There are a variety of activities organized by other liveaboards which include Sunday long-long bike rides around the City with a stop for a café con leche; Sunday BBQs, yoga by a certified yoga instructor, who has also authored yoga articles for Women Aboard. Then there is Creative Colors, a group of talented women sharing their varied interests. Terry and I (budding watercolorists) also attend an art class at the local school given by a non-English speaking art instructor; somehow we communicate. I find it challenging not only to learn the watercolors techniques but to also be able to listen to the other blossoming artists talk solely in Spanish (if I come home with a few new words each night, that would be wonderful). They are most patient with us; we laugh a lot when we totally miss the word but finally get it.
We just attended a wonderful 3-hour performance of the Messiah at the Basilica Santa Maria del Mar. There are other Christmas concerts around the city; the streets are lit with beautiful overhead festive lights; preparations for family gatherings are underway—the lines at certain vendors have grown tremendously. Dry salted codfish (bacalao) that must be soaked for days before preparation must be a holiday tradition as these lines are quite long. My mom used to make some of this when we had the traditional seven fish dinner on Christmas Eve with the family.
We decided to spend Thanksgiving back in NJ and Christmas here, so on November (in fact, the day the AA flight crashed into Rockaway, NY), we left bright and early from Barcelona with a connection in Paris. Due to fog in Paris, the Air France flight we were on was delayed in Spain, which caused us and many others to miss connections. While standing in line for re-ticketing, the buzz started around the airport about the AA plane; all sorts of rumors were running wild. Well, Air France/Continental was not able to continue with flights into the NY/NJ area so we were put up at a hotel for the night and headed out the next morning (needless to say, with trepidations about flying).
We landed safely at Newark Airport with all luggage accounted for. We had three weeks in which to spend many hours at pre-arranged annual physical appointments, etc. We also had dinner plans with a host of old friends and family we had not seen in over a 1.5 years. One of which included a wonderful Thanksgiving Day dinner with my Mom, my sister, Liz, our brother-in-law Jack, my son Cory and his girlfriend Carrie, and my Uncle Joe. Needless to say, we were not hungry for days; fantastic dinner, thanks Liz and Jack.
Before we left Spain, Terry and I put together a slideshow presentation encompassing over 100 digital photos of our trip beginning with our East coast cruise up to Maine and to Nova Scotia, back down to the Chesapeake, to the Virgin Islands and then finally to Europe. We presented the show to three different groups, first to our Yacht Club (Raritan) in Perth Amboy with over 100 people in attendance, again to Terry’s architectural friends and then to some of his staff when he worked as a structural engineer in NJ.
We have included a small set of photos that hopefully represents some of the folks with whom we spent time. Fred and Laura H, Sam and Ro, we apologize, somehow we missed catching a photo of you. Enjoy the pictures. Thanks to all of you who put aside time to either attend the slideshow or join us for other get-togethers. In the pictures, you will also see one of our chocolate labs that we adopted out (with sadness) to a great family we know who lives on a lake and has three children. During this trip, we made time to see her; she appears to be having a grand time.
We will remain onboard Zelda in Barcelona until early Spring. The weather here is a bit chilly but most of the time sunny. Our heaters are keeping the boat and us nice and warm. We hope to do some inland touring of Spain during the winter. We also plan a trip to England late this winter with our good friends and neighbors, Robbie and Barb, who are from the UK. We are thinking of getting a cat; checking out the options at the moment.
By the way, we have decided to look for a larger sailboat; therefore, Zelda is for sale. If your dreams are to explore the Med aboard a lovely blue water sailboat, don’t have time to sail over, well, your problem is solved, she is already here. All you have to do is pack your bags, lock the doors, fly over (check in hand, of course) and off you go. Think about the possibilities!
Terry and I wish all of you the happiest and healthiest of holiday seasons. Our companionway is always open for visitors; so think about a trip to the wonderful city of Barcelona and stay with us.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
Marie and Terry
S/V Zelda