Average Salary in Georgia = $442 in 2013

13 November, 2014 | Macroeconomics | 7 seen

Today I red an article pointing out about average salary in Georgia. 

It was interesting finding for me to learn that average salary in Republic of Georgia in 2013 was about $442 or GEL 773.

Turns out it's about 8.5% growth if compared to 2012. 

Though there is a pretty huge inequality of how many receives man and women.

So in 2013 men received average salary of $526 (GEL 920) while women got just $334 (GEL 585).

Source: http://newsgeorgia.ru/economy/20141112/217127602.html

Spontaneous Visit of Montserrat Mountain, Spain

12 November, 2014 | Tourism objects | 3 seen

Another spontaneous idea of visiting Montserrat Mountain arrived at our heads, after Google Maps misguided us from the main traffic road to Barcelona, and we went on the wrong direction - but hey -  we noticed a sign directing to Montserrat.

Signs speak themselves. 

Update: Visit of Mount Montserrat was a place from our about week long travels across region of Catalonia in Spain and Andorra. (Originally this article featured 18 bad quality pictures, 2 years latter since originally created this article, I reviewed both article and pictures and made some post-processing for photography in Adobe Lightroom). Now, I feel a bit sorry about myself I can't travel back in time and capture much much better photography, as back then (2014) I was just like another typical tourist flash lighting around with my point and shoot camera. Sad. On the other hand p Montserrat Mountain is a place I would love to return and will definitely return here!

Montserrat Mountain

Montserrat  is a multi-peaked rocky range located near the city of Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain. It is part of the Catalan Pre-Coastal Range. The main peaks are Sant Jeroni (1,236 m), Montgrós (1,120 m) and Miranda de les Agulles (903 m).

Road up to the Montserrat

It is well known as the site of the Benedictine abbey, Santa Maria de Montserrat, which hosts the Virgin of Montserrat sanctuary and which is identified by some  with the location of the Holy Grail in Arthurian myth.

"Montserrat" literally means "saw (serrated, like the common handsaw) mountain" in Catalan. It describes its peculiar aspect with multitude of rock formations which are visible from a great distance. The mountain is composed of strikingly pink conglomerate, a form of sedimentary rock. Montserrat is Spain's first National Park.

Montserrat abbey built in the rock

Santa Maria de Montserrat is a Benedictine abbey located on the mountain of Montserrat, in Monistrol de Montserrat, in Catalonia, Spain. It is notable for enshrining the image of the Virgin of Montserrat.

The monastery is 48 kilometres (30 mi) west of Barcelona, and can be reached by road, train or cable car.

The abbey's train station, operated by FGC, is the terminus of a rack railway connecting with Monistrol, and two funicular railways, one connecting with Santa Cova (a shrine and chapel lower down the mountain) and the other connecting with the upper slopes of the mountain.

At 1,236 metres (4,055 ft) above the valley floor, Montserrat is the highest point of the Catalan lowlands, and stands central to the most populated part of Catalonia. Montserrat's highest point, Sant Jeroni, can be reached by a footpath from the top station of the funicular Sant Jeroni. From Sant Jeroni, almost all of Catalonia can be seen, and on a clear day the island of Mallorca is visible.

View from Montserrat mountain

"Montserrat" literally means "saw (serrated, like the common handsaw) mountain" in Catalan. It describes its peculiar aspect with multitude of rock formations which are visible from a great distance. The mountain is composed of strikingly pink conglomerate, a form of sedimentary rock. Montserrat is Spain's first National Park.

View from mount Montserrat

The Benedictine Abbey can be reached by road, by the Aeri de Montserrat cable car, or by the Montserrat Rack Railway.

The lower stations of both the rack railway and the cable car can be reached by Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya train from Barcelona's Plaça d'Espanya station. From the abbey, the Funicular de Sant Joan funicular railway goes up to the top of the mountain, where there are various abandoned hovels in the cliff faces that were previously the abodes of reclusive monks, whilst the Funicular de la Santa Cova descends to a shrine.

Mount Montserrat

Author of this blog captured at Montserrat Mountain

Hotel Gaspa Review in Ordino, Andorra

11 November, 2014 | Hotel reviews | 12 seen

One thing I like about travel - is to choose hotels on site (who needs a booking systems? ).

So did happen this time, when we chose this 2 star hotel in Ordino, Andorra. As you might already now, Andorra is a tinny micro state sandwiched between Spain and France, so if you travel here by car, it's nothing tragic to drive out of capital city Andorra La Vella to find your perfect hotel.

After few minutes drive, we found ourselves in town/village called Ordino, and found a hotel just one the left side of high-way (I would call it street, rather a highway).

In overall - perfect 2 star hotel, for nice price - got this for EUR 40 with breakfast included, and it has a free parking on site.

Here are few pictures I managed to take at Hotel Gaspa, Ordino

Queen size bed at Hotel Gaspa

Room comes with a balcony

Balcony at Hotel Gaspa

View from balcony

Bathroom at Hotel Gaspa

Bathroom at Hotel Gaspa

About Ordino

Ordino  is the most northerly parish in the Principality of Andorra. Ordino is also the name of the main town of the parish. The main other settlements are El Serrat, Ansalonga, Sornàs, La Cortinada, Llorts, Segudet, Arans, Les Salines and Arcalís. It is home to the Sorteny National Park. It has a population of 3,066, as of 2005.

The town of Ordino lies on the footslopes of Casamanya (2740 m), a mountain which has spectacular panoramic views from its summit being located almost exactly in the centre of Andorra.

