Chania Bus Station
There is a cheap and pretty convenient way to travel to the nearby beaches and more distant routes in Crete from Chania town. Your journey will start at Chania bus station.In fact there is a bus service to/from Chania airport, with ticket price just about EUR 2 per person. The bus transport in Chania is cheap. I remember, once I paid about EUR 40 for a one way trip from an airport in Norway to the Oslo city center (see: Moss Airport, Rygge, Norway). Buses in Chania are cheap. We spent one night in Chania (see: Lithinon Studio Apartment in Chania Review), but for next couple of days decided to locate to Agia Marina beach (we already booked a hotel…
Lithinon Studio Apartment in Chania Review
Situated 100 m from Chania Old Venetian Harbour in Chania Town, this air-conditioned apartment features a terrace. The apartment is 100 m from Mosque of Kioutsouk Hassan. Free WiFi is provided .We booked this apartment in Chania for a one night stay at the start of June 2017. As we hadn't yet booked a rental car in Crete, we took a public bus from Chania airport to get to the city center and then using Google Maps navigation went some 10minutes from Chania coach station to find this place. Located on pretty silent Lithinon street, this place still is just a block away from lively Chania harbor, see: Postcards from ChaniaLithinon street in ChaniaThere is a dining area and a…
Taverna En Plo in Chania
This was a very long and tiring day, in the morning we left Tbilisi to travel to Athens, spent whole day there, and in the evening fled to Chania, Crete, after we checked in at out apartment in Chania, I took a tripod and we made a lovely evening photo walk.Our evening ended at this nice Greek tavern - En Plo on Portou street 20. En Plo seems is a quite popular tourist place, we hardly managed to get a free table here once we get one we spent a good time of waiting our order to be taken.En Plo tavern in Chania, CreteThis place offers a kind of typical Greek menu (Cretan) - wide variety of grilled meats and so on. We decided to stick with a platter for two for about EUR 35.Because of a…
Postcards from Chania
At the start of June, 2017 we traveled for a 3 week leisure trip to the island of Crete, Greece, and our first stop was lovely coastal town Chania. We spent a lovely night discovering local Cretan cuisine and I photographed a lot nightly scene, equipped with a tripod and long exposures, lovely.
That said - postcards from Chania!
Chania lighthouse
Lively Chania promenade with lots of cafeterias
About 18 months ago we visited the so called Italian Riviera - Portofino, see: Portofino - picturesque harbor village in Italian Riviera, now we can draw parallels with both coastal town - truly amazing for romantic escape.
Street vendors in Chania
Ah, those lovely ghost…
Athens International Airport
Athens International Airport "Eleftherios Venizelos", commonly initialized as "AIA", began operation on 28 March 2001 and is the primary international airport that serves the city of Athens and the region of Attica.It is Greece's busiest airport and it serves as the hub and main base of Aegean Airlines as well as other Greek airlines. Athens International is the 28th busiest airport in Europe.I had a chance to visit Athens airport, during a short connecting flight by Aegean Airlines from Tbilisi to Chania (see: About Tbilisi - Athens - Chania (Greece) flight by Aegean Airlines ) at the start of June 2017.Athens International…
Chania International Airport (Greece)
Chania International Airport, "Daskalogiannis" is an international airport located near Souda Bay on the Akrotiri Peninsula of the Greek island of Crete, serving the city of Chania, 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) away.Moreover, it is a gateway to western Crete for an increasing amount of tourists. The airport is named after Daskalogiannis, a Cretan rebel against Ottoman rule in the 18th century and is a joint civil–military airport. It is the fifth busiest airport in Greece and 8th in Balkan peninsula in terms of passengers. From 2010 to 2016 has a great increase about 100% in passengers arrivals. The airport is connected with many countries (about…
Postcards from Athens
