Latvia

Summer in Latvia 2021

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Summer in Latvia 2021 or this is how we spent an awesome one month in Latvia.

From getting a vaccine at Akropolis shopping mall in Riga to wild beaches near Pape.

From a wooden boat in Pāvilosta to yacht in Ķīšezers.

Made a ton of hyper lapses, ate a ton of birthday cakes, and more. Enjoy the video!

Digital Photography School

How To add Pixelate effect Adobe Premiere Pro

Recently I faced an issue with a video uploaded to YouTube, the video featured parts that needed to be removed or pixelated. After a quick google search I found this awesome video tutorial, and here is how:

From the Effects panel search for 'mosaic' - > choose from Stylize and apply Mosaic to all clip



If you are looking to pixelate just a part of the video, say a face or body, from the effect Control window, under the Mosaic, select oval…

Latvia

Hotel Butterfly House in Pāvilosta

Set some 3 km from the city center of Pāvilosta  Butterfly House offers accommodation with free WiFi, BBQ facilities, a garden, and free private parking.

We booked this place for a 2-night stay in mid-July and paid EUR 266. We chose this hotel as we were looking for some nice place to stay and throw a birthday party for our 3-year-old daughter. It seems we booked the most spacious room, some 100m2 and were able to accomodate…

Latvia

Guest house Otrā Elpa in Valka

Otrā Elpa is located in the center of Valka. Guests are welcome to use free Wi-Fi in all areas of this property.

I have stayed in this hotel a few times, and last time did it so back in the mid-July 2021, when had a quick trip to Valka and nearby area


Decorated in light colours, all rooms here will provide you with cable TV and a table. Private bathrooms also come with a shower.

For a stay here with some hearty brekfast I paid about EUR 50…

Georgia

Kazbegi trip / Offroad version

I've been traveling to Kazbegi and the region several times, but just recently I started discovering other cool places like Juta or Truso valley.

It was at the end of July 2021 we just returned from Latvia, when an ex-pat German friend offered to take an easy weekend trip to Kazbegi together. As we had done the Vashlovani trip together a few weeks earlier I agreed. We installed our baby's child seat in his Nissan Xtra SUV car and the trip…

Georgia

Gveleti Small Waterfalls

Gveleti waterfalls are located in the region of  Kazbegi region near the small village Gveleti.

Outdoor lovers and hikers will enjoy this little waterfall a lot .

I first discovered this place at the end of July 2021, during a weekend trip to Kazbegi. As we were driving with a 4x4 SUV car, we drove most of the unpaved road to the waterfall and left our car parked some 30-minute walk from the waterfall. 

 The path to the…

Georgia

Terek Valley Viewpoint

Terek Valley viewpoint is located along the Georgian military road, close to the border with Russia. Maybe not as impressive as Georgia - Russia Friendship monument located near the Gudauri, still, if you happen to be in this area of the world, give it a try, views are still quite spectacular.

There is a little altar of sacrifice built at the viewpoint

At the start I mistakenly thought this is a Darial gorge, just later thanks to the drone's…

Latvia

Andrejsala

Andrejsala is an area located in the Pētersala-Andrejsala neighborhood of Riga, Latvia within a former territory of an industrial port next to the city center.

Andrejsala is a chich, urban place to visit. 

It is currently developed into a significant art, culture, and entertainment center featuring exhibition halls, clubs, workshops, studios, a cafe, and a hotel.

As the Riga passenger port is in a close proximity, Andrejsala is popular…

Living in Georgia

Kazbegi Trip 2021

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Kazbegi trip - or searching for hot pools at Truso Valley, wandering at Darial gorge near the Georgian - Russian border, reaching Gveleti waterfall, walk in the clouds at Gergeti..

and of course a lot of offroad driving. Thanks, Ralph Schmidt and Rosemarie Rivera for making this trip happen.