The National Auditorium of Andorra  is located in Ordino town. The International Narciso Yepes Festival, a series of classical music concerts, has been held there every October since 1983.[

The festival was started by the late guitarist, Narciso Yepes. The parish has borders with France and also with the parishes of La Massana, Canillo, and Encamp. The only main road and only external link is the CG-3 leading to the neighbouring parish of La Massana. In the extreme northwest of the parish is the Vallnord (Ordino-Arcalis sector ski station) ski resort which has peaks up to 2,625 m. The town is the namesake of the Andorran legend El buner d'Ordino, in which a bagpiper from Ordino, en-route to a festival in Canillo, is chased and treed by wolves, but frightens them off by playing his instrument.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordino

About Andorra

Andorra  is a sovereign landlocked microstate in Southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France.

It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe, having an area of 468 km2 (181 sq mi) and an estimated population of 85,000 in 2012.

Its capital, Andorra la Vella, is the highest capital city in Europe, at an elevation of 1,023 metres (3,356 ft) above sea level.

The official language is Catalan, although Spanish, Portuguese, and French are also commonly spoken.

Created under a charter in A.D. 988, the present Principality was formed in A.D. 1278. It is known as a principality as it is a monarchy headed by two Co-Princes – the Spanish/Roman Catholic Bishop of Urgell and the President of France.

Andorra is a prosperous country, mainly because of its tourism industry, which services an estimated 10.2 million visitors annually, and because of its status as a tax haven, although it is in the process of reforming its tax regime.

It is not a member of the European Union, but the euro is the de facto currency. It has been a member of the United Nations since 1993.

The people of Andorra have the 3rd highest human life expectancy at birth in the world – 84 years.

Tradition holds that Charles the Great (Charlemagne) granted a charter to the Andorran people in return for fighting against the Moors. Overlordship of the territory was by the Count of Urgell and eventually by the bishop of the Diocese of Urgell.

In 988, Borrell II, Count of Urgell, gave the Andorran valleys to the Diocese of Urgell in exchange for land in Cerdanya.

Since then the Bishop of Urgell, based in Seu d'Urgell, has owned Andorra.

Andorra is a parliamentary co-principality with the President of France and the Bishop of Urgell (Catalonia, Spain), as co-princes. This peculiarity makes the President of France, in his capacity as Prince of Andorra, an elected reigning monarch, although he is not elected by a popular vote of the Andorran people. The politics of Andorra take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, whereby the Head of Government is the chief executive, and of a pluriform multi-party system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andorra

Andorra - First Impressions

9 November, 2014 | Travel guides | 11 seen

Have you ever heard something of a tiny microstate of Andorra? I had, but my knowledge was short - so short, I didn't realize the precise location of it - I mean, I knew it's somewhere sandwiched between Spain, France or maybe France and Italy or even Spain and Portugal. In other words - yes I knew that such a place exists, but knew nothing more about it. Now I'm a little bit smarter in my Geography :)

So, how I got there? It all went spontaneous - after a couple of days in Spain, we decided, hey let's drive to Andorra. And we did.

My overall impression of Andorra right now - it's some tax haven, it's kinda outlet center (buy cheap - no or minimum taxes here).

And yes, it's sandwiched between Spain and France, and it's somehow related to Catalonia.

P.S. I'm somehow imagining Georgia (a country I'm currently living in) one day might become a very similar place to Andorra.

So here are some pictures I did take while in Andorra:

Entering Andorra La Vella

Scooters are popular in Andorra

Outlets malls in Andorra

Andorra La Vella

City centre of Andorra La Vella

City centre of Andorra La Vella

Living house in Andorra

Children playground in Andorra

Ah, those mountains

Parking lot at Andorra

Andorra is getting ready for Holiday Season

More shopping malls in Andorra

Those narrow streets of Andorra

Some Medieval Tower in Andorra

Streets of Andorra La Vella

Streets of Andorra La Vella

Church in city center from inside

Evidence of Russians here

What a lovely morning to take a smoke on a balcony in Andorra La Vella

Andorra

Salvadors Dali elements here

Boulevard near river in Andorra

About Andorra

Andorra is a sovereign landlocked microstate in Southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France.

It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe, having an area of 468 km2 (181 sq mi) and an estimated population of 85,000 in 2012.

Its capital, Andorra la Vella, is the highest capital city in Europe, at an elevation of 1,023 metres (3,356 ft) above sea level.

The official language is Catalan, although Spanish, Portuguese, and French are also commonly spoken.

Created under a charter in A.D. 988, the present Principality was formed in A.D. 1278. It is known as a principality as it is a monarchy headed by two Co-Princes – the Spanish/Roman Catholic Bishop of Urgell and the President of France.

Andorra is a prosperous country, mainly because of its tourism industry, which services an estimated 10.2 million visitors annually, and because of its status as a tax haven, although it is in the process of reforming its tax regime.

It is not a member of the European Union, but the euro is the de facto currency. It has been a member of the United Nations since 1993.

The people of Andorra have the 3rd highest human life expectancy at birth in the world – 84 years.

Tradition holds that Charles the Great (Charlemagne) granted a charter to the Andorran people in return for fighting against the Moors. Overlordship of the territory was by the Count of Urgell and eventually by the bishop of the Diocese of Urgell.

In 988, Borrell II, Count of Urgell, gave the Andorran valleys to the Diocese of Urgell in exchange for land in Cerdanya.

Since then the Bishop of Urgell, based in Seu d'Urgell, has owned Andorra.

