It has been 5 months since our last post and what a 5 months it has been. Strange how many things there are to do when you take a year off from work and travel over seas for 6 months! I won't even get started reviewing our To-Do list, completed and outstanding items but it has been quite impressive. There is one thing I can tell you, life in North America is complex, difficult and expensive!
An update on business; Champa Clothing had a very good summer, thank you to all those who helped make this happen! We exceeded our first two quarter budgets and have already met our 12 month goals. We expect the market to cool off now as the weather cools off for beach clothing but they still make great lounge around clothes! I am working with RR Donnelley again in a Business Development role in Calgary and time will tell how well I do in this position. Overall our businesses are in good shape and we enjoy what we are doing. It is worth mentioning that Benjilynn is really missing her hair salon so she may start ramping that business back up, she hasn't made that decision yet but it is a possibility.
Although we have been very busy we have still made time to do some travelling this summer and if you follow us on Facebook you are likley aware of those trips to places like Vancouver Island for our annual fishing trip, Castlegar, BC to visit Benjilynn's family and pick up some stored items. Thank you Jordie and Carlie for watching over my hunting equipment. I have been hunting once, West of Edmonton with my good friend and 10 year hunting partner Adam but I have many more trips planned in the upcoming 8 weeks with my cousing Randy in the Caroline area. I am really looking forward to spending some time in our wilderness again! Oh, we also made a spontaneous road trip to Las Vegas, we always love visiting that city!
This was a great trip which we broke into three parts as I will do with 3 blogs. The first part is from Barcelona, the second will be from the Costa del Sol, Spain and a day trip to Morocco and then the third blog will be Oktoberfest where we met up with our son, Carson and his girlfriend Cortney while they were on a 3 month European backpack trip.
Part I - Barcelona!
WOW!!! What a great city, I am not really sure where to start... OK, let's take a quick look at the architecture, it is all about a man named Antoni Gaudi born in 1852. I have linked his Wiki profile if you want to know more so let's get to some of the pics.
Sagrada Familia, still under construction for over 150 years.
An update on business; Champa Clothing had a very good summer, thank you to all those who helped make this happen! We exceeded our first two quarter budgets and have already met our 12 month goals. We expect the market to cool off now as the weather cools off for beach clothing but they still make great lounge around clothes! I am working with RR Donnelley again in a Business Development role in Calgary and time will tell how well I do in this position. Overall our businesses are in good shape and we enjoy what we are doing. It is worth mentioning that Benjilynn is really missing her hair salon so she may start ramping that business back up, she hasn't made that decision yet but it is a possibility.
Although we have been very busy we have still made time to do some travelling this summer and if you follow us on Facebook you are likley aware of those trips to places like Vancouver Island for our annual fishing trip, Castlegar, BC to visit Benjilynn's family and pick up some stored items. Thank you Jordie and Carlie for watching over my hunting equipment. I have been hunting once, West of Edmonton with my good friend and 10 year hunting partner Adam but I have many more trips planned in the upcoming 8 weeks with my cousing Randy in the Caroline area. I am really looking forward to spending some time in our wilderness again! Oh, we also made a spontaneous road trip to Las Vegas, we always love visiting that city!
This was a great trip which we broke into three parts as I will do with 3 blogs. The first part is from Barcelona, the second will be from the Costa del Sol, Spain and a day trip to Morocco and then the third blog will be Oktoberfest where we met up with our son, Carson and his girlfriend Cortney while they were on a 3 month European backpack trip.
Part I - Barcelona!
WOW!!! What a great city, I am not really sure where to start... OK, let's take a quick look at the architecture, it is all about a man named Antoni Gaudi born in 1852. I have linked his Wiki profile if you want to know more so let's get to some of the pics.
Sagrada Familia, still under construction for over 150 years.
Here are a couple more buildings that Gaudi designed and constructed. Wouldn't you have hated being his construction foreman when he handed you these designs... over 150 years ago! What?! Are you serious???
Even today we are just starting to see some buildings which start to compare with these designs. Amazing!
Even today we are just starting to see some buildings which start to compare with these designs. Amazing!
Our apartment was located right downtown in the Gothic Quarter and I recommend that if you are planning a trip to Barcelona then this is the perfect place to stay. Lots of options, prices are average to high depending on your required comfort but this is where all the action is. All the "must see" attractions are within a 30 minute walk and if you ever tire of walking there are bicycle rental kiosks everywhere in this flat/level city.
The streets are clean, don't let the graffiti scare you or tell you otherwise, this is one clean city! Much of the grafitti that you will see is similar to everywhere else but there are images among the wall art that are worth your time if you are interested in the underbelly of the art world.
Here are some more pics that we took while walking about the centre, Gothic Quarter and the harbour.
The streets are clean, don't let the graffiti scare you or tell you otherwise, this is one clean city! Much of the grafitti that you will see is similar to everywhere else but there are images among the wall art that are worth your time if you are interested in the underbelly of the art world.
Here are some more pics that we took while walking about the centre, Gothic Quarter and the harbour.
Like I said at the beginning, WOW!
Barcelona is our NEW favorite large city in the word, it is an amazing experience with the music, the architecture, the history, art, food, wine, the blended cultures from 1000's of years, the sea, the sun and a vibrant people. You will know you are in Barcelona when the streets are at their busiest at 10 PM every night of the week. You don't start dinner until 9 and you don't finish until midnight.
If you are interested in visiting Barcelona, send us a note and we would be happy to share some of our experiences.
Next... Costa del Sol and Morocco, Africa!! See you soon!