Friday Night, June 20, 2008

It’s 11:00 on Friday night. We’re back from “Pizza night”. Our suitcases are almost all packed. We’ve left the office as prepared as we can and made arrangements for the house, the dog and the guacamayo. We’ve successfully gone through weeks of the CADIVI process to get our 500 Euros each. We have our passports, tickets, travel insurance…. I think we’re ready. We’re off to sail the Mediterranean from Barcelona to the Baleares with our friends and hosts Captain Jacques Baré and his first (and only) mate Clara. They’ve done this before (Thank God!), but it’s a first for Ralph and me. First time in Barcelona, first time in the Baleares, first time spending two weeks on a sailboat. I can’t wait!!

I don’t know what our plans are after Sunday night once we manage to meet up with Jacques and Clara at the marina in Barcelona. They are coming in by sea from France. We are spending the next two days traveling from Maracaibo to Caracas to Madrid to Barcelona. Once we survive that the rest of the trip should be pure joy – until we have to come back by the same route.

Randy is excited because he will be spending two weeks at “Belen’s house”. He really has no idea where we will be. He thinks he’s going off to stay at his grandmother’s house and leaving us behind. He’s been asking for days when he will leave. His DVD player, accordion and harmonica are all stowed away in his suitcase – and I’m sure there are other things he’s added that I don’t know about.

Whatever it is we’re going to forget is pretty much forgotten by now. We have some time in the morning for last minute emergencies – but by noon we will (hopefully) be on the way to our Mediterranean adventure. I can't say how many chances we will have to be on-line, but I will keep up my log and post whenever I can. By July 6th we´ll be back here in Maracaibo with all the pictures taken, all the stories to share and all the memories to treasure forever.

Saturday 21- Caracas

Well, now that I have finally had lunch and two glasses of wine, I am ready to blog.

We arrived in the airport at Maracaibo this morning to find that they were without electricity. Fortunately, we were pre-checked and had our boarding passes. But anyone who has ever been in Maracaibo knows that “without electricity” means “without air conditioning”. When, under the best of circumstances, you know that you will be travelling 30 hours or more before your next shower, “no air-conditioning” is not what you want to hear.

Our boarding passes said we would board at 11:00. At 12:00 they had us all at the gate – in that little passageway in the heat. The plane was nowhere in sight. The little girl who had been playing peek-a-boo with me over her mother’s shoulder throughout the wait was now limp on her father’s shoulder with wet curls all around her face.

Finally, at 1:15 we boarded, and after a normal amount of confusion and discussion, we managed to take off – cold air, at last!!!!

We arrived in Maiquetia at 2:15 and things have been all up-hill since then.

The new (to me) indoor connection from the National to International airport is great. And the closer we got to International the colder the air.

We checked in at Air Europa, went through immigration and then finally – LUNCH!! I must admit, whether it was hunger or not – the Capresa Salad I had at Memphis was the best I’ve ever had. Creamy mozzarella, ripe tomatoes, a great pesto sauce, fresh basil leaves, fresh mushroom slices and black olives. It was heaven! And the wine was good, too.

Well, we have passed the point of uncertainty. We made it to Caracas on time for our international flight. We are checked in and our bags are checked. We are definitely on our way.

Tomorrow – Barcelona!!

We are scheduled to board at 6:00 - although the original departure time is 8:00 ?? Anyway - we will be in Madrid tomorrow morning and in Barcelona in the evening.

Sunday 22, 12:50 p.m.

We´re now in Madrid – and in the same time zone as the blog. The flight from Caracas was uneventful – seems like a blur now. We slept most of the time.

The attendant at AirEuropa in Caracas insisted that we don’t have to get our suitcases until we arrive in Barcelona. We asked again here at the airport and they say the same – so hopefully we will meet up with our bags and fishing rods this afternoon. Seems strange that we didn’t have to go through customs here in Madrid.

We don’t leave for Barcelona until 3 something this afternoon, so we will lunch, sit and walk for a couple of hours while we wait.

Sunday night, june 22 - Llegamos!

We never did figure out how to access the WiFi in Madrid airport. Our flight to Barcelona was fine – the first truly cold air since we left home. I can’t help but think that the air lines are trying to save energy. Up until now I always felt chilly on planes – so I brought a shawl and wore a heavy top. This trip, up until the Madrid/Barcelona flight, we were warm the whole time.
All our bags arrived as promised in Barcelona, and we never did pass through customs. ??
We took a cab to the Olympic Port, built for the Barcelona Olympic games, where Clara and Jacques awaited us aboard the Dushi – Clara, Jacques and Jibe, their son Christian’s small dog who would be accompanying us on our adventure.

We toured the boat, received initial instructions on good sailing etiquette, settled in to our cabin, had a long-awaited shower, and sat on the deck with drinks and pictures of their son Francois’ wedding. An old friend of theirs, Nuria, and her friend Alberto joined us for drinks and dinner. Nuria had lived in Venezuela for several years, but is Catalán, and returned here with her children about 8 years ago. She now has her own successful event planning business. Nuria and Alberto were delightful company, and we thank them for a wonderful introduction to Barcelona.
We walked around the port, chose a seafood restaurant, with the Spain/Italy soccer match on TV, and enjoyed an amazing pot pourri of seafood tapas – a “pica pica” as Nuria called it. Then we said “good-bye” to Nuria and Alberto and returned to the boat, after a slight impasse with the marina watchman.
Our first night aboard – Señores, Buenas Noches!

