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Greetings from Scotland! Over the past week, we've been making the most of the school break by travelling to this beautiful part of the world. We've explored Edinburgh…
As of October 16, 2026, our options-selling-powered dividend stock portfolio stood at $13,456, marking a weekly decline of 1.37% compared with the previous week.This…
As of October 9, 2026, our options-selling-powered dividend stock portfolio stood at $13,643, showing a decent weekly increase of +0.72% compared with the previous week.…
Welcome to my second restaurant review in Germany. First one happened some 90 km west from Linden. Read Restaurant Bellini In Andernach, Germany. Today I will write about a Greek style restaurant Akropolis in a lovely German city of Linden (Province of Hesse). The idea to visit this restaurant arise from our friend who had visited this place many times before. Restaurant Akropolis in Linden, GermanyWith my short knowledge of German I can read following from above picture: it serves both Greek and German cuisine hereInterior at Akropolis Linden restaurantSeems that owners have tried to cram restaurant with a lot of elements reminding Greece to give restaurant visitors they have…
Linden is a small German town located in historical region of Hesse. We headed here to enjoy dinner at Greek restaurant, make some purchases at local store and say goodbye to a friend with whom we travelled in Germany and headed to Keukenhof's garden in The Netherlands during our short trip in this part of the World.Kaufland store in Linden, GermanyKaufland is a local German chain store and I find it pretty decent store, bought a thermos for coffee here (just EUR 6.99), ahh and they sell coffee Lavaza here for cheapSome village near LindenCanola - a pretty much in Germany's fields are grown canolaA typical living house in Linden, GermanyA block house in Linden, GermanyBasically that's all I…
I have been into church photography lately and during our latest trip to Germany/ The Netherlands I had a chance to visit the Cathedral of Cologne. I was hoping to make here some good photos but unfortunately I'm not very satisfied with result I got it was a rainy day and I didn't use any tripod. There is still plenty of room to improve my photographer skills. But since I do find this object a pretty magnificent - I just couldn't resist to add it to my blog.
Front view of Cologne's Cathedral
A good tripod is must have for such photography to capture a "tack sharp" image
Cologne Cathedral
Well this is the Cologne's cathedral photographed from bottom. Something very wrong with…
As I already stated in my previous blog post about Gothic Aachen Town Hall (Rathaus) in Germany this was my first time in Aachen and I had little not to say no clue what to see here. After a lovely breakfast at Oebel Backerei we decided to spend a few more minutes in this German town of Aachen. Then we discovered Aachen's Town hall and then shortly we found this magnificent Cathedral.
Unfortunetly during our visit here, the church were closed because of church service was held. Anyway I decided to take a few images here, and you can see the result bellow:
Aachen's Cathedral
Just like Aachen's Town hall this cathedral also is made in style of Gothic.
Wall…
After a lovely breakfast at Oebel Backerei we decided to spend a few more minutes in this German town of Aachen. Since this was my first time at this part of Germany, and frankly speaking this was my first time of hearing the name of Aachen I had no idea what I should see in this city. We just started to walk on one of the narrow streets and found this Gothic Town Hall.Aachen Town hall in GermanyTourist Signs near Aachen Town HallAt this stage I had no clue that at this Gothic style building is actually located a Town HallInfo Table at Aachen Town HallSince I don't read German I have no clue what's actually written there. I just paid attention to following years: 1933 - Nazi rise to Power,…
Despite some people would recommend you avoiding Frankfurt-Hahn airport because of it's location and some would even call this place a barn somewhere in the middle of nowhere, my experience shows that Frankfurt-Hahn airport although is not centrally located is a pretty decent airport,with all the basic facilities traveller could need.We arrived here from Riga airport using low-cost air carrier Ryanair. Took a rental car from Hertz (pre-booked) and spent some days in both Germany and The Netherlands. I was impressed to learn that historically Frankfurt Hahn airport has been built as a military base for NATO needs, which latter were transformed into a civil airport. (Read more about it at the…
