Turkey

Sultan Ahmed Mosque

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque  is a historic mosque located in Istanbul, Turkey. A popular tourist site, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque continues to function as a mosque today; men still kneel in prayer on the mosque's lush red carpet after the call to prayer.The Blue Mosque, as it is popularly known, was constructed between 1609 and 1616 during the rule of Ahmed I. Its Külliye contains Ahmed's tomb, a…

Summer Solstice 2017

This is already fourth Summer Solstice featured on this blog. see how three years ago we made a barbeque on our Tbilisi's balcony and how we celebrated our first Summer Solstice in our newly inherited house two years ago. Also compare how did it go last year. This year we celebrated Summer Solstice already for the third time at our rural country house, see home remodeling. This year it was just us two and cats. Nothing…

Latvia

Abava Rumba Waterfall

Abava Rumba is the second widest waterfall in Latvia (after Venta Rumba) ,up to 1 m high and 35 m wide.I had a chance to visit it and spend some hour in lovely photography session at the end of May 2017, just after our Germany trip in the Mossel Valley. There is a camping area located just next to the rapid. Abava Rumba in LatviaI find such places tranquil and quite inspiring for my photography. Hiking trek near Abava RumbaAs an…

Germany

3 day leisure trip to Germany (The Mossel Valley)

This is a round up post about our latest travel to Germany, at the end of May 2017. Our trip started at Dortmund airport, were we got a nice Nissan X-trail rental car from Hertz (about EUR 250 for 4 days).

Although I've traveled to Germany countless times in the past, this is just third recap featured on blog, in fact about 2 years ago we made a similar trip to Germany but extended it it by visiting the Netherlands, see: My Germany…

Postcards from Germany

Welcome to another Piece of Life postcards from series. In today's article - Germany. We traveled to Germany for about 3 days at the end of May 2017. 

I was not at all in photography this time, but still managed to capture some cool sceneries.



Sunset in Gudenberg, Germany

One of rare HDR's I made during this trip. Folks interested in such an interesting architecture, make sure you plan your travels to the region of Hesse in Germany…

Germany

Hotel Monopol in Gelsenkirchen, Germany

This 3-star hotel offers comfortable accommodation in Gelsenkirchen's northern Buer district. It is 3 km from the Veltins Arena and 1 km from Gelsenkirchen-Buer Nord train station. Hotel Monopol was our last accommodations while in Germany for a short few day trip, unfortunately I was not in the photography mood and didn't made much photos in the past days and almost forgot to photograph this hotel. In fact I captured just the entrance…

Germany

Haus Daniela Superior Apartment in Cochem, Germany

I now have pretty ambivalent feelings regarding booking apartments instead of hotel rooms. Despite my feelings, Haus Daniela was a really nice stay in Cochem. For this spacious apartment we paid about EUR 200 for a one night stay, but it featured 3 bedrooms, a huge outdoor terrace with an electrical grill and very well equipped kitchen.Offering free WiFi and a sun terrace, Haus Daniela Superior is set in Cochem. Cochem Castle is 400 m away. Free…

Germany

Cochem Imperial castle

The contours of the neo-gothic building rise more than about 330 ft above the river Moselle on an outstanding hill. The silhouette of the towering hill seems to continue in the building which is topped by the slate roof of the massive keep. As for its structure, Cochem Castle belongs to the category of castles protected by height that had to be protected all around. Romanesque fragments found in the well indicate a reinforcement of the castle…

Germany

Eltz Castle

Eltz Castle (German: Burg Eltz) is a medieval castle nestled in the hills above the Moselle River between Koblenz and Trier, Germany. It is still owned by a branch of the same family (the Eltz family) that lived there in the 12th century, 33 generations ago. Bürresheim Castle (Schloss Bürresheim), Eltz Castle and Lissingen Castle are the only castles on the left bank…

Germany

Monastery of Maria Engelport

The monastery of Maria Engelport (Kloster Maria Engelport) is located on the edge of the Hunsrück in the Flaumbach Valley near Treis-Karden, Germany. We made here a briefly stop while traveling by car around these parts of Germany, it was overcast day, I was not in the mood for photography, just made some quick shots.Kloster Maria EngelportThe following written is a rough translation from German using…

Greece

Planing a trip to Greece: How to get a Prepaid SIM Card with Internet

I traveled to Greece for about 2 weeks in June 2017, our final destination was island of Crete. One of the reasons I was looking for prepaid sim card in Greece is simple - for navigation (Google maps helps a lot).

