Georgia

There is a good reason to visit Georgian skiing resorts in Gudauri, Bakuriani or Mestia if you are up to a winter holidays in Georgia. See: Gudauri - Georgian Winter Capital for skiing, snowboarding, paragliding and heli-skiing On the other hand, here at Piece of Life series, we love to feature and document photo stories happening around us. A simple thing like a snow in Tbilisi (which is rare, actually) or Total Lunar Eclipse makes us to leave our cozy apartment and go out and document.  A…

Average salary in the Republic of Georgia at the end of the second quarter (Q2) of 2016 was GEL 1035.98 equaling about USD 389. For the simplicity of further written and calculated, here is the exchange rates I used from Bank of Georgia website on December 14, 2016. USD to GEL: 2.6599 EUR to GEL: 2.8222 If measuring in actual increase that is a huge increase by more than GEL 200 from GEL 773 in 2013. If converted to US dollars that is a drop from $442 in 2013. The truth, as I believe, is…

The Katskhi pillar is a natural limestone monolith located at the village of Katskhi in western Georgian region of Imereti, near the town of Chiatura. It is approximately 40 metres (130 ft) high, and overlooks the small river valley of Katskhura, a right affluent of the Q'virila. If you have seen those amazing video clips about Georgia, you have most probably noticed this interesting object at some of them. It took me more than five years since I have been living in Georgia to actually visit…

Samtavisi is an eleventh-century Georgian Orthodox cathedral in eastern Georgia, in the region of Shida Kartli, some 45km from the nation’s capital Tbilisi. The cathedral is now one of the centers of the Eparchy of Samtavisi and Gori of the Georgian Orthodox Church. We discovered this church during our recent trip to town of Chiatura. My driver told me, this church seems to him as a copy of Kashveti church in Tbilisi. Although, recently Mikheil contacted me and told following: Actually, it…

Bulachauri restaurant probably is the restaurant I have visited the most - unfortunately I have never paid attention to the name of this place - I always know, that's that restaurant we always take meals when hiring our driver for trips to region of Mtskheta-Mtianeti. Probably this is our driver's most favorite dining place.  I wanted to change this and ad this restaurant to the blog - so last time I visited this place I paid very much attention to remember the name of this place- here you go…

The Bazaleti Lake is a lake in eastern Georgia some 60 km northwest of the nation's capital Tbilisi and 5 km south of the town of Dusheti. It is used for fish culture, irrigation, and recreation. The nearby village and the historical district around the lake are also known as Bazaleti. I had heard about Bazaleti lake before and thought there are some recreational facilities built around it. In fact, kind of, there are some buildings and even some restaurants. Thus when I first visited it,…

Vazha Pshavela house museum in Chargali features objects connected with life and work of well-known Georgian son and poet Vazha-Pshavela (1861-1915). Various publications of poet's works, paintings, graphics, sculptures and photographs are featured here. What makes this place important? Not to mention that Vazha Pshavela is one of the well-known Georgian poets (obliviously) - The Big Head in the front of entrance of this museum. The Big Head - Sculpture of Vazha Pshavela  Vazha Pshavela…

During my long stay in Georgia I have documented a lot of Tbilisi restaurants, Georgian hotels, even museums, but little to nothing I have covered about wilderness in Georgia. Wilderness, in fact, makes this country among the most beautiful countries in the world. Georgia is literally surrounded by wilderness, mountains, rivers, and a shepherd forcing his sheep from one mountain meadow to other (most probably crossing Georgian military road).  In today's Piece of Life series a little…

Ujarma  is a medieval Georgian fortress in the Kakheti region, located some 45 km east from the nation's capital Tbilisi. It's believed than in the second half of the 5th century, famous Vakhtang Gorgasali (founder of Tbilisi) erected numerous buildings in Ujarma and moved his residence there. After Vakhtang’s death, his heir Dachi was ruling Kakheti for some period from here. In the 10th century, Ujarma was destroyed by Arabian forces of Abul Kassim. In the 13th century, the fortress was…

Iosebis Duqani is just another cool roadside cafeteria, located near village of Sasadilo, in Mtskheta-Tianeti region, Georgia.  Often readers of my blog are familiar on my passion on roadside cafeterias, in most cases they are just excellent. It' s not that I have visited this place for the first time (as I did it actually already in 2011), it is just the first time I'm featuring it on blog. The most fun fact about this place, is not this place at all, but the fact - I had to spend more than…