Blog Archive: January 2019
Saint Peter and Paul Monastery Complex of Bolnisi
| Churches and Monasteries | 39 seen
Saint Peter and Paul Monastery Complex of Bolnisi was built in 2012 and is located on Mount Elia close to the Bolnisi town in Georgia.
First discovered and kind of visited in mid-December 2018, during a day trip to Bolnisi region. Originally I thought that at this place is located Bolnisi Sioni, and once we let our Tbilisi apt I just entered Bolnisi church in Google navigation. Huge was my surprise arriving at the real Bolnisi Sioni Cathedral instead of this place.
From Bolnisi Sioni we continued our explorations in the area of Bolnisi, and reached another very interesting church (again I thought this is it) - Tsughrughasheni Church. We already started to head back to Tbilisi, to notice a mosque in Bolnisi. Hmm.. and then we noticed a church a top of the hill. Finally.
Saint Peter and Paul Monastery Complex of Bolnisi
I was really surprised about the road construction taking up to the church - concreted stones.
Pawed road and a cross
On the right side is located mount Elia - on which are built terraces and probably…
Mangaļsala Pier
| Tourism objects | 14 seen
The Mangalsala Dam or the Eastern Mole has been built between 1850 and 1861 and rumor has the Russian Empire's Tsar actively followed the developments (back in those days there were two tsars ruling the Empire, Nicholas I and Alexander II). Mangalsala is the first part of the Riga city which is crossed by all ships entering the Daugava river.
The length of the mole is 2240 meters. The sea part of the eastern mole was formed by pile constructions, which were later laid out and covered with stones. The base of the dam is made of heavy fascines and stones. The dam of Mangaļsala serves as a strengthening of the right bank of the Daugava river.
For me, the Mangaļsala pier has always been a very interesting place to visit, either to catch a lovely sunset or make a romantic walk on the pier.
Mangaļsala pier
Top 10 Luxury Hotels in Borjomi
| Hotel reviews | 68 seen
Borjomi is a popular resort town in Georgia. The most popular recreation season probably here is during the Summer. Local tourists from Georgia and international tourists from Russia, Poland, Israel and lately from the Arab countries make the largest amount of tourists here.
In this article have listed top luxury hotels in Borjomi and nearby Likani, Don't worry - the price won't sky-rocket. Although there are not many 5-star hotels (yet) in Borjomi for the ones they have you won't pay more than Eur 80 per night. The best - for such money you can actually get a celebrity treatment
Alternatively, see 6 Best Value Hotels in Borjomi, Georgia or Bakuriani Hotels - Enjoy Your Winter Holidays in Georgian Ski Resort
Disclosure: this article contains links to Booking.com, by clicking on links on this page and by making a reservation on Booking.com site, I might earn an affiliate income, at no cost to you
Borjomi Likani Health & Spa CentreRead my review here: Borjomi Likani Hotel, SPA and Health Centre
Located 350 m from the Kura River, Borjomi…
Mintos.com Review After 24 Month of Investing in Peer to Peer Lending
| Peer to Peer Lending | 46 seen
I've been investing in Mintos.com peer to peer lending marketplace since the beginning of 2017, or it has been already 24 months or two years since I've been exposing my funds to this Latvian fintech platform.
In the past 24 months I've made a nice revenue of EUR 902.57 (before tax) and in today's article, I decided to share a quick overview for the past two years and also make a quick glimpse for my plans for 2019
Both individuals and entities can invest through Mintos. Individual investors must be at least 18 years old, have a bank account in the European Union or third countries currently considered to have AML/CFT systems equivalent to the EU, and have their identity successfully verified by Mintos. At the moment, US citizens or taxpayers cannot register as investors at Mintos.
Affiliate link here: Sign up to Mintos.com here. By using this affiliate link for registration both you and I will receive — 1% of your average daily balance which should be paid in 3 installments for the first 90 days.
Remember - investments are risky, never invest more you can afford to lose.
Background…
HP ProBook 450 G5 (2RS04EA) Laptop Review
| Gadget Reviews | 64 seen
At the end of 2018 I got a new laptop - HP ProBook 450 G5 - in today's gadget review article series I will write down my humble observations. In short - gosh it feels so good owning a ProBook from HP.
I bought this laptop at local ALTA OK store in Tbilisi, Georgia, just shortly before Christmas shopping craze in December 2018. Paid about USD 750 for this model. The sales price for Intel Core i5 8GB HP ProBook 450 G5 on Amazon is about $770.
This laptop will retire my older Asus X552M Laptop. That said, after about a 3-year pause, while using ASUS manufactured laptop, I'm returning back to HP laptops. For about 8 years I was using the HP Compaq 6510b model, I loved that model so much that even replaced broken hinges. The fun thing, despite that the older HP Compaq 6510b is now more than 12 years old, it still works. Amazing. That's why I really love HP laptops. They just last like forever.
