I Wanna Be A Rock Star!!!!!!

We Are Almost Famous!!! Kevin Frankish From BT Know The Dunlops!!

It's Been A Long December...

#1 on Google

Well it is official now. I have my first job here in Mallorca. Well not quite. I am working with a company based out of Toronto Canada that can place any website in the top 3 on Google at all times. So if any of you want to be on top of Google leave a comment for me. We are still looking at import/export opportunities as well as other businesses. As long as we make some dough, it's all good.

Its raining, it's Sunday and everything is closed. What to do? Perhaps we will try to find Raphael Nadal's house in Manacor which is about a 40 min drive from us or maybe just hang out and eat some bread with oil, have some red wine and learn some Spanish from the computer. I guess we will see.

Some Pictures of the Mountains

Road Trip Soller-Pollenca

Well hello again, the weather has been pretty ugly but somehow the sun finds its way out for a little each day. Today it is rainy and windy but we will take that over snow any day. Speaking of snow, we are all very excited for the big snow storm expected to hit Toronto. We have added a bunch of web cams from around the city to our favorites online. Perhaps we will even make some popcorn. I have included a video of a little rain and wind here today. We will probably stay in today and deal with our children who are having difficulties listening to Mom and Dad. Anyways we took a trip on Thursday to Pollenca which is located in the Traumantana Mountains. It was the most incredible trip. The roads were narrow and very winding. It was unbelievable how much colder it got as we got higher not to mention wet, damp and dark. We were so high in the mountains. There were very few places to pull your car over to the side even if you had to.  Julie was feeling a little nauseous due to the winding roads and altitude change. As we got even higher, the roads got narrower still. I would never want to travel through the mountains at night. The road from Soller to Pollenca is about 51km. You must drive very slow and cautiously as the winding turns have you turning 180 degrees. The roads were also very slippery and as you get higher up, the roads can freeze and you could slide right off the mountain in certain parts. It is advised to always have a full tank of gas whilst travelling through the mountains. We also saw many lost sheep wandering the roads throughout the trip. We would have a picture but Julie didn't find the sheep particularly thrilling. It was really weird seeing some snow and ice on the side of the road as we got higher in altitude. I said to Julie " At least now it's in our control when we see snow!" We do look forward to going back but at this time of year, you really have to keep an eye on the weather forecast as you don't want to be in the mountains when it storms because when it storms, it really storms! OK, bye for now.

Today the weather was quite cool and windy but hey I think we will be OK. Julie and I head out to Portals Nous this afternoon for a bite to eat. There is a huge English population there. Funny enough, it was quite strange to be served in English with a completely English menu in Spain but hey, we'll take it. Not to far from where we ate, there are these beautiful flowers called "Birds of Paradise". They really look like birds! Its crazy! ( See Photo) Anyways, that's pretty much the day here when you don't work. That being said, it looks as though I might be doing sales to businesses in Canada that wish to be #1 on Google.ca . Who doesn't want to be #1 on Google.ca ? I am also looking for importers, exporters, manufacturers and anyone else looking to expand their businesses as I have a fantastic contact operating out of Toronto, Canada that can help you do business more effectively, more efficiently and more importantly, make your money work better for you which ultimately translates into profit as well as expose your business to other businesses around the world. At the end of the day, it all seems to be about network, doesn't it. Anyways, until next time and don't be afraid to leave a comment.

Toronto to Mallorca, Spain Tornadoes/Water Spouts

Here we are at the slowest most nothing happen day in Mallorca, Sunday. Weather today is overcast and going up to 16-17C. I was out early this morning for a run wearing shorts and back in Toronto, I would be wearing 4 layers of pants. We are very lucky. Not sure what our plan is for today and as I write this it looks like it might rain. 

On Saturday, we had a great day! We got to together with some new friends at their house and it was perfect for the kids as their were kids for Stefen & Jonathan to play with. They had such a great time. Afterwards, we went to circus that is here for a couple of weeks. It wasn't so special but who cares, the kids loved it. Their were dogs, cats, ponies , an act that looked almost like strip show and what looked like some really stoned bears. Towards the end of the show, they were playing some good music and Stefen and his friend were dancing and clapping away having a blast. It was hard to take pictures because the lighting and our camera didn't seem to go well together. We managed 1 picture of the circus.  Anyways, A great time was had by all. 

Friday, is upon us once again. It's amazing how fast the days and weeks go by here in Mallorca. The weather this week has been stunning. 17 C with beautiful sunshine. I must say we take great pleasure in hearing that this morning, it was -17 C with windchill in Toronto. In case your math isn't so good, thats 34 degrees difference. Wow! 

Anyways, here in Mallorca, the Christmas lights are all up on streets and we are looking forward to seeing them all lit up. Christmas is huge deal here. It lasts from Dec 24 until Jan 19. It should be unbelievable. 

