Q2 2016 Blog Traffic & Online Income - 133,939 Users / $3,034.76

30 July, 2016 | Blogging | 8 seen

Welcome to the second quarterly traffic and income report for Q2 2016( April, May and June) . Make sure you check out previous quarter report or go thought the income report archives starting 2014. 

If you are new here - I have been collecting and sharing data for my online success or failures since January 2014, back then my blog was 3 month old and I decided to start online experiment - can someone actually make money through blogging? Now, I know it for sure - yes, you can, but it takes a time and determination. These online income reports helps me to track my success or failures, and hopefully can inspire you as well.

Blog traffic for the past quarter has been pretty steady. By now each month my blog gets about 45,000 monthly users, compared with previous quarter it is a small dip by -3.09%. 

Blog traffic Q2 2016

I wouldn't say that I'm satisfied getting more than 130,000 users to blog in three months right now, as it is well bellow my overall goals for 2016. In my 2015 year review…

How I grew my blog to 1 million Pageviews in 34 months

28 July, 2016 | Blogging | 14 seen

It took me 34 months or almost 3 years to get to the 1 million page views milestone. In this article I will reveal 3 simple tactics (no tricks here) how I achieved it.

I took the title and inspiration for this post from Chris Lema article: How I grew my blog to 1 million pageviews in 18 months (without tricks)

1 million pageviews

Now I can read with a smile my previous milestone - 10,000 users in 10 months. A lot of has changed since then, but here are things that don't. 

Pond Digging - Part 1

27 July, 2016 | Home Remodeling | 11 seen

Today come with a huge surprise, we were not on site, when a pond digger called and informed - we are heading toward your house to clean (dig) your pond.

The thing is, we negotiated with pond guys such tasks a few week ago, but didn't agree on terms. Huge was our surprise when arrived on site we saw following:

Freshly dug pond

Well, not completely, pond guys called me and informed me, tey couldn't finish works today as they need to pump of the water from pond.

Blue skies and a... mud

New Holland excavator 

The works will be completed in a few days, before that I (and not the pond guys will pump of all water from pond)

Peony Nursery „Ziedoņi”

24 July, 2016 | Farms | 23 seen

Peony nursery Ziedoņi is located in the Western Latvia, district of Kuldīga in Pelči village. I had a chance to visit this garden mid June 2016, at time when flowers did bloom.

I wouldn't call this a little Latvian Keukenhof, but some great impressions some could get here. In fact more than flowers I actually enjoyed a short conversation with husband of the garden owner and we were talking about grass mowing.

Peony display garden

In June this nursery welcomes visitors to their display garden where visitors can witness amazing variety of peony flowers. 

Peony flower

Nursery grow peonies for almost ten years and have gathered collection with over 200 varieties – tree peonies,herbaceous peonies and an itoh hybrids.

A small vineyard

Peony flower

„Ziedoņi” offers to buy plants in Autumn (August – October) and spring (April – May). Plants are delivered in European Union, by mail. See bellow for contacts.

Ziedoņi peony nursery in Latvia

Visit ziedoni.lv to learn more or follow on Facebook

Meson del Asador Restaurant review in Jerez de la Frontera

23 July, 2016 | Restaurant reviews | 25 seen

I now have a new personal favorite restaurant (with the other one been located in Izmir, Turkey - I will cover it in future, when will plan a trip to Turkey) - Meson del Asador in Jerez de la Frontera in Spain. 

We went here just shorty after checked in Hotel Exe Guadalete, located few blocks from this restaurant. At start it looked just like just another restaurant, let's say nothing special. We were brought our menus, we started to look through, nothing interesting popped out. So randomly on good luck we opted for Iberian steak mix. As well we had red that Jerez is a famous of it's sherry making traditions, and Jerez de la Frontera might be actually even the birthplace of sherry, thus some argue that it originated in Shiraz, Persia. We ordered a glass of fino sherry wine to give it a try.

Menu at Meson del Asador

As you can see, there are many items to choose from, which makes it even harder for restaurant visitors. After I opted for a plate of Iberian steak mix, waiter with a help of sign language (Little to no English here) showed me something, which at that moment I understood means…

Hotel Exe Guadalete in Jerez de la Frontera Review

22 July, 2016 | Hotel reviews | 14 seen

We booked hotel Exe Guadalete in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain for one night at the start of June, 2016. It's a nice, decent hotel with free parking and cozy bed. 

