What does $206,000,000 Look Like?

I know this is old. I found the pics and I’m posting this so I have it saved whenever I need to look at $206,000,000 ;)

Here are some more pics here
http://fiyolo.com/cpg1410/thumbnails.php?album=15

The Story

Mexican police found $206 million of drug-smuggling cash stuffed into suitcases, drawers and closets in a mansion in an exclusive neighborhood of the capital, the attorney general’s office said on Friday.
Here is the rest of the story on Yahoo

So we almost moved to France

I can’t remember when it was exactly but some time in November/December 06 we decided we were ready to move. We are going on our 6th year here in the Bahamas and ready for something new. We wanted to move to Europe and decided to take a trip to the South of France to see if we could live there. So on Christmas eve we got on a plane and went real estate shopping in the Nice – Monaco region.
The trip was great. It was our second time visiting Nice (we had been there for our honeymoon a few years ago). We loved everything about it. The lifestyle. The homes. The people. The food. The weather. Everything! We were 100% sold.

So you may be thinking… Why are we moving to Toronto if we loved Nice so much? It’s all about our business. Moving to Nice would have meant continuing to be in contact with the office remotely. Working remotely was easy when we started but as our company continues to grow it has become more and more challenging for myself and I’m sure for my managers. So after weeks of deliberation we decided to move to Toronto and kick some major ass! In moving to Toronto we aren’t only giving up the Bahamas but giving up Nice. My motivation has never been higher and I can’t wait to get back to Toronto and kick some major ass! ;)

There were two places we came close to getting They are quite different.

The first is the Ville Franche house. This was Beth’s dream house. She fell in love with it the second she walked in. The Ville Franche house was a bigger investment and still required some work. Because of that we felt buying the Ville Franche house meant we were ready to live in Nice for a good 5 to 10 years. At that time we weren’t ready to make that much of a commitment.
The other home we had some interest in was Casa Bianca. Casa Bianca was a brand new condo development. It wasn’t as nice (as Ville Franche) but fit exactly with what we were looking for short term (for a year or so). It was brand new. Everything was ready to go. Near the beach. Near the airport. Great view. Well priced. Long term it was a little small. But for the first year or 2 it would do and would be easy to resell.

Anyhow in the end Toronto is where we are moving. Here are some pics of the Ville Franche and Casa Bianca homes.

Ville Franche House

Click Here for all the Ville Franche Pics

Click Here for a Ville Franche Virtual Tour

Casa Bianca

Click Here for all the Casa Bianca Pics

Dubai Pics

Here is a link to all our Dubai Pics

Click Here for all the Dubai Pics

Arriving in Dubai!

The trip to Dubai was surprising good. We flew economy with British Airways. It was an afternoon flight and was about 6 hours long. Luckily we scored some exit row seats and that made the flight work for me ;)

We arrived at our hotel and it was gorgeous. We were somewhat surprised because of the 4 hotels we booked for the trip (we wanted to try a bunch of different hotels instead of staying at just one) this was the cheapest hotel. It was brand new and is called the Kempinski Hotel and was connected to the beautiful Emirates Mall (which is also home to Ski Dubai).

One of my biggest fears (definitely more an ignorant fear than a justified one) was whether I would like the food or not. The food was absolutely unbelievable. On our first night we ordered a pasta linguine and club sandwich and they were out of this world. The next morning we had room service breakfast and it too was dynamite.

While enjoying the food wasn’t going to be a problem we were faced with a food surprise. We happened to be in Dubai during Ramadan. Being a predominantly Muslim country Ramadan is taken very seriously. During Ramadan (which is a month long) Muslim fast and do not eat or drink anything during daylight hours. As a result all restaurants and all sources of food and drink are closed during the day. The only place you can find food is in your hotel and you have eat it in private. You can be fined if you are caught eating, drinking, smoking or chewing gum in public.

Anyhow back to our first few days in Dubai. We stayed at the Kempinski hotel from Oct 12th to Oct 14th. The first few days of the trip we took it easy. I was suffering from motion sickness/dizziness. I’m not sure what caused it but i wasn’t going to let it ruin my trip. One our first day I took it easy. Beth went shopping at the mall and I hung out at the pool. I have to say the pool was amazing. The water temperature was somehow just perfect and everything was so clean and spot on. Really impressive. Later that night we went SKIING in the desert. Obviously it wasn’t Mont Tremblant but it was pretty cool.

All in all our first few days in Dubai were great. Here are the pics ;)

Click Here for All Our Ski Dubai Pics

Click Here for All Our Kempinski Hotel and First 2 Days in Dubai Pics