is a deficit for a milk, for a qualitative milk I mean. As far my understanding reaches it's made from milk powder.

Just naturally that I had a interest to get a fresh milk made from a real cow. So we negotiated with representative of this farm to make a meeting in more relaxed atmosphere in his farm.

Said - done! Today we visited farm where magic happens - not far from Tbilisi.

Though we didn't get any milk here, we tasted local brewed wine and chacha. It's Georgia!

Cow paddock at the farm

Speckled cow

House-dog

Cows

Vineyards

Seems that owners of the farm likes to experiment with vineyards and brews a wine here as well

Wine Cellar

And looks it's working great. On site they have a marani (wine cellar) where visitor can taste a wine and chacha.

Georgian and Latvian Flags

a calf (only 2 days old)

Milking Station

Farm decorations

Paddocks

calfs

Our host Jānis is a very enthusiastic person and can speak of dairy industry for hours, best of all - it's freaking interesting (well probably that's because I use to lived next to a dairy farm)

Thank you Jānis for such a great excursion. Next time we will try to get some milk instead of wine :)

I didn't find much information of ""Piena Ceļš Georgia" on internet - so there is no internet link I could reference you to learn more.

But I found an article covering dairy industry in Georgia on GeorgianJournal which somehow ilustrates words I said at start of this article - it's hard to get a real milk in Georgia. 

Milk and dairy products falsified

The majority of milk and dairy products on sale at Georgian trade outlets are falsified. The products are often made of vegetable oil instead of animal fat. Georgian legislation, despite international standards, does not prohibit the use of vegetable oil in production of dairy products. Government is seeking to adopt best standards, but most likely it will be six months before new regulations take effect. 

The recent dairy market inspection by the Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia (CSRDG) disclosed alarming results: 10 out of 15 dairy products sold in Georgia are fake. All the dairy product producers operating in Georgia were found to be putting out falsified products, including Sante GMT Products, Georgian Eco, Natural+, and Wimm-Bill-Dann Georgia (also under the Soplis Nobati trade mark). The only products judged to be authentic were Sour Cream Soplis Nobati, Sour Cream Santino, Matsoni Santino, Soplis Nobati Matsoni and Santino Cottage Cheese.
According to CSRDG, international standards prohibit sale of products made with vegetable oil under the name of milk and dairy products. This deceives customers, but a prohibition by Georgian law is not foreseen as of yet.

Accordingly, producers bear no responsibilities. But CSRDG analysts believe making money at the expense of consumers’ health is a crime.

“Falsification of milk is a crime to me,” Eter Sarjveladze, an expert with CSRDG, said to media. “Leave aside everything, milk is a major food for children, milk can replace any other product, while no other product can substitute for milk. It includes all the substances that are essential to the human body and easy for digestion. Milk includes more than a hundred components that are vital for normal human development. The consumer spends money for this, in belief that he purchases a very useful product, but then gets a poison in fact.”
In previous research carried out in December 2013, CSRDG revealed for the first time that 90% of milk and dairy products produced in Georgia are based on vegetable oil. On 17 December 2013, the non-governmental watchdog sent to the Georgian parliament a petition signed by 1442 citizens. The petition asked the legislative body to prohibit sale of the food products from non-animal fat under the name “dairy product.” This misleads consumers.

In the aftermath, Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia created a group to work out technical regulations determining the quality and definitions for milk and dairy products in line with international standards. However, these standards are still a work in progress.

As Keti Laperashvili, Head of this Working Group, informed Georgian Journal, they still need around three months before completion. Then the regulations will be opened to public discussions which may take another one month. Only afterward will government be able to approve the paper-work.

“I believe in a maximum of six months the regulations will be in force,” she said. Meanwhile, the Georgian consumer will be left at the mercy of the dairy producers’ consciences, not a comforting thought if we take into account the recent revelations.

http://www.georgianjournal.ge/business/26082-milk-and-dairy-products-falsified.html