Andorra is a parliamentary co-principality with the President of France and the Bishop of Urgell (Catalonia, Spain), as co-princes. This peculiarity makes the President of France, in his capacity as Prince of Andorra, an elected reigning monarch, although he is not elected by a popular vote of the Andorran people. The politics of Andorra take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, whereby the Head of Government is the chief executive, and of a pluriform multi-party system.

This day for history

8 November, 2014 | Living in Georgia | 0 seen

At first- I am too tired and wordless to write a 500 words/day minimum word post.

Second - decided to stop cycling in unsafe streets of Tbilisi.

Third - my blog cracked 20,000 unique visitors in total (counting since October 2013)

Forth - yesterday seems affiliate sales generated me more than $100

There are days we should be happy about our existence and complain less about things we don't have. Though, something bad almost happened today with me. I decided to take it as a lesson to be more thankful for every day I m living on this planet.

P.S. Learn that I have reached age of Saturn Return.

Take care!

Road to Andorra

6 November, 2014 | Travel guides | 10 seen

During our one week trip in Spain, region of Catalonia, we did a lot of driving. We drove almost all around Catalonia, stayed at lovely Costa Brava townlets - and you know what? It's more than enough with one week - and you are sick and tired of completely identical seaside town lets. They are nice, they are charming... but if you need more - go away from those charming town lets with beautiful seaside views.

At least we did so - after another charming tay at lovely resort town of Sitges, we decided to head to Andorra. Drive to Andorra from Barcelona (or Sitges) will take around 2hours. Here is some picures I managed to capture:

Road to Andorra

Spectacular roads in Spain

Flag of Catalonia

Road signs directing to Andorra

Tunnels in Spain

Mountainous road

Mountains

Manor 

Drive to Andorra

Lake

Town let close to border of Andorra

:)

Andorra La Vella

Streets of Andorra

About Andorra

Andorra  is a sovereign landlocked microstate in Southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France.

It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe, having an area of 468 km2 (181 sq mi) and an estimated population of 85,000 in 2012.

Its capital, Andorra la Vella, is the highest capital city in Europe, at an elevation of 1,023 metres (3,356 ft) above sea level.

The official language is Catalan, although Spanish, Portuguese, and French are also commonly spoken.

Created under a charter in A.D. 988, the present Principality was formed in A.D. 1278. It is known as a principality as it is a monarchy headed by two Co-Princes – the Spanish/Roman Catholic Bishop of Urgell and the President of France.

Andorra is a prosperous country, mainly because of its tourism industry, which services an estimated 10.2 million visitors annually, and because of its status as a tax haven, although it is in the process of reforming its tax regime.

It is not a member of the European Union, but the euro is the de facto currency. It has been a member of the United Nations since 1993.

The people of Andorra have the 3rd highest human life expectancy at birth in the world – 84 years.

Tradition holds that Charles the Great (Charlemagne) granted a charter to the Andorran people in return for fighting against the Moors. Overlordship of the territory was by the Count of Urgell and eventually by the bishop of the Diocese of Urgell.

In 988, Borrell II, Count of Urgell, gave the Andorran valleys to the Diocese of Urgell in exchange for land in Cerdanya.

Since then the Bishop of Urgell, based in Seu d'Urgell, has owned Andorra.

Andorra is a parliamentary co-principality with the President of France and the Bishop of Urgell (Catalonia, Spain), as co-princes. This peculiarity makes the President of France, in his capacity as Prince of Andorra, an elected reigning monarch, although he is not elected by a popular vote of the Andorran people. The politics of Andorra take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, whereby the Head of Government is the chief executive, and of a pluriform multi-party system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andorra

How Amazon Affiliates get paid in Republic of Georgia - Part 1

5 November, 2014 | Living in Georgia | 154 seen

How participants of Amazon Associates program are getting paid in the Republic of Georgia by a bank check is a blog series I originally made at the end of 2014 / start of 2015 while struggling to redeem my first bank check issued by Amazon,

Although it's still technically possible to withdraw bank checks in Georgia, at the end of 2016, I flew to the US and opened a bank account there, see: How To Open A Bank Account in the U.S., As A Non-resident Non - citizen, Wells Fargo Bank

For complete series of my adventures while living in Georgia with Georgian banks and checks from Amazon, please see:

• How Amazon Affiliates get paid in the Republic of Georgia - Part 1
• How Amazon Associates Receives Their Checks in the Republic of Georgia - Part 2
• How Amazon Associates Receives Their Checks in the Republic of Georgia - Part 3 - Waiting 40 Working Days
• How Amazon Associates Receives Their Checks in the Republic of Georgia - Part 4 - Bank Commission Fees

I have a feeling this will be a long and fun experience on how to get paid in the Republic of Georgia by Amazon Associates checks :)

For a prelude:

I'm a proud Amazon Associate since this summer and have earned already a bit more than $450... On a day when I did my daily routine Amazon report checking, I was asked to provide my TAX information before getting paid. I filled this form with huge responsibility.  As I'm neither US citizen nor US resident I was left to fill some TAX form for non-US persons. Ok...

Well - I had an idea - hell - I can open a bank account in the US, and get Direct Deposit from Amazon to US bank, so did I decided to send a message to Associates Customer Support:

Dear Associates Support! 

I have a question regarding payment to bank account for international associates (not located in US) 

This is what I found on Direct Deposit FAQ: 
Amazon Associates allows people to be paid by direct deposit to their nominated bank accounts if they and their bank are based within the United States. 

And this is my question: 
If I do have bank account in US (as non US Citizen nor US-resident) - can I use it to receive payments from Associates or I do not qualify? 