If you cannot get breakfast in the Netherlands you go to Germany. That's how I could in short describe how we discovered a lovely German bakery - Oebel Backerei in Aachen (Germany).After a negative experience last night back in small Dutch town-let of Kerkrade (during our stay at Golden Tulip hotel) we couldn't find any decent place to have a dinner (except McDonald's) in the morning we decided - hey let's go to Aachen, there will be some lovely German cafeteria, and indeed, shortly after arriving at Aachen (some 10 km South of Kerkrade) we found this lovely bakery Oebel BäckereiCoffee at Oebel BäckereiSandwich at Oebel BäckereiA Fake Amerikaner I found it funny when found there…
Once in The Netherlands one (perhaps you) should stay at the Dutch brand hotel - Golden Tulip. OK, it's actually owned by a French investment group - Groupe de Louvre, but Duthc brand sound more interesting right? Tulips, Netherlands... Golden Tulip...Although this was not my first time staying overnight in Netherlands, it was my first time staying overnight at the Golden Tulip brand hotel. The location for this hotel was nothing fancy, just some small town let somewhere south in the Netherlands (close to the border of Germany).The reason we stayed exactly at this location is plain simple - We landed at Frankfurt Hanh Airport, took a rental car from Hertz and headed north to Keukenhof's…
If you are the person who loves to bring flower seeds or bulbs from your travels abroad then you might find interesting my experience buying flower bulbs and perennial near Keukenhof's Garden in Netherlands. At first I must admit I'm absolutely not a flower expert - I prefer photograph them, but as I learned at this nursery this topic is actually all about - it's never too late to learn. And maybe even I have a green fingers.I tried to buy here a tulip bulbs, but I was informed that it's not a good idea to plant a bulb in April (I paid a visit here at the end of April 2015), instead I should come back in October and then it's a good idea to plant a bulb. As I said - I'm…
Keukenhof is a paradise for flower lovers and especially for those ones who are into tulips. Keukenhof is located in province of South Holland in Netherlands in town of Lisse. One of the reasons people spend money and travel here from all around the world is a blooming season of tulips.I actually learnt a few interesting facts about tulips here. Like the origin of tulips comes from South Caucasus. And of course I practiced my photography skills here. In short: Keukenhof is the most beautiful spring garden in the world. More than seven million tulips, daffodils and hyacinths fill over 32 hectares with color and fragrance. Read more: www.keukenhof.nl/en or read more…
We arrived at a lovely city of Leiden in Netherlands from Düsseldorf Germany. Frankly speaking I hadn't before heard the name of Leiden, and I'm glad I learned something new.The reason we headed to Leiden was simple, according to some sources here starts the Bloemen Route (Flower route) to Keukenhof's flower garden. So we arrived at Leiden and I found this city lovely enough to add to my blog.By learning more about this city I discovered that this city hosts the oldest University in Netherlands and even Albert Einstein has spent some time here.I wish I knew it before I left this city, but know I have a good reason to return here.Leiden, NetherlandsBeautiful yard in Leiden,…
We ended our first day in Germany at hotel Bastion located in a small town called Neuss close to a larger Dusseldorf. I must admit we had a problems to find this location, but it was my fault not hotels. I didn't know how to enter address on our rental cars navigation system, so we did have a drive "on blind".After a several stops at gas stations and asking for a correct directions to Jagenbergstraße we find this hotel. We lost around 3 hours, but it was even a bit fun.Anyway back to the subject - Bastion Hotel - in short it's a typical American standard motel, located close to highway, so it's better you have a car, before you book it. I like these motel places, they are comfortable…
Welcome to my second Germany's restaurant review. First one happened some 40 km South from Bonn in a lovely town of Andernach, back there I made a review about Italian style restaurant "Bellini".First Flush Tea Room as it's name already suggests is more a tea room than a restaurant, but you can order some meal here as well.First Flush Tea RoomThis place is centrally located on Bonn's marketplace just next to Old Town HallMenu at First Flush Tea Room in BonnPorcelain cups at First Flush Tea RoomThe thing is they are serving each tea in a different cupSugar-basin at First Flush Tea RoomAgain, different sugar forms, staring small grains ending large ones. At first I thought it's some sea…
