Blog Archive: January 2017
An ex-pat living in Georgia since 2011, I trade stocks, take photographs, work out at the gym, and many more. Here I write about travel, finance, and other things that might interest me.
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Privet iz Batuma
Privet iz Batuma, literally meaning Hi from Batumi, if translated from Russian is just another cool cafe located in Georgian seaside resort city Batumi. Despite the name, giving a feeling you will be returned to the times of Imperial Russia, cuisine served here is quite modern, I managed to order shaslik with French fries, while my better part even got some American style lemonade. Eclectic, thus cool. Interior at Privet iz Batumi Yes,…
Another Day, Another Wall
Today was another lovely day to excel a little bit as a constructor. Today we continued to construct walls from aac blocks. It's fun, easy, like everyone could do this. As long as you keep it all leveled. See part 1 Remove a Wall to Finish Foundation Concreting and part 2 Constructing Wall From AAC blocks + Finishing Foundation Concreting Works for Bathroom Bricklaying aac blocks Today we are going to finish the end wall and construct four…
Georgian Enamel Souvenir Shop in Batumi
I tried hard, but couldn't locate precise location or name of this Georgian enamel souvenir shop in Batumi. What I know, most probably it's located on Zviad Gamsakhurdia street in Batumi, in the Goodwill shop area. Why I believe it's worth to mention this shop? It's very good souvenir shop filled with interesting Georgian enamel art. We bought here lovely ashtrays and decided to return here one for time to buy some cool Georgian interior…
Anker Hostel in Oslo
Think hostels are cheap? Think twice. Anker hostel officially is the most expensive hostel I have stayed so far, and there is no surprise about that. Located in Oslo, one of the most expensive cities in the World (yes, I know one of the best salaries as well), you should expect to pay about USD 100 for a hotel and remember - linens are not included. You can get linen for additional about USD 10 price. We were returning from Malaga to Riga,…
Constructing Wall From AAC blocks + Finishing Foundation Concreting Works for Bathroom
In today's home remodeling series we are continuing to build bathroom from scratch. The other day we removed walls and finished foundation concreting works for one part of house, today we re going to start construct first wall and finish foundation works for another wall, yes still some wall demolition works involved for today. A few days ago construction materials arrived and today it was just a a matter of tools and two men power (I had a…
Sputnik Hotel in Batumi
I now have a new favorite hotel in Batumi - Sputnik hotel. Surrounded by a garden with tropical plants and trees, this 4-stars Sputnik Hotel & Spa Batumi is nestled in Batumi Hills with a stunning views of the city and black sea. Hotel boasts an outdoor pool and is just 12-minute drive from city centre. There is a restaurant, bars, swimming pool, terraces, and free WiFi at the property. We stayed at Sputnik hotel for three nights at the…
Postcards from Oslo
Seems Postcards from series are one of the most featured at Piece of Life project, and there is no surprise about it, we travel a lot, and visit many interesting cities around the World. So did happened during our latest trip to Norway, what was meant to be just a night in Olso, between layover flights turned out to be a mini postcards from Oslo. Skyscraper in Oslo Why doesn't I feel surprised seeing Radisson Sas hotel among one of the…
Remove a Wall to Finish Foundation Concreting
Some build home by pouring in foundation first, we started by replacing roof, removing walls and then pouring in foundation. Sounds intrigue? Continue reading to learn more. In today's home remodeling series a day when we removed first wall and finished pouring in concrete for foundation for our upcoming bathroom. I had a handy hands today, Guntars, we started our cooperation already last year, he helped me a lot with roof replacement works.…
Chiatura Cable-ways Central Station
If you have a chance of visiting remote Georgian city Chiatura, make sure you take a free ride at one of the famous cable ways. Also don't forget to take your camera and make one of the interesting photos you will make in Georgia. Some call them Stalin's cable cars, I prefer to call them - the rare chance to return to the year of 1954. As I have been told, most of the cable cars have been in service in 1954, and most of them seems haven't been…
Oslo Bus Terminal
Oslo Bus Terminal was our second stop from our first time short trip to Norway,we arrived here from Moss Airport, Rygge, in June, 2016 and left back from the same terminal to airport in the next morning. Oslo Bus Terminal is the main bus station serving Oslo, Norway. Owned by Vaterland AS it is located beside Oslo Central Station and serves local buses to Akershus as well as domestic and international coaches. Oslo Bus Terminal The station…
Foundation From Fibo Ceramsite Blocks
It happened a a few weeks ago, when digging a trench around the existing foundation I discovered a missing foundation for one part of our rural house. Back then I quickly realized I will use Fibo ceramsite blocks to boost construction works. The other day I poured in concrete footing, and today was the day to add first Fibo ceramsite blocks over footing Hardened foundation footing It rained for the last two days, I was a little bit…
Postcards from Chiatura
Chiatura is an amazing and worth to explore city in the Imereti region, Georgia. Famous because of manganese and iron ores. What makes this city special - cable cars, it's believed there are some 17 cable cars / lift systems in operation in Chiatura. Chiatura have been on my travel list for a very long time already - first visited and documented in November 2016. Yes, we took a ride in those old and neglected, but awesome cable cars. Taking a…
Road To Million Dollars in Saving Account
I'm 31 now, I have a goal to save one million dollars by the time I will be 60. That's 29 years. That's $34,482.75 I should save each year, next 29 years in the row. That's a lot. I currently make less than $20,000 per year, by US standard I'm the one who falls into the category - working poor. However, unlike my colleges in US, I live overseas (see living in Georgia) where standard of living in much much lower if compared to US , and in fact…