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Svetiskhoveli cathedral in Mtskheta
Svetitskhoveli Cathedral is an another must have tourist attraction site not to miss when traveling to Georgia. Located in historical and picturesque town of Mtskheta some 20 km from nation's capital Tbilisi. It is the second largest church building in the country, after the Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi (Sameba), and is listed as an UNESCO World Heritage Site along with other historical monuments of Mtskheta…
Plaza Hotel in Batumi
Are you looking for a budget friendly hotel in Batumi? I can highly recommend one - Plaza hotel, located next to the Batumi bay. Plaza Hotel is located close to Batumi Port and in very short distance from city center. We booked Plaza hotel using local Georgian coupon site - hotsale.ge and got a lovely room with balcony and access to the Olympic swimming pool for just 50 GEL per night (with breakfast included). We stayed here…
Meet the New Roof (Pictures Before and After)
Yesterday we told Goodbye's to our old roof by setting up a large bonfire. Today we are saying hi to the new roof. Although officially major roof works were done a few days before - today is the day when final images of new roofing appear. We still have some unfinished roof related works to do, but the final roof construction is here. To make a better understanding what's going out - see before and after. What we got (before) Moss…
How to Make Traditional Italian Pizza
An Italian pizza was the reason for our latest travels to Italy, it was at the start of November 2015, I was kneading dough for pizza, when my beloved told me - hey, we should visit Italy and try real Italian Pizza. So we did - we spent about a week in Italy, traveling a lot and trying real Italian cuisine. Speaking of Italian pizza in Italy, here is the craziest pizza topped with a lot of prosciutto I ever have tried - …
Vake Park in Tbilisi
Nestled in the Vake district of Tbilisi, Georgia, lies a historic recreational area known as Vake Park. Since its opening to the public in 1946, the park has undergone numerous transformations, becoming a popular destination for both ex-pats and locals. Visitors can enjoy various free and paid kids playgrounds, carousels, ice cream shops, upper-end restaurants, and cafes located near the park. Vake Park is home to significant landmarks,…
Fire, Water, Burn - Goodbye Old Roof!
It was time to make a bonfire and burn wood shingle (what use to be a roof cover). At the end of Summer (2015) our bonfire place ready to be set on fire, also it was very large. I still decided to wait for a rainy day, to minimize fire risks. I negotiated with our construction worker, who turned out to be a semiprofessional industrial burner (10 years in forestry), called to the local fire station and asked for permission,…
Building a Dog house
Recently we inherited not only a bad managed rural house, but also got a German shepherd dog Bob. I have posted a lot about our home remodeling works, and in one article you can see Bob. Bob is very scared dog, he doesn't trust people, as his owner passed away, he haven't approached any people, even me. After a summer spent in our rural house, the best we could achieve - Bob laying in front of house and observing us. We feed Bob…
Otium Restaurant in Tbilisi
Otium restaurant is a very stylish, but what's interesting not at all expensive venue, located in neighborhood of Vake in Tbilisi (uphill on the Turtle lake road). I have dozen of times passed by this restaurant during some of mine hiking trips around here (See: Hiking in Tbilisi - Turtle lake (Kus Tba) - Vake Park) but I always refused to visit it, because I thought it should be out of my league (all those SUV cars parked in…
The Roof Works are Done (Almost)
That August, 2015 day was a huge day - we finished roof covering works in our rural country house. It took us about a month as we launched roofing works, and it will take us few more days to complete roofing completely. I didn't photographed today much, or day before (when most covering were done), in fact I didn't photographed at all, my better part did. Here is what we got: Almost done here Just three more roof plates (int total for…
Aerial photos from rooftop
Today we continued covering roof with metal plates, in a short break I took my DSRL camera a top on the roof and made some aerial photos. You won't get here views as nice as you could get from Tbilisi or Batumi aerial trams, but taking into consideration that we are speaking of an old rural house - these views are as much great. Roof masters a top on the roof (Edgars and Guntars) Aerial view to our veggie garden Few months ago we planted…
Intelligentsia Coffee Bar Tbilisi
I have spent countless hours at Intelligentsia Coffee Bar near Turtle lake in Tbilisi - this place has been my offsite office in hot Summer days (see: Turtle lake - my working place for today) or starting point before taking a hike (see: Hiking in Tbilisi - Turtle lake (Kus Tba) - Vake Park) As the name of this place stats - it's a coffee bar, but you can order delicious meal here as well, starting Panini ending French fries…
Azerbaijani Restaurant Agha in Tbilisi
Azerbaijani cuisine restaurant Agha is located near Heroes square (access is from the Circus side) in Tbilisi. After a meal here - I'm already planing my next trip to the land of fire - Azerbaijan. At this restaurant I tried something new for me - Dushbara soup, piti soup and veal saji on Fire. Lately I have tried a lot new non-Georgian cuisine places in Tbilisi, see Turkish restaurant Karabak, Chinese restaurant Dzin Chao…