If I can - should I modify my tax information? 

Thank you for taking time and looking into this, 
Reinis 

I got an answer:

Hello Reinis,

I understand you have some questions regarding our direct deposit option.

In order to qualify for the direct deposit of your Associates earnings, all three of the following conditions must be met:

1) Your payee address must be in the United States

2) Your bank must be a United States Financial Institution

3) You must have a U.S. tax ID number or a Social Security number.

Since your payee address is located outside of the US, payment by direct deposit isn't available to you.

However, you still have the option to be paid by Amazon.com gift card or check. If you select check as your payment method, we'll send payment after your earnings balance reaches $100. The check will be mailed to the payee address on file for your account. If you choose to be paid by gift card, the claim code is sent to your e-mail address for you to redeem. There is a $10 minimum for gift card payments. Gift card payments from the Amazon Associates Program can be redeemed on Amazon.com and MYHABIT.com. Gift card payments will be sent to you from the e-mail address gc-orders@gc.email.amazon.com; you may want to add this to your Safe Senders List or address book to ensure that it’s not blocked from your e-mail inbox. To change your payment method, use the following link: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/network/your-account/payment-... I hope this helps.

Best regards,

Becky E.

Now I decided to contact my bank

Dear Support!

I have a question regarding to Amazon.com checks, can I cash them in ProcreditBank? For example if Amazon send s me a check in value of $450. 

What is the fee for check operations? If the money is sent in USD can it be deposited directly to my bank account in USD currency?

How long does this procedure takes time?
What information must be provided on check? Does it's enough just of my name and surname?

Thank you for looking into this,
Reinis

Got a short answer

Dear customer,

Our bank can't cash Amazon.com checks.

Best regards,
Distance Banking Unit

Hmm... sent another message to my bank

Dear Support!

What is the reason why Amazon Associates checks can be cashed at ProCreditBank?

Which bank should I go then?

Got a super cool answer

dear customer,

if you mean to use you plasstic card in internet,you can"t becouse you have visa electron and it daoesn't have this function.for this you must order visa clasic or mastercard standart.

best regards,
Distance Banking Unit

Sent another message, trying to explain better my situation

Dear Support I mean to receive a Check from Amazon Associates program - and cash this check at Procredit bank - I don't mean to make any purchases on Amazon with my current card.

Does your bank accepts checks? If so - can It accept checks sent by Amazon.com?

Because of reading on your page I found, yes ProCredit accepts checks, and takes 40USD commission on that.. Can you please confirm or deny that I can cash check sent by Amazon.com at Procredit bank.

Got another reply:

Dear customer,

Our bank can cash only commercial cheques,bank cheques. Mentioned condition, that client must have 6 month active turnover, is required for bank cheques. We can't cash amazon cheques.

Best regards,
Distance Banking Unit

I started to wonder - maybe we do not understand each other? 

So if Amazon issues a commercial bank checqu? It can be accepted? Is that right?

What is the commission for that operation?

Does my account qualifies for 6 month active turnover?

Got another, yet final reply from the bank

Dear Customer, 

We can accept only commercial bank checks for this you must have last 6 month active turnover on your account in our bank. You can visit our central branch, on Kazbegi 21, and show us that check. 

Commission on that ammount will be : correspondent and issuer banks expenses + 1% of amount min 40 USD + postal expenses. 

Best Regards, 
Distance Banking Unit

Now I'm left to wait and wonder what will happen next - is it really possible to clear a check sent by Amazon or not in the Republic of Georgia?

Are you from Georgia? Are you an Amazon affiliate partner? How do you receive your check to Georgia? Leave me a comment!

I will add the second part of this post - once I'll actually receive that check from Amazon. I guess it could take some 2-3 months :) 

How Amazon Associates Receives Their Checks in the Republic of Georgia - Part 2

My Online Income Report - October 2014

4 November, 2014 | Blogging | 8 seen

Welcome to my monthly income report - this time covering month of October 2014.

In brief:

Things kinda went wrong - after 2 great months with Amazon Affiliate, October earnings decreased, not tragically, but decreased.

How much my blog earned in month of October 2014

• In total I earned $142.81, what is a -50.28% decrease if compared to previous month ($287.25)
• $142.81 makes average $4.6 a day

Thus, my earnings in month of October decrease by around a half, it still managed to became a second best month, in terms of online income

Obliviously I started to wonder - why does income this month is lower - and if honest I didn't find a good explanation. I have just one assumption - October was a slow month for retail sales, why? Have no idea! Maybe in October people have less money to spend?

See - there is nothing wrong with traffic to my blog, it even increased for 42% in month of October, so I cannot explain this with lost traffic. Even clicks to Amazon increased sharply, but conversation rates decreased from about 5% in September to 2.4% in October (more than by half).

What leads me to think, there is nothing wrong with site, content on it, just people are buying less. Or - I'm sending wrong traffic to Amazon.

Will it change this month?  - at least I hope so. It's holiday season, and if done right, this should be a gold miner.

RPM

October RPM

On August Income Report I defined a new measurement for my blogs income - RPM - well it's nothing new, and everyone is familiar with that already. In August I wanted to play with RPM only for unique page views. Now I decided - why to make it complicated? I will stick with ALL Pageviews. So by learning my traffic stats in month of October, I know that I had 7,591 pageviews, what makes my RPM to stand at = $18.81

Now - I would like to speak about RPM more:

I started to monetize my blog at start of this year in month of January, back then I was using plug&play Google Adsense, what brought (and still brings) me on couple of dollars each month. I even did setup a goal to reach minimum $40 per month on Google Adsense (Haven't happened yet). I was not paying much attention to my earnings RPM (Google Adsense offers their own RPM). Then on August I decided to give a try for Amazon associates program, which literally broke the bank in first month, earning me some $95 in total.

