Spanish Pueblo and Castle de Bellver

We have mentioned a few times already that the boat rocks a lot in this marina, so much so that we feel like we are in unpleasant seas. We are constantly crashing into both neighbors. Thank God for fenders, but even with the fenders, it makes an unpleasant crashing sound. The ropes make loud, creaking cries as they strain against the wind. The loud noises wake us up multiple times during the night. Eric gets up a couple times a night to adjust the lines. We aren’t sleeping well, which makes getting up in the morning hard. Also, getting out of bed in the morning when it is cold is terrible. Eric has been running upstairs, turning on the generator and heater, then crawling back into bed until the bitter edge of cold is gone. And finally, the sun doesn’t rise here until almost 0800, which throws our internal clocks off. When we awake at a normal hour, like 0700, we think it is the middle of the night and go back to sleep.

Needless to say, we had a hard time getting up this morning and were off to a late start. We were happy to see that the skies were mostly sunny with scattered clouds, and it was not quite as windy. Most importantly, it was significantly warmer. We still needed long pants and a jacket, but not the heavy sweaters we have been wearing underneath the jacket.

We had an early lunch at the restaurant across the street before catching the red tour bus. We have noticed gazpacho on the menu at most of the restaurants we have been to, it is a traditional Spanish dish. Gazpacho is a cold tomato soup. This restaurant makes it with sparkling water instead of regular water, which Eric absolutely loved. We also ordered the scallops, which in and of themselves weren’t interesting enough to write about. But the way it was served was — on a bed of mashed peas, with a side of a hot salad of grilled vegetables, and some kind of foamy stuff, like the foam from steamed milk, except it wasn’t milk. Maybe steamed butter? Does such a thing exist?

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Fortunately, there is a Continue reading

History of Spain

Spain is the second largest country in Western Europe after France in terms of land size, though is one of the least densely populated countries in Western Europe. Spain encompasses most of the Iberian Peninsula — a block of land on the west side of the Mediterranean Sea that is connected on the north to mainland France. The southernmost part of mainland Spain is literally only a Continue reading

Chores and Day 1 of Passage to Mallorca, Spain

Yesterday was yet another chore day. Sometimes we feel like the boat chores are cumbersome and we wish we were traveling like a regular tourist, where every day is a sightseeing day and you never have to take time away from sightseeing to clean and do maintenance. But our trip to Paris was a reminder of why we chose to travel by boat. Going to and from Paris we schlepped our bag on several trains, busses and subways, and up and down at least a million stairs. Our bag was small and light, but it was still a hassle, especially on the tightly packed subways. How much of a hassle would it be with the big, heavy bags we would have for long term traveling? And it is so nice to have your own bed and your own bathroom, never having to wonder if your hotel is going to be up to your preferred standards. Another bonus of traveling via private boat is not having to pack up your stuff every time you move on to the next place. And, we have figured out that no matter how you travel, whether plane, train, or boat, traveling for many hours wears you out exactly the same. We prefer the privacy and comfort of our own home as we travel, instead of in an uncomfortable, public medium.

Eric was busy all day. He Continue reading