On another note, I still don't have a job and we have decided against any bar type business. We have a few ideas that we are working on and as we continue to meet people here, more opportunities may come our way. We met some folks from the kid's school and they are quite nice. They were kind enough to take us to their home, where Julie picked oranges and lemons. After a bite to eat, they gave us a tour of shops around town as well as some high end fashion shops. We saw some incredible sights. This place is the best!

Hopefully, everyone is having a great Sunday. This past week has been quite rainy, damp and very windy. The great part about being in Mallorca is after a couple of days of bad weather , the sun comes beaming out again and it is as  glorious of a day as ever. We were just down on the Paseo Maritimo in Palma scouting out a bar/cafe that we might purchase. If you can't get a job, create your own we say. The location is fantastic for business all year round, is right across the road from as many beautiful boats that you can imagine but their menu sucks bad! That means we need to start our own menu. A little uncertainty as to what the menu might be but after visiting the cafe next door we might have an idea. KISS Keep it simple stupid! Anyways, we still need to get the loan from the bank here. Even with 25% down they will make it tough as we don't own any real estate here. We are passively looking for investors to help break up the financing to give us a better chance of getting money from the bank. One step at a time I guess but it all seems a bit daunting sometimes. Should we do it? Is it the right time? We don't know. I guess we will see what happens.

Well, Monday came and again the weather was superb!! Stefen & Jonathan both went with their classes to a nature park today which was almost like a mini zoo as there were many animals. They were both able to pet a horse and Stefen got to hold a baby fox. They were thrilled. 

As for us, we still haven't got any word on our paper work from Canada yet but hopefully we will get some info today.  As per yesterdays blog we were hoping to get on BT with our sign from Palma but they didn't even show our picture or read our little story. As it turns out, our pic is posted on BT blog. Ah well. Also, I found out today from the real estate brokerage that I interviewed with 3 times,  that the market is tough and it doesn't look like they can fit me in at this point. I guess I'll cross real estate sales off the potential job list. As I said before...Ah well.  We still have a few tricks up our sleeve.  Tuesday is for sure the day that great things will happen!!

What a great day today was. The weather was stunning( See Photo). I was out for a run today and it was so warm I had no choice but to take off my shirt. You will hear often of weather on this blog because we are quite happy to be avoiding cold and snow. I have a small wager with my Step Father, I say there will be a significant snow weather event between Nov 22-25 and he says no. I was just looking at Toronto long range weather and it looks like snow Nov 22-23. I guess we will see what happens. 

On Friday we were watching BT and they had this contest. You needed to take a photo of a monument saying hi to BT where ever you are watching so we headed in to Palma and took a photo in front of the Cathedral(See Photo). We have emailed it in so if you have a chance to watch BT tomorrow morning, take a look for us. The Cathedral is Amazing! We haven't been inside yet but we are going over the Christmas break. We can't wait. I think it is almost 400 yrs old. After we took our pic we walked around a little bit throughout the Downtown area where all the shops are. Totally and completely closed. On Sundays everything is like a morgue here. Sometimes, its actually kind of nice.  Look out Monday, We are comin for ya and it's gonna be one hell of a good one!! You Can Do It!!

TGIF

Well, we are at the end of the week. For us it has been a short week as Mon was a holiday here.  The weather has been interesting here. Temps in the day of about 17 C - 18C, at night around 10C-12C but there has been some serious torrential downpours and wind gusts nearing hurricane force. That being said, today is going to be 20C and sun is out shining again. What a great place. We are are very excited to see winter.

We received news this week that we will not have to leave the EU with regards to Julie and the kids' residency here in Spain so we are pretty relieved but we were almost starting to look forward to going to Africa. Ah, maybe another time.

We are also hoping to get our car back today although it will have to go in next week for actual repair. Approx 1 week after we bought the car we started hearing a rattle noise whilst accelerating. Anyways, it turns out that it is the catalytic converter(700 Euros) and we had to take the car to the dealer to hopefully have them rectify the situation as you should not have to replace such a part after 1 week while having been told that everything is great when you purchase a vehicle. I guess we shall se what happens. Maybe all 4 of us will just hop on the moto together.

Custom Search

Today is a holiday here in Mallorca and it is to remember the dead. The Holiday is Nov 1 but because it fell on a Saturday, Monday becomes the holiday. The weather is great here today. It is about 20 C with Sun and a slight breeze. We have had some fierce wind these last few days. Try gusts of 120km/h but today is great. We just got back from a walk to our favorite pastry shop down the street. They make some incredible sweets as well as bread. It was a great day for a walk but we are still trying to figure out what to wear as each day weather wise is new for us but I can think of worse troubles to have.

The beginning pt7

We are still trying to get all of our documentation and paper work all sorted out. We may go Morocco, Africa for a day or two to renew Julie and the kids' elegibility. Hopefully, we will meet our deadline. Anyways, Julie has done some Italian-English translation and I do believe I have gotten job although I am still waiting for details. (www.inmonova.com) We are loving it here! We have purchased a 125cc moto & a 1999 Honda Prelude and getting on well. We definately miss everyone but we are loving it here!!!! Hopefully I can add some pics, still not sure yet. Anyways, talk soon.

