8/2 -And the forecast was correct. We had a pleasant trip of 36 hours, arriving in Fornells, Menorca
at 2:15 in the afternoon. We relaxed for about a half an hour and then went into town to clear in to Spain. The
Port Authority office was closed even though the hours on the door said it should be open. We asked someone standing
nearby what the hours were and he told us they are normally open 9:00- 11:00, and then he laughed. We picked up
a few groceries and went back to the boat to relax.
8/3 Back to town to walk around. I just couldn't
resist a stand that was on the dock and had to make a purchase. It was 50 feet of candy. I bought some licorice
mix. We then walked up to the tower right outside of town and back to the boat. Glenn is still recovering from
the overnights as he doesn't sleep well at all on these shorter overnight trips. I don't get more than 3 hours at a
time of sleep but I can fall asleep under about any conditions.
8/4-5 There's not much to see here but the
weather is too windy for us to move on and Glenn is determined to stay in one spot and rest. We are trying to take the
boat to Mao to get a Vodaphone chip for the internet but it has been cloudy and rainy both of these days. We have
been going to an internet cafe in town trying to find somewhere to berth the boat for the winter. This is always tough
because a lot of e-mail addresses and phone numbers don't work, we don't get answers to the phone calls, and it takes forever
to get answers to the e-mails. We actually tried to take the bus into Mao today. We waited at the bus stop for
15 minutes after the time it was supposed to arrive and then gave up and started to talk to town. 2 minutes down the
road, the bus passed us. We need to remember that we are in Spanish time now, not Italian.
8/6 Off to
Mao. The bus ride took an hour and we got to see a lot of the countryside of Menorca. It is really a beautiful
island. There are cows, sheep, farming, mountains and beautiful beaches. All of the buildings in the resort areas
are new and very attractive. Fornells is a huge harbor with a pretty consistent wind and little in the way of waves.
They rent sailboards, Lazers, and kayaks. They have classes for sailing and the sailboards with occasional races.
It is really beautiful to see all of the colorful sails from the sailboards and the little sailboats zipping around.
This is a very pretty island. In town we got our internet and visited the museum. Then we actually had a real
sitdown restaurant meal. We were going to go the tapas route but then Glenn's hunger and love of fish over rode the
desire for adventure and he got the daily plate of fish. So I had the daily plate of chicken and we traded tastes.
I had 2 chicken kabobs, 2 eggs, tomatoes, french fries, bread and drink for 6 Euros. Glenn had fish, salad, french fries,
bread and drink. We ate it all! There really wasn't anything else to see in town, the church was closed, so we
headed back to the bus station. Back to Fornells and on to the boat. It was a nice, full day.
8/7
The wind is down and we are off to the southern coast.
8/8 We are in the beautiful bay of Cala Santa Galdana.
It has a beautiful beach, park, hills and caves. The bay is surrounded by tall hills with ancient caves cut into them
that were lived in centuries ago. We took a hike up on the hill through pine trees with several trails that
went out to the edge looking over beautiful beaches. The colors of the water remind me of the Bahamas. There are
people kayaking through the bays and along the coast. This is one of the nicest places we have been to this year.
But the wind god rules. The winds are good tomorrow so we have to leave (that is Glenn god speaking for the wind god).
I would have liked to stay at least another day. Oh well.
8/9 Off to Porto Petro Mallorca. We came in
to a harbor that was listed in our guide as having anchoring to find it full of mooring balls. We were trying to figure
out what to do when someone came up in a dinghy. The balls are by reservation only. We don't have a reservation,
we want to stay just for the night, so - it's free. Isn't that nice?
