(Oct14th - Nov 4th)
Oct 14th - Just got in to Barcelona, what a terrible passage though! For the first 6/7 hours we had 30 knot gusts, and we were all feeling very ill. But luckily it eased off by about 9pm, so much so that we couldn't sail, so we had to motor! But we're here now, and we've survived our first 30 hour passage! Took some photos of the sunset over the ocean, and of course we had to put up the Spanish courtesy flag, so also captured that!
Oct 15th - We took a look around Barcelona, specifically a main street called the Ramblas. It was full of street entertainers and stalls selling really cheesy stuff, but we went off and looked down little streets too and there's so much to see! We saw a guy doing Flamenco, and found a huge square with really cool shops.
Oct 17th - Took a look at Gaudi architecture around the city, he is a genius! We took the bus tour, cheap easy, why not? His Gaudi lived around the turn of the century and his work is all over the city. His most famous is the Sangrada Familia, the only cathedral still being built, but even so it is a seriously breathtaking sight, these pictures don't do it justice!
Even though the cathedral was amazing the last place we went to was the best. We reached Park Guell in the evening so the light was going dim, just in time for sunset. It was huge, with steps up the centre, it had about three levels, and was surrounded by paths and gardens. The most amazing part was at the top, there was a wavy bench that went all round the area, covered in collages made from broken tiles. I hope the pictures give you an idea of the extravagance! I envy the people who get to hang there when ever they please! I highly recommend visiting Barcelona if only to visit Gaudi's work.
Of course he has many more buildings around the city here are a couple of them that we got to see,
Right now we're in Mahon, on the southeast coast of Menorca. We arrived here about a week ago, and it's beautiful. Luckily we have some friends here, so they've been showing us around, and we've taken advantage of their gorgeous house by taking showers and doing our washing! Tom arrived here a couple of days ago, he's planning to stay with us until the British Virgin islands, where he's hoping to find a job. We're staying around here for another 5 days, depending on a delivery were expecting of some spare parts. Then were headed to Gibraltar, probably a 4/5 day sail, the longest yet! There we'll take a day trip across the Strait to Morocco, which should be interesting! After about a week we'll carry on south for 5/6 days to the Grand Canaries, our last stop before crossing the Atlantic! We have some family visiting to see us off, and whilst were there the ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers), a big race across to St. Lucia will be leaving, so it's going to be PACKED with people!
On a web page note, I'll being taking down the photos of Graduation and the plays to make more room for new photos, so take a peek at those!
Otherwise give us a call, or email us, we'd love to hear how you're doing!
<------ Tom strutting his stuff on the guitar!
<------- Breakfast at our friends, the Wombwells
Going for a stroll through Mahon, dogs and all!
<------- Are you warm enough?! Tom trying out his foul weather gear, in 80F!