Drupal module: Hierarchical Select

4 December, 2014 | Drupal Development | 18 seen

<p>Drupal module Hierarchical Select is a handy "must-have" module for sites that are heavily based on category terms and their childes. I have been using this module for some previous projects in combination with another, yet more simple module -&nbsp;<a href="https://www.drupal.org/project/shs">Simple hierarchical select</a>.</p><p>Though there are times second module suits more than first - I still prefer first over second.</p><h2>About&nbsp;Hierarchical Select</h2><p>This module defines the "hierarchical_select" form element, which is a greatly enhanced way for letting the user select items in a hierarchy.</p><p>Hierarchical Select has the ability to save the entire lineage of a selection or only the "deepest" selection. You can configure it to force the user to make a selection as deep as possible in the tree, or allow the user to select an item anywhere in the tree. Levels can be labeled, you can configure limit the number of items that can be selected, configure a title for the dropbox, choose a site-wide animation delay, and so on. You can even create new items and levels through Hierarchical Select!</p><p><strong>For a good overview of what Hierarchical Select can do, look at this&nbsp;<a href="http://wimleers.com/demo/hierarchical-select&quot; rel="nofollow">demo</a>!</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.drupal.org/project/hierarchical_select">Download Hierarchical Select module</a></p><h2>To make it work, here is a simple tutorial, to get you started:</h2><p>At first <strong>download, extract and enable</strong>&nbsp;Hierarchical Select module</p><p><img src="http://www.reinisfischer.com/sites/default/files/hierarchicalselect.jpg…; alt="Hierarchical Select module" title="Hierarchical Select module" width="1200" height="512"></p><p><em>Hierarchical Select module</em></p><p>Now to make it working, you will need to have taxonomies module enabled and some taxonomy terms added&nbsp;</p><p><img src="http://www.reinisfischer.com/sites/default/files/drupaltaxonomies.jpg&q…; alt="Drupal list term page" title="Drupal list term page" width="905" height="325"></p><p><em>Drupal list term page</em></p><p>Now to make it work on new nodes (content types), you must add new field to your content type (or modify existing)</p><p><img src="http://www.reinisfischer.com/sites/default/files/termreference.jpg&quot; alt="Term Reference Field" title="Term Reference Field" width="1200" height="227"></p><p><em>Term Reference Field</em></p><p>Give it a name: <strong>Category</strong>, field type: <strong>Term reference</strong>, Widget: <strong>Hierarchical Select</strong>, press save button</p><p>Now under widget type settings you have some customization options, for example, you can choose either to save term lineage or to save only deepest term (good for subcategories).</p><p><img src="http://www.reinisfischer.com/sites/default/files/hierarchicallistconfig…; alt="Hierarchical select widget configuration" title="Hierarchical select widget configuration" width="1200" height="418"></p><p><em>Hierarchical select widget configuration</em></p><p>As well you can allow for users to create a new terms or not</p><p><img src="http://www.reinisfischer.com/sites/default/files/newterms.jpg&quot; alt="Hierarchical Select new terms" title="Hierarchical Select new terms" width="1165" height="366"></p><p><em>Hierarchical Select new terms</em></p><p>Final result should look like this (when creating a new node)</p><p><img src="http://www.reinisfischer.com/sites/default/files/nodehs.jpg&quot; alt="Hierarchical Select on node " title="Hierarchical Select on node " width="642" height="370"></p><p><em>Hierarchical Select on node&nbsp;</em></p><p>Another great feature of Hierarchical select you can use it your views as well. <strong>Done right - this is a small but yet powerful tool in hands of drupaller.</strong></p><p>If you have any questions regarding of this module, you can submit an issue on <a href="https://www.drupal.org/project/issues/hierarchical_select">it's project page</a>, or drop me a comment</p><p>Last, but not least - currently I'm working on &nbsp;a project which involves Hierarchical Select module pretty heavily, so I guess I will return to this module in some another blog post as well.</p><p>There are few patches already waiting to be applied for this module, and then there is a problem (in general not related with this module) how to display taxonomy terms on multi language site, where English language is not default and all terms mus be entered in language not known for me. In other words saying - Searching for solution to use other language as default language for end-users, while keeping English language for taxonomy term names. I know, the last paragraph sounds strange :)</p>

My Online Income Report - November 2014

3 December, 2014 | Blogging | 15 seen

This is already my 11 online income report. I'm making an income report each month covering earnings I have made solely in internet and in general with my blog.

Those reports keeps me track were I'm, were I was and were I'm heading to. I hope they can inspire some as well.

About online income November 2014

• In total I earned $704.00 , what is a 392.96% increase if compared to previous month ($142.81)
• $704.00 makes average $23.46 in a day

In brief - this November was a goldmine, it beat all previous best results and totalled in pretty serious $704.00. Well for some it might not sound a very serious amount of earned capital, but for me - this has been the best month so far.

It has been achieved by using two custom channels - Google Adsense and Amazon affiliates program - I will not get in details how each of the channels earned, I will just note that vast majority comes from Amazon affiliates.

Speaking of second (Amazon affiliates) - previous month was pretty slow, and combined brought me in $142.00, then I said following words:

Obliviously I started to wonder - why does income this month is lower - and if honest I didn't find a good explanation. I have just one assumption - October was a slow month for retail sales, why? Have no idea! Maybe in October people have less money to spend?

