Blog Archive: December 2018
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.
Latest articles
The Botanical Garden of the University of Latvia
The Botanical Garden of the University of Latvia is located in Pardaugava (Kandavas 2), just a 10-minute ride from the central part of Riga. The garden was founded in 1922. Over 15ha visitors can explore hothouses and outdoor collections with some 6,000 different plants. It is one of the most well-loved recreational spaces in Riga - you can slowly walk the garden’s compact yet informationally saturated territory, get to know plants from all…
The Grand Documentary of 2017
The Grand Documentary of 2017 is a second part from the never-ending Grand Documentary series, originally set back in 2016. The Grand Documentary of 2017 is a 5 minutes and 23 seconds long short film documenting our lives back in 2017. Filmed in various countries across the Globe throughout 2017, glued, polished, laminated, beaten and put together in Tbilisi, Georgia, using Premiere CC Places from the film: 3 Weeks in Crete (Complete…
Top Hotels in Baltezers, Latvia
Baltezers is a popular recreational village located in Ādaži Municipality some 17 km from Riga city center. The place is popular among tourists from the close neighboring countries like Estonia and Lithuania (because of Via Baltic road) and also for tourists from Scandinavia and Russia. In today's article, I've listed the top 3 hotels to book here in Baltezers. Disclosure: hotels listed below contain links to Booking.com, by clicking on links…
Weekend Trip To Kiev, Ukraine
Weekend trip to Kyiv, Ukraine is a short recap of my 32 birthday celebrations back in 2017. In short, we booked a central hotel in the city center, used local taxi's a lot, traveled forth and back to the distant neighborhoods, and tried a lot of great Ukrainian cuisine. Traditions should be respected. For the fourth year in a row, I have been celebrating my birthday at one of the former Soviet Union member country's capital cities. It all…
Puzata Hata, Khreschatyk Street, Kyiv, Ukraine
Puzata Hata is a popular (and probably the largest) chain in Kiev - it serves traditional Ukrainian cuisine for a budget price. Puzata Hata was one of our favorite Kiev restaurant chains we visited during our latest trip to Kiev in August 2017. See: Kiev restaurants The Puzata Khata Restaurant Network opened its doors to the first visitors in 2003. Then it was the first restaurant in Bessarabka, in the center of Kiev. Puzata Hata in Kiev…
3 Weeks in Crete (Complete Itinerary list)
This is a round-up post for our 3 weeks trip to Crete, Grece in June 2017, listing most of the places (tourism objects, hotels, restaurants, and more) In short, we fled from Tbilisi via Athens to Chania, see About Tbilisi - Athens - Chania (Greece) flight by Aegean Airlines, spent some 8 hours in Athens, and arrived at Chania international airport from where our Cretan trip started. From the airport, we took a public bus (the price was cheap…
Postcards from Kvareli
Kvareli is a town in northeastern in Kakheti Province, Georgia. Located in the Alazani Valley, near the foothills of the Greater Caucasus Mountains, it was the birthplace of Georgian author Ilia Chavchavadze The area is in the center of the Kakheti wine-producing region, and the town itself is known for its Kindzmarauli wine, a semisweet red variety. Kindzmarauli Corporation Wine House in Kvareli, Georgia Anyhow, there are many cool things to…
Top hotels in Rustavi, Georgia
Rustavi cannot be proud of having top luxury hotels, like the one you can find in Georgian resort towns of Bakuriani, Gudauri, Batumi or the nation's capital Tbilisi. The reason probably is plain simple - the close distance to Tbilisi city. On the other hand, Rustavi is known for it's racing track and huge auto market. Many international travelers from neighboring countries of Armenia and Azerbaijan are coming here to buy used and new vehicles…
Kvareli Public Service Hall
Kvareli Public service hall is located in the center of Kvareli town near Chavchavadze Street. Public Service Hall is an agency of the Georgian government which provides a variety of public services, these include the services of the Civil Registry Agency, the National Agency of Public Registry, the National Archives, the National Bureau of Enforcement and the Notary Chamber of Georgia. Services are made available at public service halls…
Top 3 Things to do in Kazdanga, Latvia
I first discovered the small Latvian town Kazdanga back in the Summer of 2015, since then I've returned here many times. Kazdanga is located near the motorway P117 some 9 km from the Aizpute and 167 km from Riga. In today's article, I decided to list the top 3 places/things to do once in Kazdanga.
Tutarchela Megrelian Restaurant in Tbilisi
Restaurant Tutarchela is located on Archil Mishveladze street 76, Tbilisi, just next to the Vake Park. I was a bit surprised to learn that here is served Megrelian cuisine, and should admit that Megrelian cuisine is as great as Georgian According to the restaurant's FB page, there is served a wide selection of delicious Megrelian dishes, and for the preparation of all dishes, the restaurant uses natural products. Anyhow, here is what we got…
Top 14 Luxury 5-star hotels in Baku, Azerbaijan
Baku is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located 28 metres (92 ft) below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world and also the largest city in the world located below sea level. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, alongside the Bay of Baku. Here are the top 3 reasons visiting Baku (according…
Hotel Kvareli Eden Review
Kvareli Eden Hotel is located in a remote place some 1 or 2 km from the Kvarteli town center, Georgia. Kvareli Eden features an indoor swimming pool and a wine therapy spa center. Free Wi-Fi and free private parking are provided. We booked a stay at Kvareli Eden in the mid of November 2018 during Georgia Discount week (kind of paying half the price). We stayed here for two nights and paid about GEL 500 (EUR 165 / USD 188) for that. Disclosure…
The Grand Documentary of 2016
Filmed in 8 countries throughout 2016, glued, sanded, laminated, blamed and put together in Tbilisi, Georgia using Adobe Premiere CC. The Great Documentary is 13 minutes and 2 seconds long short from our lives back in 2016. The story starts in Venice, Italy, travels to Georgia, Armenia, then Latvia, Lithuania, Spain, Gibraltar and ends in New York, US. Jokes, notes and wine (chacha) traverse the scene from the first seconds of the movie.…
Roshen Candy Store in Kiev (Khotynska Street)
Roshen Confectionery Corporation is a Ukrainian confectionery manufacturing group. The leading manufacturer of confectionery products in the country, it operates facilities in the Ukrainian cities of Kiev, Vinnytsia and Kremenchuk, as well as in Budapest, Hungary and Klaipėda, Lithuania. The name of the company was derived from the last name of its owner, current president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko. It was back in August 2017, we were in…