I'm the geeky person who likes to track every single data, he can track, so I have created a Google Spreadsheet where each month I'm analysing different data (visitors, page views, bounce rates as well earnings (both Google Adsense and Amazon). A pretty neat sheet containing all data in one place. So yesterday I added a new columns and rows to my sheet for RPM, and here I will add my RPM for this year:

Month

RPM

January

$0.09

February

$0.08

March

$0.69

April

$1.33

May

$2.17

June

$2.80

July

$1.19

August

$12.88

September

$51.00

October

$17.89

RPM January 2014 - October 2014

Values for RPM doesn't correspond 100% my blog, there are few other resources I'm using monetization, and they are counted in, but they role is around 3-5%, the basic data is right.

As you can see - January - July - RPM is really modest, starting August (starting to promote Amazon products) RPM goes up sharply,reaching all time pretty impressive high of $51.00 per thousand page views in month of September.

Technically speaking, RPM of $18.81 (or $17.89 in table) is second best and I must admit a pretty impressive. Would I like to have it again at $51.00? Definitely! Will it happen any time soon? Have no clue - I'm still new to Affiliate marketing. One thing I can tell for sure - affiliate marketing works!

Forecast/Predictions

Last month by forecasting this month I said:

to get over $100

Well, that happened this month.

Now what about November?

Well my inner feeling says, there must be something good - it's holiday season, and people are looking for gifts. Will I predict something ... hmm... taking into account slow month of October - I will forecast $150.

Sitges - a Popular Resort Town in Spain

2 November, 2014 | Travel guides | 15 seen

During our Spain trip, we visited many interesting towns and places, like town of Girona, Salvadors Dali museum at Figueras, charming stone building town Peratallada, Begur, Roses and Cadaques and other. Now was turn for a popular resort town of Sitges, located close to Barcelona.

As usual I don't pay much attention for a new exploring object before visiting it - and it was fun latter to learn that Sitges is not only popular resort town in Spain, but it's a very popular destination for gay and lesbian travellers from all over the world. Well - quite an interesting fact about this town :)

I didn't pay much attention is there much gay/lesbian travellers (Seen some of them - like men kissing in the beaches and so on). What I found - Sitges probably is popular destination for surfers as well - seen pretty much surfers here (Maybe gay and lesbian surfers? )

No offense on LGBT people!

So did we stayed at a pretty nice hotel Globos at Sitges.

If honest, all those costal towns looks the same for me, but you may have other oppinion, so here are few pictures I did take in Sitges

Beach at Sitges

View to cathedral of Sitges

Boulevard at Sitges

Someone in rest at Sitges beach

Surfers learn to surf

View to Sitges from pier

Pier at Sitges

Rollers on the streets of Sitges town

About Sitges

Sitges  is a town about 35 kilometres southwest of Barcelona, renowned worldwide for its Film Festival and Carnival.

Located between the Garraf Massif and the sea, it is known for its beaches, nightspots, and historical sites.

While the roots of Sitges' artsy reputation date back to the late 19th century, when Catalan painter Santiago Rusiñol took up residence there during the summer, the town became a centre for the 1960s counterculture in mainland Spain, then still under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, and became known as "Ibiza in miniature".

Nowadays it is a popular destination for gay and lesbian travellers, as it has become one of the most gay-friendly places in the world.

Today, Sitges' economy is based on tourism and culture offering more than 4,500 hotel beds, half of them in four-star hotels. Almost 35% of the approximately 26,000 permanent inhabitants are from the Netherlands, the UK, France and Scandinavia, whose children attend international schools in the area. There are 17 beaches. Sitges was also the site of the annual Bilderberg conference held in June 2010.

Sitges has been referred to as the Saint-Tropez of Spain, with property prices approaching those of the most expensive European cities, the main reason for this being the setting by the sea and the surrounding Parc Natural del Garraf. Proximity to Barcelona-El Prat Airport is also a major advantage.

Human presence in the area dates to at least the Neolithic area, and an Iberian settlement from the 4th century.

In the 1st century BC it included two separated villages, later absorbed by the Romans. During the Middle Ages, a castle was built in Sitges, owned by the bishopric of Barcelona, which later ceded it to count Mir Geribert (1041).

In the 12th century the town fell under the rule of the Sitges family. The latter held it until 1308, when Agnes of Sitges sold the town to Bernat de Fonollar, after whose death it went to the Pia Almoina, a charitable institution, to which it belonged until 1814. Sitges' economy was mostly based on the production of wine until the economic boom of the 1960s, after which it became a tourist resort.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sitges

Blog Traffic Report - October 2014

1 November, 2014 | Blogging | 7 seen

This is already my 13 blog traffic report. This one is special for me - this month report compares my blog traffic with first month when I started to blog one year ago.

October 10, my blog celebrated one year anniversary - in case you are interested to find out more - what is the feeling after one year of blogging every day - you might find that post interesting.

Now let's see how my blog performed on month of October:

Blog traffic October 2014 (source: Google Analytics)

• I got 4785 unique visitors, what is a 42.24% growth compared to September traffic
• I have managed to attract 1421 more unique visitors if compared to previous month
• 4,785 visitors makes 154.34 user a day, what is up by 42.22 a day (previous 112.13)

Now lets see, how my precious blog traffic compares to those one year ago:

Blog traffic comparison October 2013 vs October 2014

Well... is there anything much to add, to describe image above?