8/10 We have made it to Port Andratx
where our friends from two years ago, Horst and Inga, are saving us a mooring ball. We are planning on staying here
and visiting for about a week. Horst has stayed here off and on for 5 years and knows everyone. We spent the afternoon
on their boat with friends dropping in (by dinghy) all afternoon. At the horridly late hour, for us, of 8:30 we went
in for dinner. We were among the earliest diners. The owner came over and gave Horst a welcoming kiss. All
the waiters know him too. It's an Italian restaurant owned by a Sicilian with a Greek wife, in Spain. They also
speak German. There is a large German community of boaters here. We had a lovely dinner and didn't go home until
10:30!!! Glenn was even awake as he drove the dinghy back to the boat.
8/11 Horst and Inga are driving
us to Palma as our tour guides. We were there two years ago on a Sunday and the Cathedral was closed. Today we
got to see the Cathedral. Right beside it is the summer palace for the king. The Spanish flag flies above it -
he and his family are in residence. They spend every summer in Mallorca. The king and his son both sail. Mrs Obama
even came for a visit. Palma is a beautiful old town with lots of shops and restaurants on narrow cobbled streets.
It is known for its shoe stores. Some of the architecture on the old buildings is beautiful. We walked the city
for 3 hours and then drove to the beach for dinner. I could enjoy being a tourist.
8/12 Happy birthday
to Glenn's brother, Stephen. Today we explored Port Andratx, went grocery shopping in a real grocery store and in the
cool evening took a walk up one of the hills to see the beautiful houses.
JUST A NOTE PUT IN HERE:
We have decided to put Meercat up for sale. This decision didn't come easily but we have been sailing for 6 years and
we are begining to miss home and family more than usual. Glenn just really doesn't want to sail north, against the wind,
to the Baltic. We will be leaving the boat in Spain for the winter and we will see what happens. If anyone is
interested I have set up a separate page with the details.
8/13-16 We are staying here in Port Andratx visiting
Horst, walking the hills and just relaxing in this beautiful harbor. My personal highlight was when we walked to the
city of Anratx 3 kms away and decided to have an ice cream. I chose a Nestles Extreme. It started out with chocolate
ice cream on top with little chocolate pieces. Good. As I got dowh a little further I realized that the cone had
a layer of chocolate like a chocolate bar on the inside. Very good. I continued to eat through the mix of vanilla
and chocolate ice cream and towards the bottom of the cone realized that the chocolate lining on the cone was now solid chocolate.
OMG I literally said, "It can't get any better than this." Well I took another bite of the solid chocolate
and found dark chocolate liquid inside. THE BEST ICE CREAM CONE I HAVE EVER HAD.
8/17 Today at 1:30
we set off for an overnite to Barcelona. What a pleasant trip. The wind was with us so we average 5.7 knots with
one engine. It's so nice when you don't fight mother nature.
BARCELONA !!!!!
What
a beautiful city. It has wide, clean and uncrowded sidewalks and streets. There are gardens, sculptures and beautiful
architecture everywhere. Did I mention that there are gardens and parks everywhere? There are little parks along
the street (wide street) with ping pong tables lined up. We went to Cituadella Park where we found a fountain that rivals
Trevi in Rome. We went to the Picasso Museum but there was a line. Glenn hates lines. So we went
to the Aquarium and stood in a line three times longer. It is a very nice aquarium. The largest in Europe
(according to our guidebook). We're tired today from our overnite so that's all we did. We did pick up some
takeout paella on the way home. We have to have some Spanish paella. It was full of seafood which means Glenn
liked it and I tolerated it. But I had to try it.
8/19 We're off! First, and most important, we are
going to the Museum of Chocolate. Chocolate was brought from the Aztecs to Europe by the Spaniards (better
than all the gold they took). It was actually originally used as money by the Aztecs. They liked it
without sugar and even spicy with peppers. We had Aztec chocolate soup in one of the museums in Washington DC and it
is good that way. The Spaniards learned to put sugar in it. We had a cup of chocolate in the museum cafe and it
was like drinking a melted chocolate bar. It was sooo good.
From here we went to the Barcelona Cathedral.
