The weeks are flying by, as our winter in Barcelona is winding down. The weather here has begun to feel a bit like Spring. It is now warming up during the day with cooler/chilly evenings. We have had very little rain but have had some rather windy days (more recently 30+ knots). People are beginning to enjoy the beaches; today, there were a few brave souls swimming in the Med Sea; a bit too cold for my taste.
Our fellow boating friends are busy working on projects to make ready for the upcoming sailing season. Terry just built and installed very handsome screens for all the hatches. The next project is to replace the forward hatch. Barcelona offers a wonderful range of resources for boaters; from hardware stores to chandleries to stores that provide the fishing fleet with lines, nets, etc. Sharing tools and parts among the boats is common. If another boat can’t help out, more often than not, someone can point you to a store that will probably have what you need.
Terry collected, formatted and developed a cookbook of over 140 recipes submitted by over 37 boating friends here. It was a 2-month project and has now gone to the printer for duplication. We never expected it to be quite this large, but once word got around, the recipes started flowing in. The rule was if you didn’t submit a recipe you were not given a copy. The book also contains some of our beautiful, color photos of various food dishes.
We have been participating in informative weekly sessions called “East Meets West.” Basically, yachts that have been east give presentations of their passages; where to anchor, which marina to use, customs regulations, costs, etc. The timing for these sessions is perfect as we are now discussing our plans to move further east this spring. For the boats heading west, Terry and I presented the US and British Virgin Islands since we wintered there last year. To date, the talks have covered Turkey, Greece, France, and parts of Italy, Cypress and the Caribbean.
One of the biggest events in Spain is the Carnival which began this week with events planned everyday. Last night, we went to a parade that had what they call here ‘giants’. These are handmade gigantic people over 10 feet tall that are beautifully dressed. Someone inside operates them so that they walk in the parade. In March in Valencia, Spain, there is an entire festival devoted to displays and parades of the giants; we hope to go. One of the biggest Carnival celebrations is held in the town of Sietges, about 30 minutes by train south of Barcelona. The parade began at about 10 pm and continued all night long; we stayed until about 1 am. This parade was quite extravagant; gorgeous costumes, floats, load music and lots of partying. Some of our friends stayed all night, especially since the later you stayed the harder it was to get transportation back to Barcelona. Tonight we will go to the Sardine Festival to be held on the beach along the Med; about a 5 minutes walk from the marina we are in.
The Spanish language school that I attend held a cooking competition to celebrate Carnival. Anyone who wished to bring in a home cooked dish could participate. I prepared a plate of delicious Mushroom, Onion and Cheese tartlets (Tartaletas de Cebolla, Champions y Queso). Low and behold, they won 3rd prize; 1st prize was a sauté pan, 2nd an apron, and 3rd was 2-dozen eggs.
We have a new addition to the Zelda boat, an adorable gray Barcelona kitten. At first we thought it was a male so we named it Gaudi after the famous artist. Then we learned that it was a female, so now her name is Sophia. She is about 8 weeks young and keeps us entertained with her gymnastics. It is amazing how she has learned to climb to high places already. We think she is quite smart!
Hope you enjoy the new photos. We will keep you posted on other Carnival events that we attend. And certainly will keep you posted as to how Sophia is getting along.
We are looking forward to the arrival of spring and to another great sailing season. We have not exactly firmed up where we will winter next year, but potentials are Turkey or Cypress.
Marie & Terry