Just like in the case of postcards from Istanbul, we had just a few hours to spend in Athens, Greece, between layover flight to Chania (Crete). Equipped with camera and adventurous spirit we dive in the narrow streets of Athens to discover it's beauty and visit some ancient sites.Square in AthensOne of our first stops in the city center arriving from Athens airport. Graffiti in AthensView towards AthensFrom distance Athens seems very similar to Tbilisi, the place from above picture reminded me some scenes from our hiking trips in Tbilisi near Turtle lake. See: Hiking in Tbilisi - Turtle lake (Kus Tba) - Vake ParkArcheological excavations in AthensStreets of AthensThere is a…
Ancient Agora of Athens
The Ancient Agora of Classical Athens is the best-known example of an ancient Greek agora, located to the northwest of the Acropolis and bounded on the south by the hill of the Areopagus and on the west by the hill known as the Agoraios Kolonos, also called Market Hill.It was at the start of June, when I first visited Athens, Greece during a brief layover flight to the island of Crete, see About Tbilisi - Athens - Chania (Greece) flight by Aegean Airlines. We had about 10 hours between our connecting flight, once we left Athens airport we took the metro to the city center and just explored, without any particular goal or something. We…
Phidias Lounge Bar in Athens
Phidias lounge bar in Athens was mine second cafe / restaurant in Greece, as just early in the morning we arrived from Tbilisi to Athens and had a few hours before our connecting flight to Chania, Creete.We used spare hours and from Athens airport went directly to the city center by metro. Phidias lounge bar in AthensSince we hadn't been to Athens before and were kind of limited in time, we decided to visit only things that will be close to our route, that's how we turned out near to the Ancient Agora of Athens site, after wondering around (and not inside) for about 2 hours first cafeteria that crossed our route was Phidias lounge bar. Just now, when writing these lines…
June 2017 Dividend Income Report - $53.42
Welcome to the second (#2) dividend income report, covering earnings I've made from dividend paying stocks and peer to peer lending in June 2017. I started my wealth building adventure (portfolio) in January 2017 with a simple goal to invest $8,561 this year in several batches. Now, six months latter I'm publishing my second dividend income report. In this article you will learn both how much I've received in dividend income also I will publish my net worth, with few tables.Make sure to check out first dividend income report: May 2017 Dividend Income Report - $65.45 and subscribe to the latest dividend income report updates at the end of this articleAbout…
Postcards from Istanbul
Istanbul has been on my travel radar since 2009, when I first visited it during a layover flight to Telaviv, Israel. Since then I've traveled countless times to and back from Istanbul. So did happened during our latest trip Riga - Istanbul - Tbilisi, we booked a lovely hotel Dosso Dossi in Sultanahmet district and spend one night in Istanbul, trying out local street food and visiting most iconic sites in Istanbul.Street food in IstanbulFilled potatoes. YummyMinarets of the Blue Mosque in IstanbulRead more here: Sultan Ahmed MosqueBlue Mosque
Istanbul Atatürk Airport
Istanbul Atatürk Airport is the main international airport serving Istanbul, and the biggest airport in Turkey by total number of passengers, destinations served and aircraft movements. Opened in 1924 in Yeşilköy, on the European side of the city, it is located 24 km (15 mi) west of the city centre and serves as the main hub for Turkish Airlines.The city's other, smaller, international airport is Sabiha Gökçen International Airport. As of 2017, 273 destinations are served from Istanbul-Atatürk, making it the airport with the second-most destinations worldwide after Frankfurt Airport.I've visited Istanbul Ataturk airport several…
Dosso Dossi Istanbul Old City Hotel
We booked this 4-star hotel in Sultanahmet district, Istanbul for a one night stay during a layover flight Riga - Istanbul - Tbilisi at the end of May 2017. We paid about EUR 50 for one night stay at this hotelLocated in Sultanahmet district, Dosso Dossi Hotels Old City is within a walking distance from historical sites such as Hagia Sophia Museum, Basilica Cistern and the Blue Mosque. Sultanahmet Tram Station is just a 4-minute walk from Dosso Dossi. The property offers facilities including a Turkish bath, a sauna, and a fitness centre. The rooms of the hotel are equipped with soundproofing. 24-hour front desk, concierge service and free WiFi is also available throughout.Dosso Dossi…
Grand Bazaar, Istanbul