Right in the heart of Jerez... Is it a hotel with a convention centre or a convention centre with a hotel.

Hotel Exe Guadalete in Jerez

Set in gardens, Exe Guadalete is located in Jerez de la Frontera, 15 minutes’ drive from the Costa de la Luz. It features an outdoor swimming pool with chill-out area and free Wi-Fi.

Bedroom

The Exe Guadalete offers simple, attractive décor with wooden flooring. Each air-conditioned room has satellite TV and a minibar. The hotel‘s café-bar serves a range of light meals and snacks. Guests can enjoy a drink in the cocktail bar, or on the hotel terrace.

View through the window

Jerez is famous for its sherry and there are several sherry-making tours on offer within walking distance of the hotel. 

Huge plant of Devil's Seed at hotels parking

We paid about EUR 60 for one night stay here, in overall - decent hotel. Book online on Booking.com

Venta El Loro

21 July, 2016 | Restaurant reviews | 16 seen

Venta El Loro is a small tavern located next to the Barbate - Vejer highway, we got here randomly, just passing by. Turned out to be a nice, little tavern, where with the help of sign language (No English here), we managed to order some really delicious Iberian ham and cheese sandwiches. 

Located in the Natural Park of La Brena and marshes of Barbate, just 3.5 km from the beaches of Barbate and 5 minutes from Zahara de los Atunes.

Venta El Loro

From this beautiful place some can see the marshes of Barbate on one side and by others pinanes of La Brena. Rio Barbate establishes a system of marshes at the mouth of the utmost importance as rest area
and numerous migratory birds nested each year passing between Europe and Africa.

Flowers in Venta El Loro exterior 

Want some more flowers in the pots? Visit Estepona. 

Iberian ham sandwich

Visit ventaelloro.esy.es to learn more.

Ebb in Spain

20 July, 2016 | | 3 seen

For the first time in my lifetime I has to chance to see an ebb, or more precisely - the result of an ebb - an empty space in te place where a sea should be. That happened at the start of June, somewhere around Barbate, region of Spain.

The result of an ebb

Lonely boats after an ebb

Ebb in Spain

Zahara de los Atunes beach, Spain

19 July, 2016 | Tourism objects | 12 seen

This year our trip in Spain took us to many beaches, and so in today's article, meet another excellent beach - Zahara de los Atunes beach near Barbate. 

Our today's root started at La Codorniz hotel near Tarifa, followed by visiting Bolonia beach and Duna de Bolonia and most probably will end somewhere in the city of Jerez (thus, we didn't know that yet)

Zahara de los Atunes is a village on the Costa de la Luz of Spain in the province of Cádiz and the autonomous region of Andalusia. It is noted for its excellent beaches, an outdoor cinema, and la Iglesia Del Carmen church where, curiously, tuna (caught in Almadraba traps) was butchered and salted. Also in the town there are excellent facilities including a variety of restaurants, cafes and hotels.

Wooden deck to the beaches

The golden sand of Playa de Zahora stretches from Playa del Palmar to the Trafalgar lighthouse at the Cabo Trafalgar. The beach is flat and rocky but protected from the strong winds in this area making it popular with those who enjoy swimming in the sea. The eastern end is very…

Sunflower fields in Andalusia, Spain

17 July, 2016 | | 16 seen

In today's Piece of Liefe series - Sunflower fields in Spain. We continued our route toward Jerez de la Frontera, when suddenly sunflower fields popped out - we had no choice left, if was time to make some panoramic from here.See what we got.

Sunflower fields in Spain

This makes a nice addition to my landscape photography collection, see Vineyards in Tuscany, for example

Sunflower fields and Wind generators

Republic Square in Yerevan

16 July, 2016 | Tourism objects | 20 seen

Republic Square in Yerevan definitely is the city's one of main landmarks and popular tourist spots. I first discovered it back at the start of January 2014, and have returned to Yerevan city since then a couple of more times. My latest visit here was in mid-March 2016. On my 29th birthday (back in 2014) had a chance to spend a lovely evening near Dancing Fountains, see: Celebrating Birthday in Yerevan, Armenia

The Republic Square is the large central town square in Yerevan, Armenia. It is intersected by the streets of Abovyan, Nalbandyan, Tigran Mets Avenue, Vazgen Sargsyan, and Amiryan.

