Blog Archive: September 2022

Basilica of the Assumption, Aglona

29 September, 2022 | Churches and Monasteries | 19 seen

The Aglona Roman Catholic Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Aglona is one of the most important Catholic spiritual centers in Latvia.

I have visited Aglona cathedral several times and always have left quite inspired. If there is a reason to visit Latgale,then Aglona Catholoc cathedral is atop of them.

Construction of the present church, which is in the Italian Baroque style, began in 1768 and was completed in 1780. Dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, it was consecrated in 1800 by Bishop J. Benislavski.

The church was the seat of the bishop of Riga from 1920 to 1924, when the newly promoted archbishop Antonijs Springovičs moved to the Cathedral of St. James in Riga. Springovičs was consecrated bishop there on 22 August 1920 by Kaunas auxiliary bishop Juozapas Skvireckas.

Every year thousands of pilgrims flock to the Basilica on 15 August, the feast day of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is one of the eight international shrines recognized by the Holy See[6] and its religious events were attended by around 300,000 pilgrims.

In 1980 the Basilica of the Assumption celebrated its 200th…

Invest in Batumi Real Estate with a business partner - Joint Ownership

28 September, 2022 | Real Estate | 28 seen

Back in Spring 2022, I come up with an idea - launching a crypto token for investing in Batumi real estate. The original idea was to issue about 100 tokens over Ethereum smart chain, collect the funds, buy the property, sell it for a profit, and buy back tokens at an increased price. 

I still like this idea, and I'm still looking to go forward with it. During the past 6 months my idea didn't raise much interest, yes I had a talk with a few investors, but most were not aware of what a smart token is, so I stopped actively pushing this idea. 

• High Risk / High Return Investment Opportunity in Batumi Real Estate
• Invest in Batumi Real Estate (Buying Black Frame Projects)

Recently I got contacted by a Canadian citizen showing interest in this project, but in a more traditional way, the FIAT way - I was offered to establish some kind of business partnership, with me owning 10% and partner 90% in such partnership

I'm interested in knowing more about investing in a couple of studio apartments at a bargain price working with you. If things work out okay, then I'll be able to pump $20,000 immediately and…

I'm making $0.21/daily* by selling covered calls on Solana coin

20 September, 2022 | Crypto | 39 seen

It has been several days since I'm playing again with crypto options, more precisely selling covered calls with Solana coin on the deribit trading platform.

Disclosure:  This article contains affiliate links to deribit.com bitcoin options trading website, by clicking on links on this page and by investing with deribit, I will earn affiliate income at no cost to you. Also, I'm not a financial advisor and I don't give you any advice, I'm just sharing my own experience. Investments in stocks, funds, bonds or cryptos are risk investments and you could lose some or all of your money. Do your due diligence before investing in any kind of asset.

Seems I have learned my lesson from the mistakes I've made in the past, and now I'm trading fully funded covered calls, not naked, the ones powered by leverage. When trading Solana coin, it's enough with just one coin to start selling covered call options. Sure it won't get you far, as premiums are too small, but if you want to dip your feet in the water, why not?

Book my Covered Calls Course | How to Generate Income from Options

On September 12, 2022, I bought 1…

Top 20 Hot Laptop Releases To Buy In 2023

19 September, 2022 | Laptop Reviews | 69 seen

In 2023 we will use more powerful and more affordable laptops than ever. It seems the Apple Macbook Air will be the best-selling laptop #1 in 2023

It seems that HDD will get replaced by a much faster SSD, but that comes with a price attached and less storage. Let's hope that SSD will increase in size and decrease in price in 2023

That said, here you go - Top 20 hot laptop models to buy in 2023

A quick note: This article contains affiliate links to Amazon.com, by clicking on links on this page and by making a purchase on the Amazon site, I might earn an affiliate income from that. The prices for laptop computers listed on this page are retrieved using Amazon Product Advertising API and are updated daily. For actual prices please refer to the product page on Amazon.

• TRIKINGLY THIN DESIGN — The redesigned MacBook Air is more portable than ever and weighs just 2.7 pounds. It’s the incredibly capable laptop that lets…

Christ The King Mount

14 September, 2022 | Churches and Monasteries | 19 seen

Christ the King Mount (Kristus Karaļa kalns) is located near the Aglona Basilica in Latgale. This place have been opened to the public in 2006.

Several large wooden sculptures depicting biblical characters can be seen here.  This is a great place to visit for pilgrims and rest.

I first visited this place back in 2010, with my latest visit here at the start of August 2022

This is a unique sculpture complex, with orchards of 650 ornamental plants. More than 120 fruit trees, with artificial ponds and two 17 m bridges. Here are located around 500 sculptures of the Biblical stories. As well as the Garden of Eden, Noah’s Ark, the wooden church. The unique sculptural complex was opened in 2006, two kilometers from the Aglona Basilica, on the shore of the lake Egles.
latgale.travel

If you happen to be in area - make sure to visit this place.

Hotel Kopola in Tskneti Review

13 September, 2022 | Hotel reviews | 15 seen

Hotel Kopola is located in Tskneti, the suburbs of Tbilisi. Kopola Hotel features an indoor pool, a green garden, and a sun terrace with sun beds. There is a bowling alley at the hotel and guests can enjoy the on-site restaurant.