The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with 61 covered streets and over 4,000 shops which attract between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily. In 2014, it was listed No.1 among world's most-visited tourist attractions with 91,250,000 annual visitors. The Grand Bazar at Istanbul is often regarded as one of the first shopping malls of the world.During my latest trip to Istanbul, which was actually a layover flight connecting to Tbilisi, I stayed for a one noght in Sultan Ahmet district and decided to photograph some cool sites in Istanbul, unfortunately during my trip to…
Sultan Ahmed Mosque
The Sultan Ahmed Mosque is a historic mosque located in Istanbul, Turkey. A popular tourist site, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque continues to function as a mosque today; men still kneel in prayer on the mosque's lush red carpet after the call to prayer.The Blue Mosque, as it is popularly known, was constructed between 1609 and 1616 during the rule of Ahmed I. Its Külliye contains Ahmed's tomb, a madrasah and a hospice. Hand-painted blue tiles adorn the mosque’s interior walls, and at night the mosque is bathed in blue as lights frame the mosque’s five main domes, six minarets and eight secondary domes. It sits next to the Hagia…
Summer Solstice 2017
This is already fourth Summer Solstice featured on this blog. see how three years ago we made a barbeque on our Tbilisi's balcony and how we celebrated our first Summer Solstice in our newly inherited house two years ago. Also compare how did it go last year. This year we celebrated Summer Solstice already for the third time at our rural country house, see home remodeling. This year it was just us two and cats. Nothing fancy.Improvised DJ Remote control and some snacks FireplaceGolden hour sunrise during Summer Solstice 2017
Abava Rumba Waterfall
Abava Rumba is the second widest waterfall in Latvia (after Venta Rumba) ,up to 1 m high and 35 m wide.I had a chance to visit it and spend some hour in lovely photography session at the end of May 2017, just after our Germany trip in the Mossel Valley. There is a camping area located just next to the rapid. Abava Rumba in LatviaI find such places tranquil and quite inspiring for my photography. Hiking trek near Abava RumbaAs an active outdoors fan I could resist to go deep in the "jungle"Camping area near Abava Rumba
Postcards from Germany
Welcome to another Piece of Life postcards from series. In today's article - Germany. We traveled to Germany for about 3 days at the end of May 2017. I was not at all in photography this time, but still managed to capture some cool sceneries.Sunset in Gudenberg, GermanyOne of rare HDR's I made during this trip. Folks interested in such an interesting architecture, make sure you plan your travels to the region of Hesse in Germany,Porta Nigra in TrierMy first trip to this place happened back in 2005 and it was nice to rediscover this place again in 2017. See more: Porta Nigra in TrierBurg Eltz in GermanyCochem CastleThe Mossel Valley near Cochem in Germany
Hotel Monopol in Gelsenkirchen, Germany
This 3-star hotel offers comfortable accommodation in Gelsenkirchen's northern Buer district. It is 3 km from the Veltins Arena and 1 km from Gelsenkirchen-Buer Nord train station. Hotel Monopol was our last accommodations while in Germany for a short few day trip, unfortunately I was not in the photography mood and didn't made much photos in the past days and almost forgot to photograph this hotel. In fact I captured just the entrance doors for this place. Hotel MonopolThe tastefully furnished rooms at the Hotel Monopol are all equipped with cable TV and a safe. Wi-Fi is also available.A full breakfast buffet is served each morning at Hotel Monopol. There are several restaurants…
Haus Daniela Superior Apartment in Cochem, Germany
I now have pretty ambivalent feelings regarding booking apartments instead of hotel rooms. Despite my feelings, Haus Daniela was a really nice stay in Cochem. For this spacious apartment we paid about EUR 200 for a one night stay, but it featured 3 bedrooms, a huge outdoor terrace with an electrical grill and very well equipped kitchen.Offering free WiFi and a sun terrace, Haus Daniela Superior is set in Cochem. Cochem Castle is 400 m away. Free private parking is available on site.Haus Daniela apartment in Cochem You can play table tennis at the property, and the area is popular for cycling and fishing. The nearest airport is Frankfurt-Hahn Airport, 23 km from Haus Daniela Superior.…