July 24-25, 2021

Georgia

About Tbilisi - Batumi Flight by Vanilla Sky

At the end of May 2021, we traveled Tbilisi - Batumi (and back) for the first time with an airplane. And let me say  - this is the best option to travel between these two Georgian cities. In the past, I've tried a train, marshrutka, and private vehicle.Flight is only 50 minutes and you don't feel tired not at all. i first hear about Vanilla Sky (back then it was called Service air) back in the Summer of 2014, when planned a trip to Mestia,…

Latvia

Ērģeme Castle Ruins

Ērģeme castle is located in the parish of Ērģeme, Valka county, some 170 km north from the capital of Riga.

Ērģeme castle served as a powerful fortress for the protection of the Livonian Holy Order eastern border and as a castle-front for the Cēsis castle of the Livonian Holy Order master. The castle was mentioned in 1422 but it was built already around year 1320 under the ordinance of the Order master Gerhard von Jocke. Masters used castle as…

Stocks

SEB-Active 3rd Pillar Pension Plan Review 2021

I opted for a 3rd pension pillar pension plan at SEB bank Latvia back in May 2019. I've been saving additional funds for old age for already two years. Time flies. On the day, when I opted to save for old age,  my dad turned 65. Kind of average age in Latvia for retirement. I started small, saving EUR 33/mo for the first four-month, then increased it to EUR 43/mo for the next 4 months, and again…

Georgia

Truso Valley

 Truso Valley is known for its mineral water springs, white/yellow travertines, mineral lake with bubbles, towers of middle ages, -most notably Zakagori castle, villages on a very high altitude such as Resi (2350m), tasty cheese and Ossetian Khabidzginas (khachapuri with cheese and potatoes) and nice people.

I first visited this area during a weekend trip to Kazbegi (Stepatsminda) at the end oh July 2021.  To get there, we took a left…

Latvia

Laidi manor / Valtaiķi church / Rudbārži manor

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November has started with some cool 4K cinematic drone videography at Laidi manor / Valtaiķi church / Rudbārži manor.

All places are great and highly recommended to visit, all places share some great history, starting Baltic - German nobleman Manteuffel at Laidi Manor, or some of the most beautiful stained glass windows in Latvia at Valtaiķu church, made in Italy at the beginning of the 20th century according to sketches by Vilhelms Purvītis.…

Crypto

My RSI+STOCH Stategy Settings for Trality Crypto Trading bot XLM, ADA

In this article, I will share details on how I configured Trality crypto trading bot for trading ADA and XLM coins with RSI and STOCH indicators

This is my algo trading bot I originally launched in mid-May 2021, by setting it up to sell EUR-XLM pair based on RSI strategy, bit latter I added ADA coin to this setup, but then I noticed that bot has used all buying power to purchase only ADA coins, which is not what I actually…

Crypto

Backtesting BTC-EUR RSI Strategy with Trality

For the past couple of days, I've been testing Trality crypto trading bot a lot, executing a few trades.  I must say - I feel very impressed with what this bot can do, if you are new to Trality, see my brief review here: Simple Crypto Trading Bot From Trality

As I like testing and implementing ideas, in today's article I'm going to talk about the Relative Strength Index (RSI) and its usage in crypto…

Georgia

Khertvisi Fortress

Khertvisi fortress is one of the oldest fortresses in Georgia and was functional throughout the Georgian feudal period. It is situated in Khertvisi village of Aspindza Municipality, Southern Georgia, in Meskheti region. The fortress was first mentioned in the 10th-11th centuries.The church was built in 985, and the present walls were built in 1354. According to a local legend, Khertvisi was once destroyed by…

Living in Georgia

Orbeliani square Tbilisi

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Autumn feeling or fun with a drone near Oberliani square / Alexander Garden in Tbilisi. (The former and famous Hotel 'London' is located in this area) Music by David Hilowitz - Equilibrium I Cello version

Georgia

Salty Garden Tavern in Mlashe

Salty Garden Tavern is an awesome place located in Mlashe village, some 60 km from the nation's capital Tbilisi near the Bazaleti lakeWe discovered this place at the end of May 2021 and were surprised to learn that the owner of the tavern - David speaks some Latvian.Mlashe villageOur mission is to support the development of our village Mlashe, protection of its ecosystem. Salty Garden provides working places to local people, therefore they…

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