It's 12,169% growth if counted by unique visitors. Some pathetic result of 39 users at month of October in 2013 compared to modest result of 4,785.

I can only add to this - this one year of blogging has been a great journey, in time of what I have learned few things, mastered some skills, and it's still just beginning of hopefully never ending journey - called blogging.

Now back to the October 2014

Well, this month was pretty busy both in my daily job career and in private life.

I'm working on few large scale Drupal projects, and there is not much time for me to do the "investigate blogging", but I'm still keeping up with my goal- to blog everyday.

Second - I was on a week long trip to Spain. Catalonia, Costa Brava.

That week I didn't blog at all, i had scheduled posts for that week. And guess what? That was the best week in terms of unique visitors to my blog. One single post about that I won't be able to visit Georgian fiest - Tbilisoba, attracted many searchers from Google.

What you can learn from that: to drive traffic to your site, sometimes it's enough to blog about popular/local events in form of future. Once the day comes, people will start to search that event more often, and there is huge possibility you will rank well already. The bad thing - this is not an evergreen content tactic - once the event has passed, the interest will drop as well. So you can plan to write about more upcoming events :)

Yes, Google still is the main traffic generator for my blog, and for me it's hard to tell - is it good or bad. I'm not very social active neither on Twitter or Facebook, though I have a solid followers base there.. I guess it's time to think of some strategy for social networks.

Now - though I have achieved pretty solid traffic this month, I still haven't achieved my goal - 6,000 unique visitors a month, I hope this will happen any time soon (hopefully this year)

Getting back to forecast for next month - hmm... it has been a good year, and almost every month traffic to my blog has only increased, but now thinking of month of November I have a feeling that there could be a very little growth or even an decrease.

Anyway I will stick with positive 5%-15% growth forecast for month of November - it should crack 5,000 this month.

Hotel Globos Review in Sitges, Spain

31 October, 2014 | Hotel reviews | 13 seen

One of the things I like about hotels is not to plan a stay at hotel before. No bookings, no planning. Just pass by, if you like it - go into it, and ask for a room and price. The best of this is bargain.

So did happened this time, after we arrived from Peratallada, a nice medieval town to resort city of Sitges, close to Barcelona. Turns out with spontanous decissions I have not only stayed on hotel I liked, but I have visited one of the most gay resort cities in world. 

Price for a room at this hotel: EUR 55

Here comes the pictures of Hotel Globos, hotel we find close to sea:

Bedroom at Hotel Globos

Balcony at hotel Globos

Bedroom at hotel Globos

Bathroom at hotel Globos

Seaside view from hotel Globos at Sitges

Balcony at Hotel Globos

Mojito at hotel Globos

In overall - modest hotel for reasonable price with close to sea location, but a little bit walk distance from city centre. Rooms were clean. 

About Hotel Globos

The Los Globos Hotel Sitges, a charming hotel which is open the whole year round, permit you to enjoy Sitges and Barcelona.

Ideally located in the heart of a calm residential neighbourhood of Sitges, right next to the beaches and the ocean breeze, and just a 300 meters walk away from the animated center of Sitges, the hotel can be reached by strolling on the maritime promenade. The Los Globos Hotel, André and Philippe and its staff welcome you and wants you to feel like if you are at home.

This is the hotel’s philosophy, aiming for a privileged ambiance for its clients.

http://www.hotelsitgeslosglobos.com/en/

About Sitges

Sitges  is a town about 35 kilometres southwest of Barcelona, renowned worldwide for its Film Festival and Carnival.

Located between the Garraf Massif and the sea, it is known for its beaches, nightspots, and historical sites. While the roots of Sitges' artsy reputation date back to the late 19th century, when Catalan painter Santiago Rusiñol took up residence there during the summer, the town became a centre for the 1960s counterculture in mainland Spain, then still under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, and became known as "Ibiza in miniature".

Nowadays it is a popular destination for gay and lesbian travellers, as it has become one of the most gay-friendly places in the world.

Today, Sitges' economy is based on tourism and culture offering more than 4,500 hotel beds, half of them in four-star hotels. Almost 35% of the approximately 26,000 permanent inhabitants are from the Netherlands, the UK, France and Scandinavia, whose children attend international schools in the area. There are 17 beaches. Sitges was also the site of the annual Bilderberg conference held in June 2010. Sitges has been referred to as the Saint-Tropez of Spain,

with property prices approaching those of the most expensive European cities, the main reason for this being the setting by the sea and the surrounding Parc Natural del Garraf. Proximity to Barcelona-El Prat Airport is also a major advantage.

For over a century, Sitges has been celebrating nonstop — between the months of February and March, according to the liturgical calendar — Carnestoltes, or Carnival. The festivities begin on Dijous Gras, or Fat Thursday, with the arribo, King Carnestoltes’ spectacular arrival.

From the moment this character appears until the burial of the sardine — late afternoon on Ash Wednesday — you could well say that life in Sitges moves to a new beat. Folk dances and xatonades (traditional local salad served with assorted omelets) are also characteristic carnival elements.

The two most important moments are the Rua de la Disbauxa, or the Debauchery Parade, on Sunday night and the Rua de l'Extermini, or Extermination Parade, on Tuesday night. Some forty-odd floats with more than 2,000 participants fill Sitges.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sitges

Peratallada - a Charming Stone Building Town in Catalonia, Spain

30 October, 2014 | Travel guides | 28 seen

When we left a charming hotel in Begur, we straight headed to a little and charming medieval town of Peratallada, which is located some 22 km east of Girona, and some 15 km west of Begur.

