Barcelona - September, 2006

La Boqueria market off Las Ramblas.  I love this place!  Although I didn't buy anything at the time, I sure did see a lot that will be on my shopping list on my next visit.

They have these little tapas stands throughout the market where you can stop for nourishment in the midst of shopping.

One stand dedicated solely to chocolate!  I thought of you, Hope.

And this is the egg stand.

There were more than a dozen stalls selling fruits and vegetables just like this one

Candies, nuts, dried fruits and liquers.

Back in Valencia to move Zia north, we saw a couple of America's Cup boats out practicing in the light winds.  This one is Shosholoza from South Africa.

Our favorite ride at the fair in Barcelona.

One of the events during the Feste de la Mercé was a swimming race through the port.

A view of the city from the end of our dock in Port Vell, looking right...

The Aquarium and entrance to the port looking left from our dock.

You can just make out the Zia symbol on our main cover in the center of this photo.

Tired and bored of walking around, ice cream is the only cure, of course!

On a misguided attempt to find one of the fairs, we wound up at the top of this hill overlooking the city.

We took a cab to Plaça Catalunya for the parade!

These giants are traditional figures in Spanish festivals.

This one is a classic.

They also had a puppet show for kids.

But the most fun was the challenge of climbing as high up on the monument as you could!

It was a little easier on the beach playground equipment.

The beach by Port Vell, looking northeast at Port Olimpic.

Sunset over Port Vell.

Leaving Barcelona for Mallorca we discovered this sub docked alongside the seawall.

Mallorca

The southeast coast of the island.

A dinner party at Georg and Nathalie's.

The summer house....

A view of the coast from the Cloisters where we enjoyed another party with Georg and Nathalie.

Nathalie took this one...

A self portrait ala Adam....

Nice wheels, Georg!

The kids had no problems finding something to climb on.

All dressed up for a nice dinner out.

The view of Palma Harbor from Georg and Nathalie's apartment just inside the old city wall.  Very nice!

A cruise ship catches the light of the setting sun as it departs Palma.

The full moon rising behind Zia at anchor in La Illetas, just outside Palma.

Of course the girls had to show off their swing to Anthonia.

There was a great little beach there but unfortunately also many jellyfish.  These aren't the relatively mellow nettles that we get in the Chesapeake Bay but the nasty little ones with purple tentacles.  We didn't do much swimming.

All three cruising girls are big readers.

But playing with daddy is much more fun!

Taking the kayak into the beach for a little time off the boat and away from mom and dad.

Zia leaving Palma with the monstrous cathedral in the background.

The rugged northwestern coast of Mallorca.

We had fantastic fishing on the trip up to France.  This is the first of four Albacore tuna we caught.

And this is the second one.  We actually let the other two go, a first for us!

Uncle Mike is a huge fisherman. After reading the October 3rd update, he told me that hooks need to be sharpened just like knives.  It made perfect sense.  The last two fish we caught were on a handline with a brand new cedar plug whereas the rod had an older lure on it and although we got a bunch of good hits, they all managed to get off.  We put a new lure on the rod and caught three fish in as many hours!