Hola!

It has been a while since I last posted one of my "lifestyle" updates.  Not because there has not been anything going on - just the opposite, in fact.  It has been about three months since we arrived and the time has flown by.  Paradoxically, in the year and a half since we have been gone from Canada, I marvel at how much we have seen and done.  If ever there was a Fountain of Youth it had to have been the quest and not the destination.  But if time seems to pass quicker now, I think it is because our stress level is lower.

Until our arrival here, we have generally been on the move, and that can be stressful work .  Vigilance is required to manage safe navigation, weather, equipment, and health.  Even at anchor, you are constantly aware of the forces of the wind and the water, and the potential impact of others' anchoring practices.  Here on the dock, knowing that we are not going anywhere for a while, we can totally relax and not worry about any of that.

So what have we been doing?  There has been a little bit work and far too little of it to make a big dent on my job list.  You have seen some of Maggie's posts about the exercise she has been getting.  I, too, have been getting some exercise but of the more modest going-for-vigorous-walks variety.  We have had friends visit with more planned in the future.  We have done some touring of the surrounding countryside by car; the mountainside villages known as the "pueblo blancos" are stunning.  We have also been learning to speak Spanish.  Yo hablo solo un poco , pero estoy mejorando.

The best part of what we have been doing is making and hanging out with new friends, and this goes back to day one.  Along the way we have met folks who have unstintingly lent us a hand, some tools or a car; have invited us to visit, share a meal or some companionship; given us stuff that we never expected to receive, and have just plain made themselves very agreeable with whom to get acquainted.  While I may not have mentioned all such instances in the past blog posts, for they are more numerous than one might expected, we fondly remember them all.

We are living a charmed life.  We have traveled to four countries, so far, and now we are living in Spain where the climate is warm, the culture is interesting, the history is rich, the people are friendly, and the scenery is beautiful.  To top it all, we can buy a decent litre of beer for $CAD0.90 and a decent bottle of wine for about the same.  Think about that the next time you trudge over to your liquor control board to pay five times that amount and have to deal with the surly employees.  In general, everything expect fuel is a lot less than in Canada and in many cases even the U.S.

We will start cruising again in the spring, April or May, and before then I will have to get to the jobs on my list.  For now, however, we will continue to enjoy living in Spain.

Branko

Remember the Sail Track ? ......

You may recall from an earlier post, somewhere between Florida and Bermuda, the slides on our new mainsail started to pop out of their track. This was very disconcerting at the time because it meant that we would not have our sail available to use for our transatlantic crossing, and this was a huge disappointment because we just had it newly made by Mack Sails.

We contacted Travis at Mack Sails and told him what had happened and he was duly concerned. He recommended installing the Tides Marine External Track and Slide System to correct the problem and to upgrade the sail track. We agreed and he shipped the equipment to us. We received it yesterday and we installed it today. It took a while to get but the wait will be worth it. It not only promises to be a much more robust system, but it will be much easier to raise and lower the main owing to the design of the equipment and the material used. And the beauty of the system is that it was installed from the deck with the mast up into the existing track, and I did not have to go up in the bosun's chair. If you are considering an upgrade, have a look here.

But as good as the system is, I have to give full praise to Mack Sails. Rarely, have I ever been so utterly delighted with a vendor as I am with them. From the beginning, they promised delivery of the sails (main and storm jib)  and a newly refurbished boom within 6 weeks and they delivered it all on time. They also brought the equipment to the boat, installed the boom and the new mainsail and took the old boom away. And the price was very fair. Had it ended there I would have been happy enough, but when they worked to help us fix our problem the way they did, they earned a 5-star rating from me. There was no squabbling, no hassle, and they did what they said they would do – period.

Thank you Travis and Mack Sails.

Brankohere.

Terri and Drew, adventures in Southern Spain

View from our Tapa bar

After traveling on 3 flights over a period of about 18 hours, I arrived in Almeria on a Sunday night and was joyfully reunited with Maggie and Branko at the airport. We had rented a car, and wanted to have at least 2 drivers registered on the car – thanks to Branko for doing the first drive!

Candy in the market

Tiles of Granada bridge

Monday was a chance to recover and check out the scene in Almerimar, including trying out the local tapas bars. Best bargain ever – order a drink, and have a hot tapas dish included in the price of each drink. We learned later on that this tapas tradition (included with each drink) is specific to this region of Spain. That evening we drove to nearby Adra, a small typical Spanish city to the west. Even in the mid-evening it was bustling with activity – families out enjoying the warm evening, using the abundant play areas with young children or multi-generations sitting together in sidewalk cafes enjoying a drink and some tapas.

Road to the White Towns

Tuesday morning I joined Maggie’s workout group, doing a series of exercises along the boardwalk. It was a lot of fun, with counting of reps in Spanish, Japanese and English. Quite amazing to be out on the boardwalk of the Mediterranean Sea, greeting the sunrise – it qualifies as an entry into the “Book of Awesome.”.

After breakfast, Maggie, Branko and I headed up to the mountains in search of three white towns that were mentioned in our guide book. It was a beautiful day for the drive, and we stopped a number of times on the way up to take in the views of the pretty little towns that dotted the mountainside. The road consisted of two narrow lanes, and it twisted and wound up and around, with lots of switchbacks and blind curves along the way. It was a little shocking to encounter the occasional tour bus – even with my bus driving expertise, it would take nerves of steel to do that regularly!