Here are 22 pictures I made at this lovely town:

Road to Peratallada

Peratallada

Medieval streets of Peratallada

Medieval streets of Peratallada

Medieval streets of Peratallada

Catalan flag on streets of  Peratallada

Peratallada

Bicycle on streets of Peratallada

Property for sale on Peratallada

Peratallada streets

Peratallada Town square

Restaurant at Peratallada Town square

Restaurant at Peratallada Town square

Balconies at  Peratallada Town square

Waiting for coffee con Leche

Lavender on table

Peratallada

Peratallada streets

Peratallada streets

Loca Fruta

Peretallada

Tourist sign

About Peratallada:

Peratallada is a town in the municipality of Forallac, in the county of Baix Empordà, in Catalonia, Spain.

It is located 22 km east of Girona. Its name is derived from pedra tallada, meaning 'carved stone'.

Declared a historic-artistic monument, most of the buildings are built from stone carved from the fosse or moat which still encircles parts of this small fortified medieval town.

The privately owned Castle of Peratallada is the dominant structure in the center of the town, with a 13th-century Romanesque church dedicated to Sant Esteve (Saint Stephen) outside the town walls. The castle has been documented as early as 1065 AD and it was restored as a luxury hotel in the 1960s. During restoration, traces of settlement were found that date back to the Bronze Age.

Today, Peratallada is known for its beautiful old stone buildings, rutted stone streets and passageways. Its proximity to the beaches of the Costa Brava and its numerous restaurants, small boutique hotels and artists' galleries make it a popular destination. The 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves was partly filmed on location here. A festival – the Festa Major, is held every year in early August with concerts and activities and there is a medieval festival in the autumn.

About Costa Brava

The Costa Brava "Wild" or "Rough Coast"is a coastal region of northeastern Spain, consisting of Alt Empordà, Baix Empordà and Selva, in the province of Girona.

The Costa Brava stretches from Blanes, 60 km (37 mi) northeast of Barcelona, to the French border. In the 1950s, the Costa Brava was identified by the Spanish government and local entrepreneurs as being suitable for substantial development as a holiday destination, mainly for package holiday tourists from Northern Europe and especially the United Kingdom and France.

The combination of a very good summer climate, nature, excellent beaches and a favourable foreign exchange rate, which made Spain a relatively inexpensive tourist destination, was exploited by the construction of large numbers of hotels and apartments in such seaside resorts as Blanes, Tossa de Mar and Lloret de Mar.

Tourism rapidly took over from fishing as the principal business of the area.

The province of Girona is within Catalonia, it covers an area of 5,885 square kilometres and is situated in the extreme northeast part of the Iberian Peninsula, between 41º40' and 42º30' latitude and 5º27' and 7º longitude east. The western border is a broken line that separates it from the province of Barcelona. The coastal strip is its eastern border, which extends along 158 linear kilometres (85 nautical miles) or 256 kilometres of the intricate profile of the Costa Brava.

Hotel Es Cel de Begur Review in Begur, Spain

29 October, 2014 | Hotel reviews | 10 seen

On our third Spain trip day we stayed overnight at one of the interesting hotels I have ever stayed - Es Cel de Begur Hotel at Bergur.

We booked this hotel on Booking.com it offered a huge savings, instead of paying EUR 400 we paid for room with partial sea view and bed with baldachine EUR 81.

Well I doubt the actual value for this room is EUR 400, it's more some booking.com neat marketing trick. But price EUR 81 for such a hotel room in such an amazing place with partial, but still sea view - is a value deal.

Well we ordered few coffees con leche (Coffee with milk in Catalan) and a supper onsite's restaurant, so total bill was EUR 131. No regrets at all.

N.B. Though this place offers free onsite parking - the drive to it, will be...lets say, pretty adventures :) Leave me a comment, if you have tried that road :)

Enough talking, here is the pictures:

Es Cel de Begur Hotel bedroom

Baldachin at Es Cel de Begur Hotel

First time had a sleep at Baldachin

Baldachin at Es Cel de Begur Hotel

Bathroom at Es Cel de Begur Hotel

Bathroom at Es Cel de Begur Hotel

Bathroom at Es Cel de Begur Hotel

Bedroom

Mountain lavender for better sleep

View to mountains and bay from balcony

Our room was with nice balcony with partial see view

Rooftop swimming pool at outdoor terrace

Restaurant at hotel

Indoor interior at Es Cel de Begur Hotel

Indoor interior at Es Cel de Begur Hotel

Catalan style supper at hotel

About Es Cel de Begur Hotel

Offering an outdoor swimming pool and sea views, Es Cel de Begur Hotel overlooks the coast at Begur. Surrounded by gardens and terraces, the hotel features free Wi-Fi and air conditioning.

Rooms at Es Cel de Begur feature a flat-screen TV, a telephone and a minibar, along with a private bathroom including a shower. Guests can also enjoy a shared lounge and a library.

A buffet breakfast is served every morning, while lunch and dinner are also available in the hotel restaurant.

Es Cel de Begur organizes different activities such as sailing and diving in the Illes Medes Islands area. Begur town centre is 10 minutes’ walk from the hotel and Sa Riera Beach is 15 minutes’ walk away.