Puerto Olimpico, Barcelona

Monday, June 23

We (Ralph and I) woke up as we were leaving the harbor – at 7:00a.m. Jacques and Clara had been up and about for an hour and a half, or more in preparations.

We were off on our “12 hour tour”, sailing from Barcelona to Port Soller on the island of Mallorca.
I loved my first serious day sail. The waves and wind change constantly throughout the day – but it was all good. We saw a few other craft on the horizon, but basically it was us in the middle of the Mediterranean. A small group of dolphins kept us company for a few minutes. Ralph and Clara each napped in the morning, and again after lunch, but I didn’t want to miss a minute of our passage. The day was somewhat over cast and the breeze was chilly. We spent the day in jackets and sweaters.

We arrived at Port Soller at about 7:30p.m., passing between the two lighthouses which guard the entrance to the bay, each on its own rocky cliff – white to starboard, black and white stripe to port.

We moored, had drinks and dinner aboard, then went in to town by dinghy – a gesture much appreciated by Jibe, who had behaved himself impeccably throughout the lo-o-ong day without relief. We walked up the main street, stopping for ice cream. There are many English and German tourists in Mallorca, and so all the signs in storefronts are in German, English, Spanish and some also in Catalán.

On our way back to the boat we enjoyed a fireworks display over the beach welcoming us to Soller, and in celebration of St John’s Day.

By the time we reached to the boat, the wind had turned 180 degrees – now coming directly off the island and much warmer. It was a hot night – but I, for one, slept soundly.

Arriving in Port de Sóller

Port de Sóller

Tuesday, June 24

Happy Birthday, Aloha!!

After a late breakfast aboard, Jacques ran us in to town. He and Jibe stayed behind while Clara, Ralph and I took a small train up the mountain to the town of Soller. It’s a strange combination of palms, pines, oranges, geraniums, morning glories and hibiscus.
The final stop left us at the train station, which was offering a display of Miro watercolors and ceramics by Picasso.



The town of Soller is lovely and seems like a great spot for an extended stay. The central plaza is surrounded by cafes, with the church of San Bartolomé on one side, with its modernist façade, the work of Joan Rubió, a disciple of Gaudí.

The Municipal building is next door, and off one corner is a sign for the Shopping Center – narrow streets of 17th and 18th century houses scattered among more traditional local architecture.

I could have happily spent days exploring all the little shops. We had little time – everything closes at 1:30 and doesn’t reopen until 4:30 or 5:00. But I did have time to explore and amazing book shop with a wonderful collection of books in Spanish, Catalán and English (probably other languages as well). I bought A Lizard in my Luggage, Anna Nicholas’ account of her migration from Mayfair to Mallorca. Ralph and Clara explored the bakeries and food shops. We took back some local specialties – empanadas, round and meat filled; cocarrois, half-moons with a vegetable and raisin filling; ensaimada, a typical dessert pastry; as well as almonds, Iberian ham, wine, and black olive tapenade. Then back down to the harbor by train.
We left Port Soller behind as we enjoyed lunch on deck- some of our local delicacies, plus cheeses and bread.

Up to Sóller

Tuesday Afternoon

As we enjoyed our lunch we headed out of the Port Soller harbor towards Santa Ponça.
We passed the famous Foradado – a rock formation that jets out into the water with a Cyclops-eye see-through hole – but, it was during lunch and I was too content to go below and find my camera, so you´ll just have to believe me.

We sailed happily along the coast towards Dragonera, an off shore island shaped like a reclining dragon, which is now a national park. I think it’s fortunate that it has been protected, because every other seaside inch on Mallorca is quickly being built up.

In front of Dragonera, on the coast, is Saint Elm, or San Telm, or Thelm – it all depends. The local Maillorquin dialect was prohibited during Franco’s reign, and so lost much of it written form. Things seem to have several different acceptable spellings.

We arrived in Santa Ponça at the end of the afternoon (6:30), moored and layed out our dinner of Iberian ham, cheeses, olive tapenade and drinks, which continued on into the night, combined with computer time in an effort to understand the weather system, music and lots of conversation.
Tomorrow, Palma.

Santa Ponça

Wednesday, 25, Morning

Breakfast on deck in Santa Ponça harbor, before leaving for Port D’Andratx, where we will dock for one or two nights while exploring by car.

The coast of Mallorca is pure rock – with authentic pirate caves along the water line.

But the top of the rocks are now covered with vacation homes, waterfront, but far from beachfront. Look at the size of the little white boat at the bottom of the picture – and the building crane above. I think these cranes are now the most common sight along the Mallorcan coast. (We later saw almost these same shots on Spanish TV in a story about Green Peace's list of 15 ecological disasters in Spain)

We arrived in Port D’Andratx at around 1:00 – to find that there was no internet connection at the yacht club there either !?!

Cabo de la Mola

Port d'Andratx