I have been familiar with this place for ages, as in the past we come here for playing bowling and having some drinks.

Now, it was at the start of September 2022, we were left with no car (Sold our VW Touareg at the start of June and haven't bought a new one) and decided to take an easy weekend trip to a nearby place with a swimming pool, that's how Kopola hotel made it again on our list.  As we enjoy Genius discount on Booking, we paid about GEL 130 for a one-night stay in a Family room.  The price without discount was about GEL 170. 

Decent 4-star hotel, bit outdated, but for the price we paid - I would say a vaue deal.

The rooms of Kopala Tskneti Hotel include air conditioning, satellite TV and a minibar. All rooms have a private bathroom. There is also a spa bath in some rooms.

This place reminded me but of Keizarmezs in Riga. The place is good, but its golden days have been…

How To Prepare Traditional Borscht Soup at Home

8 September, 2022 | Food blogger | 19 seen

Borscht is a sour soup common in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. In English, the word "borscht" is most often associated with the soup's variant of Ukrainian origin, made with red beetroots as one of the main ingredients, which give the dish its distinctive red color. The same name, however, is also used for a wide selection of sour-tasting soups without beetroots, such as sorrel-based green borscht, rye-based white borscht, and cabbage borscht.

In today's Food Blogger series I will share my way of preparing traditional red beetroot borscht at home. For the truth's sake, it was my borscht soup I made, but once you know the trick of how to prepare soups, the rest is just a matter of ingredients.

Ingredients I will use today: 3 beetroots, 1 potato, 1/4 cabbage, carrots, onion, salt, vinegar (optional), greens, garlic

Cooking directions: Boil beetroots for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, then rinse them under running cold water for about 5-10 minutes (that will make beetroot soft). Chop onions and carrots, fry them in the same pot you are going to boil the sup. Grate the beetroot and put it in the pot with some 2 liters of water. Cut cabbage, potato, and…

Coffeeshop Company Tbilisi

6 September, 2022 | Restaurant reviews | 28 seen

Coffeeshop Company is located on Mosashvili street 11 in Tbilisi and despite the interesting name - they actually serve nice brunch menus here and of course some coffee. 

Discovered by chance, when looking for brunch menus. As this place is located close to my partner's office in Vake, I think we might return here more frequently for brunch and not only.

The name sounds bit fishy, more like a tag, but why not?! The otjer question that arrises - how long this place is going to be in business? Probably not very long, some other brand will come, but meantime..

Here is our brunch menu for 2 persons at GEL 40 (without tax). Quite good offer - salmon, bread, two juices, two coffees (at your choice)

Good place, with good brunch menu. I wish this place stay in the business for years to come.

Notes from Tbilisi: Trading German Energy stocks, Dealing with Binance to transfer BUSD to Coinbase

5 September, 2022 | Living in Georgia | 6 seen

Greeting from Tbilisi. The weather is hot, air conditioners are running, but the autumn winds are also present. 

This morning I was looking at two European Stocks to trade options with Dutch ING bank or German E.ON. It turned out a holiday in the US (at least on the stock exchange), where Labourš day was observed, and the European market opened lower. Both ING and EON fell by more than 2% and I thought this is an opportunity.

Decided to test the waters with German E.ON and sold one put option with a September 16 expiry and strike price of EUR 8.4. Premium received EUR 18

With European stocks opening lower decided to write puts against German multinational energy and gas company E.ON. if expires worthless 2.14% potential income in about 12 days. If assigned - break even EUR 8.23. Wondering if is it already priced in or if we are set for even lower lows.

For the rest of the day, I wanted to do some blog writing, but then my fiancee called me and asked if could I assist her in opening a business account at the TBC bank office." So I left my work and rushed to rescue. When visiting the TBC main branch on Marjanishvili street,  we were…

Nida Pebble Beach

2 September, 2022 | Tourism objects | 19 seen

Nida Pebble beach is the most Southern public beach of Latvia located on the Baltic sea shores just 1 km from the Lithuanian border.

The pebble beach is quite uncharacteristic for a typical Latvian seaside beach and that already a good reason to visit it. 

In fact the pebbles are hardly visible but still.

There are plenty of smaller stones, so some can build some art. \on the other hand, there are plenty of pebbles in the sea. A good foot massage guaranteed. 

The sign is saying - 1km to the border (Latvia/Lithuania)

It is said that Nida pebble beach is a protected area with a total area of 37.1 sqm. Milk quartz pebbles can be found at the beach.

Really authentic and inspiring place. If you happen to be in this area, make sure to visit. 

Cafe Somersēta in Aglona

1 September, 2022 | Restaurant reviews | 25 seen

Cafe Somersēta is located on Somersētas street in Aglona town, the region of Latgale in Latvia. We discovered this place by a chance shortly before visiting the famous catholic cathedral in Aglona.

It seems the place is very popular among tourists, as during our meal time here, we mostly met tourists from all over the World. Well, we visited this place at the start of August 2022, I wonder what happens in the offseason.

Anyhow, this place serves traditional Latvian / Latgalian cuisine for a very reasonable price. Tastes good and looks like some British pub.

They have a seperate kids corner and very delicous food. If you happen to be in area, give it a try!