17 Best HP Laptops You Can Buy Online - Amazon.com
Please note this article contains links to Amazon by clicking on links on this page and by making a purchase on…
2018 Blog Income & Traffic Review - Goals For 2019
| Blogging | 9 seen
2018 has just passed, and now it is the right time to take a look back on the previous year of blogging, and of course doubts - take a quick glimpse of 2019.
In today's article, I will reveal data behind the blog scenes - both traffic and income for the whole year of 2018. But before we dig into the numbers, here is the brief background - blog now is more than five years old, and for the last five years it has gone a very long way,
Make sure to check out my previous yearly blogging reviews:
- 2017 - 2017 Blog Income & Traffic Review - Goals For 2018 / $24,920.47
- 2016 - Blog Traffic and Income Report 2016 - 635,048 Users / $18,586.41
- 2015 - Blog Traffic and Income Report for 2015 - 347,035 users / $9,819.71
- 2014 - Blog Income Report 2014 / $3,334.20
- In total blog have reached 1,212,588 (that's more than a million) users in 2018
- On average it is 101,049 monthly users or
- 3,322 daily visitors
Blog traffic report 2018 (monthly…
Top 20 Gaming Laptops with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB Graphics card
| Laptop Reviews | 542 seen
Gaming laptops with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB graphics card are one of the most optimal gaming laptops user choice - here budget meets performance. In contrast to PC's where you can extend your computer with a GPU, when choosing a laptop your options are more limited. See: Mining Ethereum With EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 (Single Fan), 6GB GDDR5 Review
Most of the best selling Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 laptops are powered with the latest 8th generation Intel Core i7 8750H processors, though there are a few Intel Core i5 models available as well.
In today's article, I've listed top 20 gaming laptops with NVIDIA GeForce GTRX 1060 6 GB graphics card available for sale on Amazon.com
Update: Top 17 Gaming laptops with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 GPU
A quick note: This article contains affiliate links to Amazon.com, by clicking on links on this page and by making a purchase on Amazon site, I will earn an affiliate income at no cost to you. Prices for laptops listed on this page are retrieved using Amazon Product Advertising API and is updated daily.…
Mosque in Kvemo Bolnisi
| Churches and Monasteries | 14 seen
There is not much information available online about Kvemo Bolnisi mosque in Georgia, except that the construction of the Mosque in Kvemo Bolnisi village started in 2005 and ended in 2007. The Mosque started functioning the same year.
It was in the mid-December 2018, we were on a day trip to the Bolnisi (and surrounding area), after making stops at Bolnisi Sioni and Tsughrughasheni Church we discovered a green roof mosque. Unfortunately this time we didn't visit the mosque, instead, I took just a very long distance photo.
Mosque in Kvemo Bolnisi, Georgia
About 60% of the population in Bolnisi are Muslims
There are two major Muslim groups in Georgia. The ethnic Georgian Muslims are Sunni Hanafi and are concentrated in the Autonomous Republic of Adjara of Georgia bordering Turkey. The ethnic Azerbaijani Muslims are predominantly Shia Ithna Ashariyah and are concentrated along the border with Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Islam in Georgia was introduced in 654 when an army sent by the…
Borjomi Likani Hotel, SPA and Health Centre
| Hotel reviews | 32 seen
Luxury 5 star Hotel Borjomi Likani is located 177 km away from Tbilisi (the capital of Georgia) in the middle of the coniferous park in Borjomi city, famous of its naturally carbonated mineral water from springs in the Borjomi Gorge of central Georgia.
Hotel Borjomi Likani is located on the former territory of once popular Sanatorium of 4th department in Likani.
Guests from all over the USSR used to gather here to spend time with family and friends and receive the benefits of the Health procedures offered, due to the curative effect of the Borjomi water.
We stated at Hotel Borjomi Likani during the Christmas 2018 and paid EUR 112 /GEL 341 for one night stay at this hotel
6 Best Value Hotels in Borjomi, Georgia
Disclosure: this article contains links to Booking.com, by clicking on links on this page and by making a reservation on Booking.com site, I might earn an affiliate income, at no cost to you
Room at hotel Borjomi Likani
The rooms offer air conditioning and a flat-screen TV. The bathrooms provide a hairdryer, bathrobes and slippers.
Small gym at Hotel Borjomi Likani
…
How to block visitors from country NGINX + GeoIP Module
| Servers | 111 seen
There are a couple of reasons why website administrators consider blocking visitors from particular countries or regions accessing websites, the most common reason probably is hacking/hacking attempts.
One really nasty way how website hackers act are, they inject malicious code into vulnerable websites and redirect legit audience to shady affiliate or black SEO websites. This method is also known as cloaking.
By investigating NGINX access.log file we can determine 404 pages (hacking attempts) and with a simple manipulations filter our bad/spammy IP's
See this great guide from EasyEngine about Parsing access.log and error.logs using linux commands to learn more.