I was more impressed with the architecture, the huge Gothic arches than the usual gold and silver. We then took the
subway to the Sagrada Familia (Sacred Family) church designed by Gaudi. Our pictures and my words just can't describe
it. I was impressed by the Vatican because it's famous and full of famous works. This church is just so different
from anything I have ever seen. It was begun in 1882 and they believe it will be completed in thirty years.
Gaudi lived on the site for 14 years until his death. His crypt is in the church. It is so modern and just
unusual. There is no gold, silver or jewels needed to make this church beautiful. It is all white, with nature
used in the symbolism. There will be 8 towers when it is completed. We took the lift up to the top and then walked
the 400 winding steps down. Nobody told me that it was going to be dark in the staircase and totally open on one
side. Unfortunately, once we started down there was no going back. I have to say this church was the highlight
of this year's trip and Barcelona one of the top cities that we have seen. Probably second only to Istanbul and Rome.
I
have to jump in here with the story of our "First Scam" attempt. As we were walking along a side street a
man came up and asked for directions to the Arc of Triumph. We showed him on our map and he said he would probably have
to take a taxi. I told him it was close enough to walk. He was just mentioning a 50 euro bill when two men came
walking quickly up to us and flashed badges. They said they were the tourist police. They wanted to know what
we were talking to this man about, did he ask about money. He starts in whining, "no, no I have done nothing."
He pulled out his wallet and showed his money without even being asked. Supposedly there were a lot of money scams going
on and the "police" mumbled something about Albania. We were asked for our passports, Glenn showed them his
driver's license. Then they asked us to show them our money. I just looked at them and said, "no".
They asked if we had US dollars or euros. I told them euros and they again asked to see our money. I was in a
dress with no pockets and no purse. I just held my hands out and shrugged. Glenn had 10 million pockets in his
shorts and he had the backpack but they didn't ask him again. All of this was done very rapidly and very aggressively.
They should have known better than to try and intimidate US citizens because we do not get intimidated by our police.
After that all three of them quickly walked away. I guess they figured out we weren't that dumb. They really need
to get their act together a little better.
Tonight we stopped and had tapas at a small bar/restaurant. Another
Spanish specialty that we had to try. It was really good. We had spicy potatoes, fried anchovies, olives, croquettes
with potato and meat inside, some "bombs", ham, garlic bread and a liter of beer each. We staggered back to
the boat.
8/20 We are dedicating today to Gaudi but first we are visiting the Catalyan Palace of Music.
As the guide told us, "it's not designed by Gaudi." It is a beautiful theatre designed to use natural light.
It is resplendent with stained glass and sculptures. We were not allowed to take photos so we only have a few from the
outside which just don't do it justice. Sitting in it made me want to come back for a concert.
After this
we took the subway to Guell Park which has many designs by Gaudi and a house that he lived in for 6 years. The park
is on the top of a hill and there are escalators spaced along the road to take you up it. I have to say again that Barcelona
is a great city. The park had paths going up, through the woods, to the Gaudi designs at the top. We spent a couple
of hours here and then walked back to the subway and took it to the old downtown area. There is a block there called
Illa de la Discordia along the Passeig de Gracia road that has houses built in a variety of architecture. One of them
is Gaudi's house. There is also Mila Casa, built by him, that is now an apartment building. I hope our pictures
give you an idea of the uniqueness of these buildings.
On the way back we stopped at the Maritime Museum
which appears to be in some form of renovation and was rather disappointing. They did have a wonderful display of Russian
art. Speaking of renovations three of the museums we attempted to see our first day were closed for renovations.
Barcelona is a very old city with a lot of narrow back streets and it seemed that we spent an hour each trying to find these
museums only to find them closed when we got there. We were getting pretty discouraged but everything was fine after
that. I will say we have not had as much trouble finding places as we have had here. It is basically due to these
little streets that are around the corner and not even labelled on the map. We had three maps - our guidebook, a free
one from the marina and one we finally bought - and we were still frequently lost. Everywhere you looked people were
walking down the street looking at maps and staring around them dumbfounded. It's a wonder we didn't all run in to each
other.