I'm not sure does mentioned words describes reality, but I ended my October's report with following words:

Will it change this month?  - at least I hope so. It's holiday season, and if done right, this should be a gold miner.

And it was a gold miner!

Let me explain:

November is a month before holiday season and at the end of November was Black Friday, which was followed by Cyber Monday (Well Cyber Monday was actually at start of December) - and the last week of November made me most income. I would say that Black Friday generated me around 50% of total income.

Personally I'm not very satisfied of such results - because it's rather seasonal than regular. It's good to have that amount to be earned, but it's a bit to be worried about -  half of that be earned in one day. Which means sales on others days didn't perform well.

So if you are focusing on seasonal sales - you might find disappointing drop after.

On the other hand I didn't use much tactics to promote specially Black Friday or Cyber Monday deals (I used some, but not very much) - Vast majority of sales happened thanks to overall collective thinking of sales (At least I believe so).

In conclusion

At this part I'm making my forecast/goal for next month. Taking into account that holiday season has just started, and I can see data for first 2 days of December (Which already are pretty impressive) I will forecast about $600 in month of December, though I believe it can crack $1000 this month.

Things that makes me worried are following months after December. So I guess it's best time to figure out how to keep online income report steady for 2015.

Blog Traffic Report - November 2014

2 December, 2014 | Blogging | 9 seen

This is already 14 blog traffic report, this time covering November 2014.

In short - November was a month of gainer, it beat all of my expectations.

Blog Traffic November 2014 (Data Source: Google Analytics)

• My blog got 9,096 unique visitors what is a 90.09% growth if compared to previous month
• It's 4,311 unique visitor gain if compared to previous month
• 9,096 unique visitors in a month makes average 303.2 unique visitors in a day. It's up from 154.3 in previous month.

Though these number might look modest for some, for me it's a great achievement, I not only cracked 5,000 goal I set previous month - I did setup a personal record so far. My previous best personal result was 5,988 back in January 2010.

When I started this blog, back in October 2013, I did set up a goal to crack 6,000 unique visitors per month in a year. Though it took me more than year to reach that goal- I finally achieved that. And it's important for me.

Now - I'm not willing to wait for another 5 years to beat my personal best, and right now it's important to keep these number growing and gain more confidence that it's not some accidental result,but that it's just a regularity of hard work putted in to make this happen.

While, I must admit a 90% growth month-to-month makes we worried. I'm afraid of  - who are rising high, falls low effect. 

Ok, back to pleasant

Blog Traffic Report (November 2013 VS November 2014)

If 9,000 unique's looks modest, what can we say of 50 unique's a year ago? - Pathetic? Probably!

On the other hand we can see that hard work leads us to some results - I mean 18,092% growth in 12 months - doesn't sounds so pathetic any more?

I used following words back in December 2013, to describe my blog traffic in November 2013:

In month of November I have attracted 50 unique visitors to my site, which I think is very bad result. In October I attracted just 39, but that was first month of bloging, and even so, I started not on 1st October, but on 10th of October. Number of 50 unique visitors for site in 30 days is really, really bad result. I'm not even talking about some static site, where content has been outdated for many years - I'm talking about blog, which posts everyday some article.

Now - I'm glad I dedicated the following words a year ago - because for now I have this great done job feeling.

What you can learn from that?

If you are just at the starting steps of building your blog or you are looking for some confidence - don't be scared of low numbers at start - keep doing what you are doing - the result will come.

And you now what - I still believe that 9,000 unique users in a month is modest result after 14 months. You can do it much better than me :)

Road to 100K unique visitors

This summer I red on some blog, that a successful blogger has around 100K unique visitors in a month

By saying successful blog author was meaning a blogger who earns a decent money from blog. Well for me it sounds a little untrustworthy, first of all 100K visitors - what is that? Visitors or Unique visitors?  To make a decent income - yes I agree chance if you have 100K (unique) visitors are much higher you will earn decent income to if you have 2K (unique) visitors.

Anyway - I decided to make my long-term goal  - to achieve 100K unique visitors per month (and to probably earn a decent income). My forecasts - it could take me at least 5 years starting today. I will not focus right now to get them - but I will use 100K as an indicator to see - how I'm performing compared to virtual 100K.

and now I'm standing at 9% mark for my 100K goal - will it take me 5 years to reach 100k? Probably. I don't now. But one is for sure - having your goals (realistic) set will help you achieve them.

In conclusion:

Month of November was great, I reached my personal best result, though there is still place for doubts - how to keep growing and not to fall.

At this point I will forecast results for December - it would be great to crack 10,000 mark, but I will say - a drop could happen, so my goal is to reach at least 6,000 unique visitors in month of December.