Now how to block country IP range with NGINX. Much of the written below is taken from this article: How to block visitors from a country on NGINX [ with GeoIP Module ]
Configure Nginx for blockingopen Nginx configuration file-
sudo nano /etc/nginx/nginx.confand place the following code at the start of http block
geoip_country /usr/share/GeoIP/GeoIP.dat; map $geoip_country_code $allowed_country {…"The Necessary War" - Documentary About WWI
| Documentaries | 11 seen
The Necessary War is a documentary about WWI, produced by BBC
In this documentary author answers on the question - what was the role of United Kingdom during WWI, and why did Britain enter on conflict with Germany over Belgium?
This year (2014) turns 100 years since WWI or how it was referred in the interwar period - The Great War escalated from the minor conflict in Balkans and took over all Europe for 4 years.
Watch on YouTube
2019 Old New Year's Firework From Tbilisi
| | 8 seen
Here at Piece of Life and ReinisFischer.com we just love fireworks photography. It's one of the photo techniques I wanted to master first when learned secrets of successful photography.
My first experience with fireworks photography was a couple of years ago when I had a chance to visit St. Marks square in Venice during New Year's night. The result? It was a very crowded event, but still, I managed to get at least something. After we returned from Venice back to Tbilisi I made a kind of lovely Old New Year's firework photography from our balcony. You can see the result here: Old New Year's fireworks in Tbilisi
I made one of my best fireworks photography a year ago from Tamar Mephe bridge in Tbilisi, see Happy New Year! Fireworks Photography from Tbilisi 2018
In 2019 we had another great reason to memorize these fireworks, our baby daughter turned 6-month old and we thought fireworks should be a good ending for such a great event. Here is the result:
Old New Year's fireworks 2019
One of the benefits of having an apt with a view.
- Tbilisi by day (New Apartment Version)
- Tbilisi by night (…
Tsughrughasheni Church
| Churches and Monasteries | 13 seen
Tsughrughasheni is a Georgian Orthodox church in the Bolnisi District, Georgia. It is situated approximately 2 kilometers from Bolnisi Sioni basilica, on the right bank of the Bolnisistsqali River.
The church was built in 1212–1222 supposedly by King George IV Lasha of the Bagrationi Dynasty.
Tsughrughasheni church in Georgia
I first discovered and visited Tsughrughasheni church and monastery in mid-December during a day trip to Bolnisi. It was a bit hard actually to get here physically, as there was some road construction works still going on (there is a newly paved road build straight to the monastery complex). Luckily we got here after all, and as we were the only visitors at the site, the father Seraphim greeted us at the gate and gave us a key to the church.
Father Seraphim is a really great priest, friendly, knowledgeable and humble. Father was accompanied with two German shepherd dogs. During our short conversation father Seraphim confirmed that now, once the new road is built (which took them about 5 years to be done) - he…
December 2018 Dividend Income Report - $160.57
| Investments | 17 seen
Welcome to the twentieth (#20) dividend income report, covering earnings I've made from dividend-paying stocks, peer to peer lending (both fiat and cryptocurrencies) in December 2018.
In case you are wondering why I'm sharing online my earnings - the answer is pretty simple - back in January 2017, I set a goal to reach one million dollars in my bank account by the time I will turn 60 26 years still to go). I believe in transparency and sharing dividend income reports every month helps me to observe my personal progress or bounces. Hopefully, those reports can give some inspiration to you as well. (If so, please leave a short comment below).
In short, last December turned out much better as I thought before. Despite last December was the first month when YOY growth was negative, I still really love this December. More on that bellow.
Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links to mintos.com peer to peer lending website, by clicking on links on this page and by making an investment on mintos.com, I…
Hotel Baltvilla in Baltezers
| Hotel reviews | 10 seen
Baltvilla is a 4-star hotel located some 15 km from the city center of Riga, on the shore of a lake with a private beach area and on the Via Baltica highway (E67).
Baltvilla is located 4 km from Latvian Ethnographic Open-Air Museum. Free WiFi is provided throughout the hotel and wide private parking is available for guests free of charge.
We opted for Baltvilla hotel during our latest trip to Latvia at the end of 2018 (pre-New Year) - surprisingly but we paid less than EUR 40 for a stay here. I believe this has been the cheapest 4-star hotel I have stayed so far, thus the service was excellent. Breakfast was just amazing. Salmon in the breakfast, sure come to Latvia.
Top Hotels in Baltezers, Latvia
Hotel room at Baltvilla
Baltvilla hosts a restaurant on the ground floor. It specializes in European and Italian cuisines and here guests can enjoy meals throughout the day. A summer terrace with a lake view is open during the season. The hotel features a Disco bar on the third floor.
Buffet breakfast at Baltvilla hotel
There are spacious standard rooms, as well…