After the Maritime museum I took Glenn to the movies for his birthday which is in two days. He got
to pick the movie. Needless to say it was full of fighting. Oh well, happy birthday Glenn.
8/21
We took the subway to Poble Esanya, a village with 116 houses that are replications of Spanish houses throughout history.
They should check out Epcot. It was very boring. A few people wandering around in period costumes and some music
would have helped a lot.
8/22-23 We are on our way down the coast to the marina that we will leave our boat
in for the winter. Some personal news thrown in here. Our son, Glennie, gave is dad a wonderful birthday present
- news that there is another grandchild on the way. We are so excited for us and very happy for him and Melissa!
8/24
Our boat was hauled out at 10:00 a.m. and our European cruise is over. How sad. It has been wonderful and I am
sorry to see it end. The next couple of weeks will be spent packing and preparing the boat to be left. We will
take the train to Barcelona Sept. 7th and fly to Miami on the 8th.
It is pretty here with a lagoon beside us.
Unfortunately, the lagoon means humidity and mosquitoes. There is a large boat beside us blocking the wind. All
of this adds up to it being extremely hot. Fortunately, there is a pool. It takes a long time at night for our
bedroom to cool down to make it comfortable enough to sleep. I guess this will help me look forward to leaving the boat.
9/2
We had a slight rain and the weather cooled. That's it, summer is over. It's amazing that one day the heat is
so bad you can hardly stand it and the next day we were chilly in bed at night. The mosquitoes are gone and it's really
very nice here.
As usual, with our plans, we have changed our mind about a few things. We were going to leave
the boat in Spain for the winter and see what happened in reference to selling it. We have now decided that lucky Janice
will work January and February and poor Glenn will fly back to Spain after Christmas and bring Meercat to the Caribbean.
Anyone interested in making the trip with him please contact us. Sometime in March Janice will join Glenn in the
Caribbean and sail Meercat up to Wrightsville Beach, NC. Here she will stay and be further enjoyed by us until
sold. We just couldn't bare to leave her alone in a strange country.
At this point I would like
to insert an e-mail we received from our son Duane.
You (collectively Mom and Dad) certainly have been
to some great countries and have experienced a lot of diversity. One thing that struck me as interesting is that as
many difficulties we have in the world; poverty and just getting along with one another, once you are introduced to the people
- the individuals - they are always generous with their hospitality no matter what their means are. I'm not sure how
it is all lost by the time the officials of each country deal with one another or how the citizens of one country perceive
the citizens of another. Most people are inherently good.
It is a shame that you are ending the trip
early this year, but I understand the reasons. The Meercat got you across the Atlantic and that is all I could've asked
for. She enabled you to spend large periods of time in some of the best cities in the world. Most people
spend years or a lifetime saving to spend a few weeks in hotels, restaurants and visiting tourist areas. For a fraction
(cost of the boat not included) you are able to spend many weeks seeing the towns and the people to get a real feel for the
culture and history. An ever changing diet of food, personalities, economies, vegetation and mountains. Cities
inhabited for millenia, and other than "quality of life" changes, really not much is any different today.
Tea has always been served to a patron at a Turkish market and certain chocolate desserts have always tasted so good that
they warranted a full paragraph description on a site typically reserved to describe a day's activities.
Motivation
is a great force. It can push you thousands of miles across an ocean to visit countries still another one thousand miles
away. A journey that is six years young, but took 30 years to get to the starting line. The Meercat was your
vessel and your home and she will be missed. The memories she brought you; however, will not. Your journey is
making a u-turn where a new vessel awaits. A faster one this time. Quickly whisking you to new mountains, volcanoes
and personalities. The weather will be tropic. The people you meet will offer you a hand and a cold fruity beverage
just like the one that generations before them have enjoyed. Let me start by welcoming you back to this side of the
Atlantic where there's plenty of fun still to be had.
Love,
Duane