The Republic Square

The square was designed by architect Alexander Tamanian within the 1924 main plan of Yerevan city. The construction of the square started in 1926, replacing the previous square. The first phase of the construction was completed in 1929. It was further developed until 1952 and finally completed in 1958.

General view of the Republic Square in Yerevan

During Soviet era  the square was known as Lenin Square. The statue of the Soviet leader Vladimir…

Life Expectancy in European Union 2015

15 July, 2016 | Macroeconomics | 68 seen

In today's article - Life expectancy in European Union (EU). 

Life expectancy equals the average number of years a person born in a given country expected to live if mortality rates at each age were to remain steady in the future. In following table I have listed the life expectancy separately for males and females, as well as a combined figure in EU in year 2015.

There was an average life expectancy in EU of 79.6 years for both female and male. With higher life expectancy for females (82.4) and lower for male (76.6). TOP 3 countries with highest life expectancy rates are Spain, Italy and Sweden.

Average Salary in European Union 2016

14 July, 2016 | Macroeconomics | 268 seen

My previous two articles about average salaries in European Union (EU) member countries turned out to be one of the most popular on the blog so far, I would even call them killer articles. 

The first post about average salary in EU for 2014 - got more than 85,000 page views; post about average salary in EU 2015 got more than 90,000 page views to the date

Update: Average Salary in European Union 2018

In today's article, I will wrap up latest data on the average salary in EU for 2016.

I wouldn't call this a scientific research, as most of the data in this article are taken from Wikipedia's article List of European countries by average wage. I have added years 2014 and 2015 from previous years and did some simple calculations in Google Sheets. I have listened to previous suggestions to extend the following table with population information for each country to get a better understanding.

2016, definitely is an interesting year for European Union, which will be remembered as the year of Brexit phenomena, when the United Kingdom in referendum decided to leave EU. Anyhow - for…

Duna de Bolonia

13 July, 2016 | Tourism objects | 30 seen

Duna de Bolonia is located in the Bolonia beach, some 20km west of Tarifa.

This dune is over 30 metres high and 200 metres wide, and stands out within the huge system of dunes to which it belongs. Located in the Bolonia Inlet, within the Estrecho Nature Park, this is one of the most unspoilt areas of the Cádiz coast, a vital natural habitat with stunning scenery.

Duna de Bolonia

The area is called "barjanal" on account of its half-moon-shaped dunes set perpendicular to the wind, with uneven slopes. It is one of the few transgressive systems in Andalusia, i.e., which are still advancing inland. Under the force of the easterly wind, it moves towards the ecologically important replanted groves of stone pine and scrub.

Wild cactus at Bolonia beach

Although some of Bolonia's sands are covered by exotic species to avoid them advancing further, the cliffs which are battered by the easterly wind have unusual vegetation such as Andalusian coastal juniper, Savin juniper and Portuguese crowberry. In more exposed areas, only Marram grass, sand couch and lotus grow.

Wooden…

Bolonia Beach near Tarifa

12 July, 2016 | Tourism objects | 12 seen

Bolonia beach or Playa Bolonia is located on the shores of Atlantic Ocean some 20 km west of Tarifa. We got here at the start of June, 2016 early in the morning, just after checked out from La Codorniz hotel.

The beach and bay is also known as Playa de Bolonia ("Bolonia Beach"), Ensenada de Bolonia ("Bolonia Cove"), or Bolonia Bay. We spent here about a few hours and got the tan for the rest of the Summer. Someone, actually, for the first time in her lifetime had an opportunity to actually swim in real Ocean. Congrats.

Once we arrived on site, there were a parking lot on rocks arranged by some local volunteers, luckily we got a free space, a couple of hours later, there were no free parking space left. Tip - arrive early. 

Coastal village Bolonia near Tarifa in Spain

This small village is known also as the location for the ruins of the Roman town of Baelo Claudia, which are located near the beach, considered to be the most complete Roman town ruins yet uncovered in Spain. 

Playa de Bolonia

The beach is about 3.8 kilometres (2.4 mi) in length…