Book this hotel on Booking.com

About Begur

Begur is a municipality in the comarca of the Baix Empordà in Catalonia, Spain, on the coastline of the Costa Brava. Begur has 3,986 inhabitants (according to the census of 2005). It is an important tourist attraction in the Baix Empordà. During the summer, the population can exceed 40,000 people. Despite of its tourist character, the village has important historical remnants that go back in early history. The castle of Begur is a good example of medieval remains. The castle was constructed in the 16th and 17th centuries.

The town of Begur also includes Esclanyà (with a Roman town centre), Aiguafreda, Sa Riera, Sa Tuna, Aiguablava and Fornells. Some of the most prestigious beaches of the Costa Brava can be found here: Sa Riera, Aiguafreda, sa Tuna, Platja Fonda, Fornells and Aiguablava. The latter is also home to a Parador Hotel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begur,_Spain

Salvador Dali Museum in Figueres, Spain

28 October, 2014 | Museums | 129 seen

In our second day trip to Spain we visited Salvador Dali Museum located in town of Figueres.  I can tell you just one - This has finally happened - had heard so much about this great place before and now I actually visited it.

There are not much words I can use to describe this fabulous museum in Figueras, instead I can offer you 16 pictured from this place (Originally there were 43 pictures, but 2 years latter since originally created this article, I reviewed both article and pictures and made some post-processing for photography in Adobe Lightroom). Now, I feel a bit sorry about myself I can't travel back in time and capture much much better photography, as back then (2014) I was just like another typical tourist flash lighting around with my point and shoot camera. Sad.

But the story is about Salvador Dali, or more precisely about his works and museum in Figueras, so let's leave it as it is, and I will definitely return here for another photography session.

Salvador Dali Museum building at Figueras

The Dalí Theatre and Museum, is a museum of the artist Salvador Dalí in his home town of Figueres, in Catalonia, Spain.

The heart of the museum is the building that housed the town's theater when Dalí was a child, where one of the first public exhibitions of young Dalí's art was shown. The old theater was burned during the Spanish Civil War and remained in a state of ruin for decades. In 1960, Dalí and the mayor of Figueres decided to rebuild it as a museum dedicated to the town's most famous son.

In 1968, the city council approved the plan, and construction began the following year. The architects were Joaquim de Ros i Ramis and Alexandre Bonaterra.

The museum opened on September 28, 1974, with continuing expansion through the mid-1980s. The museum now includes buildings and courtyards adjacent to the old theater building.

Glass dome roof at Salvador Dali museum in Figueras

The museum displays the single largest and most diverse collection of works by Salvador Dalí, the core of which was from the artist's personal collection. In addition to Dalí paintings from all decades of his career, there are Dalí sculptures, 3-dimensional collages, mechanical devices, and other curiosities from Dalí's imagination. A highlight is a 3-dimensional anamorphic living-room installation with custom furniture that looks like the face of Mae West when viewed from a certain spot.

Author of this blog waiting a quee for the entrance at Salvador Dali museum

The museum opens at 9:00 AM, 10 minutes before nine, people are gathering for entrance at Salvador Dali museum

Cadillac at Salvador Dali museum

One of the main exhibits at this museum is this black Cadillac

Dali painting - Soft Self Portrait

So Dali!!!

Salvador Dali - Girl at the window (1925)

Golden coins at Dali's museum Figueras

Selphie at Dali's museum

Golden statues

Those Golden manikins from the Future kind of invites guests...

Boat at Salvador Dali Museum

Dali paintings

Dali art

Didn't quite get this one - kind of Catalonian woman with bread?!

Main hall

Lips, nose and eyes

I was quite surprised finding at the 4th floor paintings dedicated to Israel question dated with 1967

Israel theme

Salvador Dalí. The Persistence of Memory. 1931

Probably the most famous work of Dali. Dalí rendered his fantastic visions with meticulous verisimilitude, giving the representations of dreams a tangible and credible appearance. In what he called "hand painted dream photographs," hard objects become inexplicably limp, time bends, and metal attracts ants like rotting flesh. The monstrous creature draped across the painting's center resembles the artist's own face in profile; its long eyelashes seem insectlike or even sexual, as does what may or may not be a tongue oozing from its nose like a fat snail. Source

Outdoor exterior at Dali museum

About Salvador Dali 

Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, 1st Marqués de Dalí de Pubol (May 11, 1904 – January 23, 1989), known as Salvador Dalí, wa a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres, Spain. Dalí was a skilled draftsman, best known for the striking and bizarre images in his surrealist work. His painterly skills are often attributed to the influence of Renaissance masters. His best-known work, The Persistence of Memory, was completed in August 1931. Dalí's expansive artistic repertoire included film, sculpture, and photography, in collaboration with a range of artists in a variety of media.

Best Budget Laptops for Under $300 in 2023

27 October, 2014 | Laptop Reviews | 3 seen

In today's digital age, having a laptop is almost a necessity. Whether you're a student, a freelancer, or a professional, a reliable laptop can help you accomplish your tasks with ease. However, high-end laptops can be quite expensive, which can be a burden for those on a tight budget. Thankfully, there are plenty of budget laptops available on the market that offer great value for the price.

In this article, we will discuss the 10 best budget laptops under $300.

Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links to Amazon, which means that if you decide to make a purchase through these links, I may earn an affiliate income. Please note that this does not affect the price you pay

In conclusion, a budget laptop can offer great value for the price. The laptops on this list are great choices for students, casual users, and professionals who are on a tight budget. They can handle basic tasks like browsing the web, streaming videos, and creating documents with ease. However, keep in mind that they may not be suitable for more demanding tasks like gaming or video editing.