One thing I like about travel photography it helps to recall those amazing places you have visited during your travels. So today looking through my travel photos I found an intereting place, I would even call it a gem - Bonn's Old Town Hall and marketplace near it.In fact during my visit there I had no clue there is a marketplace actually. Cool right?We just headed straight on Bongase street after I took a few photos of Beethoven's House of Birth, and actually we were looking for some cosy place to order our supper. A cyclist in Bonn's marketplace Old Town Hall and ObeliskThe old town hall in the Bonn marketplace was completed in Rococo style in around 1780. This three-storey…
The idea to visit Beethoven's House of birth arrived from friend of us whom we earlier picked up in city of Koblenz. Honestly speaking I have no idea why he (friend) was so eager to see this place because in fact we didn't see anything more than just a usual dwelling house and a street table on that house indicating that indeed a maestro of all times Ludwig Van Beethoven was born here a few centuries ago.No don't get me wrong - I'm not trying to deny a Beethoven after all his "Ode to Joy" is an official anthem of European Union, but that's all my knowledge ended here. I even didn't knew which century Ludwig Van Beethoven lived in. Now I know - it was the 18 century he born (17 December 1770…
We hadn't any plans to visit this lovely and former capital city of West Germany Bonn. Our friend who is living in Germany and we picked up him earlier this day in Koblenz insisted we should visit some place were some Mozart (well actually Ludwig von Beethoven) were born and it turned out to be a city of Bonn. We arrived here at Bonn from a lovely town on the banks of Rhine river Andernach, and parked our car in some residential area - turned out just next to a place which I latter learned is called a Poppelsdorf Palace.Since I have been lately into to improving my photographer skills I just couldn't resist to try to make here some shots. Unfortunetly we were a bit on rush, so best I…
Restaurant Bellini is an Italian style restaurant located in the spectacular German town of Andernach (some 20 km North from Koblenz).
You can find my first impressions of this lovely town located on the banks of Rhine river here: Andernach - A Lovely German Town On The Banks Of Rhine
I must admit neither me, neither us we were looking for an Italian style restaurant here in Germany, it just turned out that you will find more Italian, Greek or Thai cuisine than real German sauerkraut and sausage while in Germany.
In fact, I like Italian cuisine very much, so let's get back to the subject - Restaurant Bellini in Andernach.
Large bottles at Restaurant Bellini
As usual in Germany,…
Andernach indeed is one of the loveliest German towns I have visited lately. In fact, I haven't visited Germany a lot. We arrived here after picked up a friend in Koblenz.
The town of Andernach is located just some 20 km North of Koblenz. I know some will find it strange to leave a city of Koblenz not seeing it much (just a railway station and a few elevated roads) but that;s the way I (we) like it. I believe we will return to Koblenz some other time.
I was very surprised by seeing Germany what I seen here at Rhineland, it was a Germany I hadn't seen before.
Original story and photos are from May 2015, with little photo-editing (post-processing) in December 2018. For a…
I have been lately a lot in church photography. Perhaps Georgia as an Orthodox country has learned me this lesson. Churches are interesting for photography, I believe it's pretty hard to take a decent image of a church by not using some good lenses and a tripod. Churches looks great from a distance, they are majestic and impressive.
Kuldiga Orthodox Church
As I have been taught and have find many times - a tripod is a must have for the landscape photography, unfortunately I haven't yet get a decent one, so this is a shot I made by hand. Actually I made some 20 other,but just this picture survived till the end.
Kuldiga Orthodox Church Tower
Some nice perspective. Those crosses…
Daigas Bakery (Daigas beķereja) is one of my favourite bakery places in Kuldiga. The reason is plain simple - the pastries Daiga and her team is baking here are one of the best in the whole region and I'm not afraid to say - they are among the best in Latvia.
Discovered by accident in the summer of 2014, Daigas Bakery has found its way to my heart instantly. When I'm visiting the town of Kuldīga - Daigas bakery is a must-have. And I mean it!
The bakery is located on Liepājas street 26 in a small courtyard
Inside bakery it's a really tiny though cosy place. There are 2 tables and maximum 8 people can sit around them
Although a sklandrausis is a part of traditional Latvian cuisine I first…
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