Blog Archive: March 2016
Roof Works, Part 4 - Metal Roofing Arrives
| Home Remodeling | 8 seen
I'm continuing one of the most epic my life experiences I agreed to do - Replacing roof for an old and very bad managed rural house.
It was about one week since previous roof works were done, roof replacement works resumed on August 12, 2015. Prior to that my 30th birthday happened and I decided to leave all the home remodeling works behind and visit Tallinn. See 14 Tallinn Trip Ideas your your next travel to Estonian Capital
Make sure you check out previous parts on Roof Replacement works.
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Today the new metal roof I ordered some 3 weeks ago was meant to arrive, prior of actually installing the new metal roof, we had a very lot to do still - leveling beams, adding cross wind sheet and lathing. We had barely removed the old shingle roofing for just one side of the roof.
Roof works has resumed
We lost a chimney in Part 3, and one bearining beam - it took about half day to restore that beam from two smaller beams (the length of 7 meters)
Blue skies and a man on roof
A Super size cargo truck has just delivered the roof…
14 Tallinn Trip Ideas for your next travel to Estonian Capital
| Travel guides | 2 seen
Are you planing your first trip to Tallinn, trying to figure out what to see, where to go and where to stay overnight? In this guide I have added few cool Tallinn's attractions, shopping venue and really cool restaurants.
I spent two days in Tallinn, during Summer of 2015 to celebrate my 30th birthday. In those two days I reviewed 14 places where we headed to, stayed in or had a lovely meal.
Hope this guide might help you plan your next trip to Tallinn.
Map of TallinnAlternatively you can check my Estonia's travel guide here
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P.S. Here is my birthday cake
Birthday cake
You might find interesting my previous birthday guide to Armenian capital city of Yerevan: Celebrating Birthday in Yerevan, Armenia - Roundup
Cafe Cinema in Tbilisi
| Restaurant reviews | 24 seen
Cafe Cinema is sharing one building with Carrefour store on the Kolhoznaya square (I know there is a new name for this square, but I never can remember the name). I have been going shopping for groceries time by time to this Carrefour store (although I prefer either Tbilisi Mall or recently opened East Point - both located in suburbs of Tbilisi), and just recently I discovered that there is not only Carrefour located in this building, but that there are actually some more boutique shops in store's second and thirds floors.
So I went to the second floor and discovered Cafe Cinema - I have no clue is there actually any cinema hidden in this building as well, but speaking of this cafeteria - it rocks. Prices are very affordable, atmosphere is great and they even have English language newspapers. And yes, this is a rare place where Coke is served with ice. Nice.
Menu at Cafe Cinema
Basically the menu is very simple, you can get crepes, wraps, cocktails, coffee and tea. Menu is written in Georgian only, but staff speaks both English and Russian. Menu is pretty illustrative so you can see…
Giorgi Leonidze Park (Former Alexander Garden)
| Tourism objects | 68 seen
Ok, I just learnt this place is renamed after Georgian poet Giorgi Leonidze, although I most often call this park - Alexander Garden.
Parks of April 9 and Giorgi Leonidze (former Alexander Park) were cultivated in 1859 by the project of the architect O. Simenson. In 1865 the garden got its final form. It covered about 36.000 m2 areas. The garden was named in honour of the Emperor Alexander I. In the 30-eth of the XX century, after uniting the market and Dzneladze (present Tabukashvili) streets, the Alexander Park was divided into upper and lower platforms.
Monument to Giorgi Leonidze in Tbilisi
Giorgi Leonidze (December 27, 1899 – August 9, 1966) was a Georgian poet, prose writer, and literary scholar.
Leonidze was born in the village of Patardzeuli in the eastern Georgian province of Kakheti. He graduated from the Tbilisi Theological Seminary in 1918 and continued his studies at the Tbilisi State University. His first poems appeared in Georgian press in 1911, and then, briefly collaborated with the Symbolist group Blue Horns. His real talent emerged in…
Carpe Diem Café in San Bonifacio
| Restaurant reviews | 14 seen
I have never kept in secret my love for the local restaurants and cafes where tourists barely step their foot in. We did find a few great local Italian restaurants during a week long trip in Italy and when we arrived to San Bonifacio (checked in at our hotel, see Best Western Soave Hotel, San Bonifacio ) we decided to explore our options and find some great restaurant nearby.