From my previous experience with dealing with different sim cards in multiple European countries I already knew, it shouldn't be a problem to get one in Greece.

Planing a Trip to Spain: How to Get a Prepaid SIM Card in Spain

I…

Germany

Porta Nigra in Trier

The Porta Nigra (Latin for black gate) is a large Roman city gate in Trier, Germany. It is today the largest Roman city gate north of the Alps. It is designated as part of the Roman Monuments, Cathedral of St. Peter and Church of Our Lady in Trier UNESCO World Heritage Site.I first visited Trier and in particular Porta Nigra back in 2005, when arrived here from neighboring Luxembourg. My…

Georgia

Weekend trip to Telavi (Georgia) and Vicinty

This is a short recap article about our latest trip to the region of Kakheti in Western Georgia, during a weekend trip we stayed in a lovely Chataeu Mere hotel near Telavi and explored the nearby vicinity.

We did this trip as indie travelers, first booked a hotel room, then contacted the hotel and asked for transfer service from our Tbilisi apartment to the hotel (and back). For such transfer, we paid GEL 70 (one way).

Once at the hotel (which…

Latvia

Peter's Market in Liepaja

Peter's market is centrally located on Kuršu street in Liepāja, Latvia. There are more than 200 sales outlets. It's the largest market in Liepaja and second largest in Latvia (after Riga Central market). Make sure to visit Peter's market once in Liepāja. Although not so impressive than those in Philadelphia, Barcelona or Riga, it's still quite interesting place. I believe over the time Peter's market has potential to become one of the…

Latvia

Sunset hotel in Jurmala

I now have a great selection of Jurmala hotels, in todays article the latest addition - Hotel Sunset on Pilsonu street in Jurmala. When traveling to or from Riga and looking for a cheap stay I prefer Jurmala (as it's close to Riga) or some suburbs in Riga. Although some might think Jurmala is an expensive city  in fact - it's not. For a decent hotel room in Jurmala you could easly find value deals for about EUR 40. That's how we booked…

Drupal & Servers

Drupal 8 Minor upgrade using Putty SSH Terminal

In this article I'll shed some light on how easy it is to perform a minor Drupal 8 upgrade between versions using free Putty SSH terminal and just a few lines of code. 

I assume your Drupal is configured under a VPS (take Linode, for example) and your installation path is /srv/www/

See: How to upgrade Drupal 6 to Drupal 7 - Process , Upgrading Drupal 7 (minor upgrade)



Drupal security updates

By accessing available…

Postcards from Telavi

It was on an overcast day, we decided to leave our cozy room at Chateau Mere hotel and go explore Telavi. I've been to Telavi several times, and I always thought there is nothing much to see, except the Telavi market or try khinkali at Kafe - Bari Zodiako. Turns out I was wrong - Telavi has to offer much more.

At hotel reception desk we asked for a city taxi to arrive and pick us up and just drive and explore nearby vicinity. The result -…

Germany

Apartment Alte Pfarre in Gudensberg, Germany

Alte Pfarre Gudensberg offers pet-friendly accommodation in a historical timbered house in Gudensberg, 17 km from Kassel and 42 km from Bad Hersfeld. The unit is 18 km from Bad Wildungen. Free private parking is available on site.After a visit to this place we have agreed, let's include such apartments in our future travel plans instead of just simple hotel rooms. Stay at apartments gives much better local touch. We booked Alte …

Investing

May 2017 Dividend Income Report - $65.45

There are two financial goals I'm looking to achieve. The short term goal is to earn from dividend paying stocks more than $100/mo by February 2018. The long tern goal -  to land 1 million dollars in my savings account by the time I will turn 60 (that's in 2045).I started my wealth building adventure (portfolio) January 2017 with goal to invest $8,561 this year in several batches. Now, five months latter I'm publishing my…

Latvia

Cafe - Hotel Kandava

Kandava is a small but lovely town in the Western Latvia. I haven't been here many times, just some 3-4, but I really enjoy these small and tranquil Latvian towns. We were just driving around Latvia and around meal time discovered we are in Kandava.In the city center on Sabiles street we found a lovely cafeteria with clear name - Kandava.Turns out there is both cafe and hotel available at this place. Probably next time when in Kandava, a hotel…

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