Yesterday was our 6 month wedding anniversary so we celebrated in style by going to McDonalds to find internet. LOL That was how this blog was started. Watching little kids with french fries (wondering why we call them french) and parents taking a break from shopping while we type away and search the internet.

It was uphill from there though. We stumbled on a small town courtyard that had Catalan dancers, local foods and spiced wine.  As we walked in a man looked right at Eric and yelled at him with a huge grin. Since we have no idea what he said we figure he was greeting the strangers and welcoming us to the festivities.  Next thing we are handed spiced red wine that was delicious! Like our apple cider but obviously not!  They tried to talk to us in French but basically we could only transfer the knowledge that we are from California and on a boat.  That sent them to get the mayor. And then we tried out a dish that was SO good!  A huge pan of onions and sliced potatoes smothered with huge wheels of Brie cheese all melting together. Now I have to try and make it.

After that we went to a sporting good store and tested fold up bikes and bought 2 for the boat. They are our anniversary gifts to each other but also will be handy wherever we go. Less cars the better.

For dinner we went to a local restaurant known for the local food and customs. Belly up to the bar as there was no room at tables and instantly befriended by 3 men. One could speak some English and he has sailed all the way across the Pacific. They showed us how to eat the huge chunks of bread by rubbing the tomato and garlic on it, sprinkling olive oil (choose one from the bar) and dunking it in cheese or just as is. Follow up with the local wine and listen to the live music. It was fantastic.

So someone please pinch us as this is so much more than a vacation. We are actually living here for a few months and learning so much every day.

The idea has always been to start our journey in the Caribbean and we almost changed it to stay here. But then we learned you can only stay for 90 days within 180 day period. And since we have so much work to do on the boat to prepare it eats up too much of that time. We’ll head south when we can and come back for sure! And by the time we return we will have learned a lot more about cruising here.

So we’ll probably go to Minorca, Majorca, and Ibiza on our way to the bottom of Spain. Then through the Straits of Gibralter, then over to the Canary Islands. Always waiting for good weather windows.  Then the big crossing to St Thomas!

For now we are just happy to be living aboard a beautiful and well maintained yacht.

Woke up to ICE on the deck! But it is really nice out and warm. Kind of like the desert. And our heater works really well so we had no idea how cold it got last night until we woke up and went outside.

OK better go help Eric take the main back down. First day with no wind and we checked all the reefs lines and moved the mainsheet back a foot on the boom.  Also put up our Code Zero and the spinnaker. The owner of Catana took a photo from his office of us and it’s really cool because the mountains are in the background with snow!  He gave us a paper copy of it as a surprise.

Three more days until Christmas and we have no idea what we will do. No kids for the first time since we’ve had them in our lives. We will miss them all for sure but 3 of them will show up on the 27th. We can’t wait to share this with them!!!