It was alright late night on January 1st - and after some 20 minute driving around San Bonifacio it seemed we wont find any place that will be opened today. Luckily we noticed this place - meet Carpe Diem Cafe in San Bonifacio.
At Carpe Diem Cafe in San Bonifacio, Italy
A very few locals had been gathered here tonight and talked the usual stuff, locals usually do at such places.Some were looking to good looking waitress and ordered more bear so could just be in contact with her, and so on. The local cafe's rock!
We were hungry - and ordered a lot - nobody from the personnel spoke English but we understood each other by signs.
Something superb delicious at Carpe Diem cafe
They…
Best Western Soave Hotel, San Bonifacio
| Hotel reviews | 13 seen
We booked this Best Western franchise hotel in San Bonifacio, Italy through secret deals on Hotwire, on January 1st, 2016, we chose this hotel because of it's close location to Verona and affordable price (about $60).
I love using Hotwire, in most cases there are great value deals, but it was not like this time. We got a small, bad equipped room from Hotel Soave. No, I'm not complaining, our stay was pretty OK. But it was far from the expected.
Hotel Soave is 200 m from San Bonifacio Railway Station and 800 m from the A4 motorway exit. It offers free parking, free internet, a fitness centre and a varied buffet breakfast.
Queen size bed
We made a mistake on reservation and selected queen size bed... when at the reception I asked could we get a King Size bed, thus it was our fault - receptionist didn't agree to change this room.
On booking.com it' s told that all rooms feature king size bed - well, in reality it's false
All rooms of the Soave Hotel feature a king-size bed, a 20" LCD TV with Sky channels, and an MP3 and DVD player. Playstation games are available to rent from reception.
Sky…
Barbarestan - Wine Shop and Restaurant in Tbilisi
| Restaurant reviews | 53 seen
Vintage lovers and hipsters - rejoice, I just discovered another "fashionable" not to miss place in Tbilisi - Barbarestan - wine shop and restaurant on Aghanashebeli avenue.
Well this place actually didn't pop up on my radar by accident - I have heard of this place before, mostly positive reviews, but the real reasons I wanted to visit this place, on a lovely Saturday morning we couldn't decide where should we go today - so after this epic struggle - what to do next, I decided to try luck on Google - I decided to search for "breakfasts in Tbilisi" - let me assure how happy I was somebody (TripAdvisor) was created such list for me.
Barbarestan ranked fourth on this list, and since it is was close to our apartment - we decided - its Barberastan time.
Outdoor signboard at Barbarestan
Menu at restaurant Barbarestan
Prices for food at restaurant Barberastan compared to other Tbilisi restaurants are well above average, like a cup of Turkish coffee here - 3GEL, Kubdari - 15 GEL. In fact, I didn't find here any breakfast menu items, so I wonder how this restaurant could rank #4 on…
Alexander Nevsky Russian Orthodox Church in Tbilisi
| Churches and Monasteries | 195 seen
Alexander Nevsky Russian Orthodox Church is located in the neighborhood of Marjanishivli in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia. Commonly referred to just as "Russian Church".
Along with the church of St. Vladimir in the neighborhood of Vera it is one of two churches in Tbilisi, where the service is performed entirely in Church Slavonic language.
Alexander Nevsky Russian Orthodox Church in Tbilisi
Originally built in 1864 by the donations of the faithful, additional the Holy Synod has allocated 5000 rubles. In 1886, the church bell tower was added. There are two refectory: Alexander Nevsky and St. Nicholas, which was built in 1900 in honor of the Emperor Nicholas II. In 1913, next to the church was built a chapel in honor to the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty.
Alexander Nevsky Russian Orthodox Church in Tbilisi
There are several shrines in the church: the relics of Mary Magdalene, St. Nina, St. Nicholas, St. Shio Mgvime and others.