The beginning pt6

The kids started school on September 4 at their new school(Baleares International School) uniforms and all. They re loving it and the standard of education which they are receiving is much higher than what they could have gotten here. They are fitting in well socially and academically they are both at the top of their classes, I am proud to say. Stefen is now learning guitar and Jonathan will soon be doing a sports club. They do miss their bikes and the driveway, friends, Grandparents and cousins but it has almost been no big deal for them. They are fantastic!

The beginning pt5

The apartment really feels European with all of the tiles and all. Plus, we are in a very Spanish area which is great. We have tourism,restaurants and the beach 5 min down the road(Big hill. Many hills in Mallorca) In August the temperatures with humidity were hitting low to mid 40's but our apartment was relatively cool and breezy giving of its situation on ground floor. Anyways,we are already thinking about getting our next place. Fall is here now and we are very damp in Mallorca all year round. So in Fall and Winter, mornings and evenings are on the damp side. We don't have A/C or heat so we picked up a couple of heaters for night time and such.
We have satellite tv and we paid one time fee but the channels suck and we probably wont spend fifty pounds a month for programming as we are finding some our favorite show and channels online.

The beginning pt4

The space was tight but we were on a mission to find a place to live in Mallorca and not spend a ton of money on a hotel. We were not coming with a holiday mentality. We were focused. As focused as one can be without ever having been to Mallorca, Spain ever before. Julie had been corresponding with an agent from the island for an apartment(flat) and we were expecting to see some options. There was one option(Our new home)or potentially hope to find something else through the agency or privately with 3 days remaining at the hotel. Oh wouldn't it be great to spend a months rent for another week in that hotel. Also our timing sucked for apartments as August is still very busy with tourists and not much is available. The kids started school on September the 4th so it was important for us to be settled by then. Anyways, we took the only 2 bed flat we saw and man, is it small. Looking back, our house was huge!!But hey we're movin on up to the East Side so it's a small sacrifice for now.

The beginning pt3

As we are driving towards the hotel that we now see, we realize the problem that is now at hand... The hotel is on a one-way street heading uphill with parking on both sides however only right side was available. Oh yeah, there was also a curb. Ok, one more thing, I am driving a standard vehicle and haven't figured out that whole parking brake thing. Anyways, I am trying to parallel park(I rarely have to do it)on a hill in a medium sized spot and it was Hell!! I was almost in and then I stalles a couple of times and as I look in the mirror and see Julie standing behind the mini van to guide me, I figure she should probably move!! I am glad she moved because Whamm!!! I hit the car behind me. Julie would have lost her legs!. Totally crazy stuff but it all worked out.Weather wise it was already cookin but I was soaked. I guess that also had something to do with the fact that we were staying on 7 th floor but the elevator only went to the 6th and I had to carry all 8 bags up the rest myself. The room was very small but had great view! In order to sleep well we had to take the mattresses off both beds and use both box springs and mattresses to sleep. It took up all of the floor space. Totally crazy stuff.

The beginning pt2

Imagine, we finally get to Palma airport and collect our life from the luggage return and now are looking for our rental car booth. We had already reserved so it was a breeze,until we left the booth! We had to head towards the far end of parking lot where we would eventually find our car rental company and then car. Immediately the concern was, are all of our bags going to fit? Although just, it all fit. I had printed out directions from the airport to the hotel but for some reason it never seems to work out. The highway was relatively easy but finding the hotel was a nightmare. We must have past it a million times before we stumbled upon it.

The beginning pt1

Aug 5 we closed the deal on our house back in Toronto and headed to the Marriot Hotel by the airport. It was cool, we had some friends and family say good bye and then we were off to Mallorca the next day. Toronto-Montreal- Zurich,Switzerland- Palma de Mallorca.Everything was going well until the rental car in Zurich.We had a 9 hour lay off in Zurich and decided that we would rent the cheapest rental car and explore Zurich for a few hours. Our must be fate as the rental car we accepted had advertising wrap around it but believe it or not, it was advertising Mallorca!. Anyways, we arrive in Zurich city and park in an under ground parking and went walking. The city was very quiet for what back home would be rush hour. It was very beautiful in Zurich and it was cool to see the Swiss Alps. Upon leaving the car park, I reversed in a concrete poll. It was a standard car, the spots are very tiny and of course our children( Stefen&Jonathan)were in the back. Fortunately, when we were finally able to find the airport, which at one point seemed impossible the girl receiving the car didn't notice minor damage. We left the rental car and headed for the elevator up to Departures. When we got to the elevator we weren't having any luck but as we finally learned, we were pushing a circle on the wall, not the button. Ah well, it all worked out

We are online!

Welcome to Living in Mallorca. We are a bit late in creating this blog so we will back track a little and summarize our time here thus far as best we can.

Darren & Julie Dunlop