Capileira, from the road

We started at the top with Capileira, and were immediately charmed with this quaint traditional village, complete with whitewashed Moorish houses and unique chimneys, set against a beautiful blue sky. After wandering around the narrow streets and alleyways, we settled for lunch in a café in a quiet square. A woman had just ridden into the square on her horse, and she was the perfect picture of a caballera, dressed in sleek riding boots, a straw cowboy hat, and wearing a leather fringed vest. She tied her horse up to a tree and sat at the table next to us. Maggie and I were whispering about how cool she looked, and when Branko asked her a question in Spanish, she replied in English, with a prefect British accent. 

Nadia and Lucia

We chatted with her at great length, and learned about her life here, as well as her history of horsemanship in various parts of the world. Her name was Nadia, and her horse is named Lucia – short for the Spanish region of Andalucia. She was a delight to talk to, and recommended a particular bodega to look for on our way back down at Pampaneiro, the third town we were stopping at. Our second stop, Bubion, was equally as charming as the first, with amazing views of the Sierra Madres and small winding streets, where we wandered up and down snapping pictures.

Bodega  in Pampaneira

Chimneys,  in Bulion

The bodega in Pampaneira was every bit as interesting as promised. It was full of local crafts, wonderful hams and cheeses, chocolate, bottles of olive oil and a small wine-tasting bar, where Maggie and I partook of a sample. We stopped for one last drink in a small square before tackling the drive back down.

Shops in the white  towns

View of the Las Alpujarras

The route back down was even trickier than the one we took to go up, and it was smart that we made sure there was lots of daylight time left. There were almost no guardrails on the road back down the mountain, and the hairpin turns and switchbacks made for some white knuckle driving on Branko’s part. A couple of wrong turns, and almost 20km of driving on this tricky road, and we were finally back on the main highway – whew! Thanks again to Branko for doing the tough drive!

We love, love, love to  pick up Fumi

Market in El Ejido

Beach partee!

Wednesday was girls’ day at the outdoor market in El Ejido, followed by tapas at a local café in the same town. The market was a mix of clothes, fresh food, olive carts, and housewares. Maggie and I stopped at a coffee stand and bought café con leche and churros – deep-fried long strings of donuts, hot, fresh and yummy!

There were five of us in total at the market – Fumi, Maggie, Connie, Mary-Jesus and me.   Joined later for tapas by two more Spanish friends – Paqui and Maribel. 

After our food and drinks, we all came back to the beach to play and swim. The pictures tell it all – even though there was somewhat of a language barrier, it was easy to joke and have fun with all of these women, and what a bunch of hams! We came back to H2obo and spent the rest of the evening eating and drinking, and were joined by the other women’s

Additional use for Tapa's

partners Tony, Fumi (man), Ramon and Yoshi.

Thursday evening the same crowd met on Ramon and Mary-Jesus’s boat for a pot-luck dinner. The contributions were unique to the different heritages, and beautifully rounded out with sautéed dorado, caught fresh that day by Ramon.

Dinner, with Tony, Maribelle, Yoshi, Fumi and Paqui

Mary-Jesus and Ramon

Saturday morning was our next happy re-union, as we picked up Drew at the airport, he having just finished a week-long business trip in Germany. We drove out towards the desert, and rounded back through the mountains. It is amazing to see how many cave dwellings there are in the hills, with doors of varying size and construction marking the entrances.

Branko and Drew, Almeria Alcazaba

Terri and  Drew, Mojacar

On Sunday, after watching the world cup rugby match in a local bar, we drove to Almeria. 


It was a nice surprise to discover that we could tour the Alcazaba for free. It’s a fortified complex high above the city, built about 1000 years ago. We followed this with yet another visit to a tapas bar, for more delicious food and drink.

Our big trip out of town was Tuesday to Granada, to tour the Alhambra and then to have dinner at Maggie’s cousin Bob’s house. Since we couldn’t get into the Alhambra in the morning (sold out), we headed down into town to look around. A short funny little man was quite persistent in pointing the way for us to follow to get down into the city, and he admired Branko’s shoes more than once. Branko was being particularly fashionable that day, wearing grey wool hockey socks inside of tan leather sandals – warm and practical! Well, we were all quite amused when this funny character then plopped down a small footstool, wanting to give Branko’s sandals a shoe shine. Branko submitted, and when the gypsy asked for payment, Branko made the fatal mistake of pulling a handful of change out. Final cost - 3.50 (euros), because the gypsy was asking not only for himself but to care for his bambinos as well, or so he says. He basically begged for all the change that Branko had shown. Lesson learned – never show all your cards!

The sandal shine....

We spent an enjoyable time wandering around the city’s narrow streets, up and down laneways, and Maggie and I did some shopping and bartering in the Moroccan shops, while Branko and Drew sat and had a beer at a local café. The Alhambra is quite magnificent to see – so many parts of varying age, and the amazing quality of the structures that were created so long ago – one of my favourite parts was a beautiful reflecting pool.

The Pool,  Alhambra

Granada Arab market

Alhambra gardens

Afterwards, we had a fantastic meal thanks to Maggie’s cousin Bob Stone. He has a unique little multi-level home, which apparently used to be home to donkeys many, many years ago, and has since been renovated to make three stories, including a pretty little rooftop terrace. Thanks Bob for your hospitality!

The rest of our stay was spent in and around Almerimar, and Maggie and I managed to beat the boys (yet again) at euchre. We are the reigning champs, and will continue to defend the title when we meet again in Croatia.

Tapa's by the beach

All too soon, it was time to pack up and go. It was a beautiful time together, and we look forward to the next great adventure! Thanks again Maggie and Branko!!

Terri and Drew