Roof Works, Part 6 - Finishing lathing and adding first plates of metal roof
Today was a big day, we managed not only to finish lathing works, covered roof with cross wind sheet but actually installed two plates of metal roof. Today was a very long working day also, by now I feel excelled a lot if roof works and home renovation. We started early in the morning (around 7:30 AM) as I knew this will be a very long day, and I really wanted to start cover roof with metal plates. Construction workers stretching cross…
Dzin Chao Chinese Restaurant in Tbilisi
Dzin Chao is among my latest discoveries from Tbilisi restaurants. I discovered it after paid a visit to Tbilisi zoo, its actually located just at the front of entrance into Zoo. Now I know at least three Chinese restaurants in Tbilisi, see: Oriental Pearl and New Asia Dzin Chao restaurant interior Spacious premises, I believe you can throw your next meeting with pals here with ease. As a pleasant surprise we got a gift - a large…
Tbilisi Zoo
Tbilisi has many cool tourist attraction sites, but there is one, which is rarely mentioned in official guides or Tbilisi reviews - meet the hidden pearl of nations capital - Tbilisi Zoo. On the other hand worldwide coverage Tbilisi Zoo got after Tbilisi floods on 14 June 2015, leaving many animals dead or on the loose. See: Zoo animals on the loose and deaths feared after Georgia floods Tbilisi Zoo is located in the …
About FireFly Car Rental in Italy
Searching for a budget friendly car rental in Italy? Look no more - I can highly suggest FireFly car rental. We used Firefly during our recent week long trip in Italy, prior to that I have used FireFly Spain (see: My Spain and Andorra Travel guide). We booked our economy Volkswagen Polo car online and picked it up at Milan-Malpensa airport (you must call to FireFly office upon arrival, after then they will send a shuttle bus…
Kiwi Vegan Cafe Tbilisi
Kiwi is a vegan non-profit community cafe located on Vertskli street 41, in Tbilisi Old Town. It is stated that all of their proceedings are donated to good causes related to animal rights. Kiwi provides a free social meeting space for organizations who are working for important change in the society, events can be arranged. Kiwi vegan cafe is the second socially responsible cafe I have found so far in Tbilisi (I don't…
Unloading Few Tonnes of Sand from Loft
For a minute it seemed that all major removal, junk unloading and demolishing works are over, but then I realized we still have that soil coving floor in loft. And I'm speaking of some 25 cm thick layer of soil, for some reason covered there. Few weeks ago I was still naive I hoped to remove that soil/sand from the loft without any help but myself. Yup, that was quite a naive. Now, when finally last shingles were removed it was time for…
Karabak Turkish Restaurant in Tbilisi
Karabak is very cool Turkish restaurant located on the busy Queen Tamar Aveneu (Tamar Mephe) in Tbilisi not very far from Tbilisi Railway station. When I first noticed a huge restaurant opening here on Tamar Mepe avenue, I got confused about its name - Karabak. My first thought was they are naming restaurant after Nagorno-Karabakh unrecognized Republic. Turns out (as I was told) it's not related to disputed land between…
Art Cafe Kamara
Art Cafe Kamara is a social enterprise art cafe which employs rehabilitated persons from different addicts, at least I was told so when first visited this place. Funded by the Swiss Government, this social enterprise art cafe is located at the foothills of Tbilisi Botanical garden in the Old Town. Art cafe Kamara Being uninformed about this places social activities, we at start thought - just another art cafe, which wont…
Hotel Best Western Modena District, Italy
Best Western Modena District hotel was our last hotel in Italy during our week long travels across the country. This Best Western hotel is a 5-minute drive from the Campogalliano exit of the A22 Motorway, 10 km from Modena. The property offers a gym, and free outdoor parking. At check in I asked can they give us a smokers room, the receptionist lady told they have a lovely, large smokers room, which is designed for disabled persons, we…
Modena Town Hall
Looking for free toursit attraction sites in Italian town of Modena? You might visit Modena Town Hall. Facing the Piazza Grande (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), the Town Hall of Modena was put together in the 17th and 18th centuries from several pre-existing edifices built from 1046 as municipal offices. Modena Town Hall, Italy It is characterized by a Clock Tower (Torre dell'Orologio, late 15th century), once paired with another…
Tartine Brasserie - French Restaurant in Tbilisi
Tartine Brasserie is one of the rare places in Tbilisi where brunch is served in weekends. I have been in research for perfect breakfast restaurant in Tbilisi for past couple of weeks already, last week I tried so called breakfast menu at Barbarestan - Wine Shop and Restaurant in Tbilisi it didn't worked well. So another Saturday morning - another Tbilisi restaurant. Located in the heart of Tbilisi Old Town, this place have been on my…
Pruning trees and shrubs
One of my biggest challenges last summer was unstoppable fight with grass (see: Lawn Mowing), not to mention larger scale works on roof replacement. But there was another major issue we faced - overgrown bushes and totally deprived landscape. When dealing with trees and shrubs it's not only about landscape, but also about their health. You want healthy landscape right? Now, we had a really deprival and unhealthy landscape in our backyard…