Barcelona

Marina Port Vell with boatshow in the background.

Highlights of this winter are that both our daughters are pregnant with their 2nd child, our 2nd grandchild respectively – do they synchronise diaries? Other highlights were spending New Year in Marbella with Rachel and family, Debbie coming to visit in February immediately followed by Rachel and Isabella spending the weekend with us on the boat, a very unusual snowstorm.

The Conrad 58 Classic - what dreams are made of! It’s nice to be back in Barcelona, it’s familiar, but as anticipated there have been several changes since we left in May 2008. Many of the places we used to shop in are still very much the same but some of the local shops in Barceloneta have closed, most lamentably the bodega where I used to get a very good red wine.

Tan's granddaughter - Isabella Port Vell marina still provide free tickets for the boat show and arrange a free event at the Luz de Gaz floating bar to celebrate Castañada. Apart from alcoholic drinks they served traditional almond cakes and hot chocolate you can stand your spoon up in!

The boat show which this year was noticeably smaller than 2 years ago when we last attended, I heard it was estimated that the number of exhibitors was down by a third. Hardly surprising with the current economic climate but Tan managed to find our next boat, the Conrad Classic 58, should we be lucky enough to win a million pounds on the premium bonds twice! Once to buy it, and again to run it. Classic luxury inside and very practical with all mod-cons, she has good taste..

Parliament of Catalunia The Christmas lights around the city and Barceloneta were noticeably less this year as rightly they should be in a financial squeeze. The marina finally made an allowance of 100kw electricity to boats that put up external lights so we did, but there was no competition this year. We had a quiet Christmas on-board.

We spent the New Year with Tan’s daughter Rachel and family at their villa near Marbella and had two warm sunny days and two wet cold ones. The Villa gardens back onto the beach so we had some enjoyable walks. Tan’s granddaughter Isabella is cute and very bright and thought Jack was the bees knees but was a bit aloof with Tan and all answers were a firm no.

As usual, Tan visited many of the museums and special exhibitions which Barcelona is famous for. We were both impressed with the Parliament of Catalunia building which is a restored palace and is open to the public on Saturdays and Sunday morning.

Glyn and Emma The morning of 14th January – Tan’s Birthday she had a surprise visit from her son Glyn and girlfriend Emma, being well trained he came bearing Assam tea! We went out and had a superb menu-del-dia lunch then in the afternoon Tan got yet another surprise when Rachel, Andy and Isabella arrived and this time Isabella was very friendly towards her Grandma. They were all staying in an apartment just across the road from the marina, but yet another surprise – for all of us – friends Ian Kilday and his girlfriend Becky arrived on the Friday (her Birthday) and he proposed to her so there was quite a party Saturday afternoon on Blank Canvas with 5 bottles of Cava consumed.

Towards the end of January the old shower/toilets were closed due to the risk of a restaurant falling on your head whilst showering – I don’t know who would get the biggest shock, the person eating or the person in the shower having food delivered!

The new temporary port-a-cabin toilets and showers, I use the word temporary loosely as I suspect they may be in use for years. The permanent shower block is built under the old warehouses which have since been beautifully converted into the museum of Catalonia. However, it is slowly sinking like the old quayside which had to be totally rebuilt twice and is probably still sinking – slowly! The new shower area is badly designed with two thirds of the space wasted and everything crammed into the remaining third.

Rachel & Izzy watching the giants Debbie came to stay with us the 2nd week of February, it was lovely to see again and we had a wonderful time which included, but was not limited to, a full quota of retail therapy, visiting every shoe shop in Barcelona in search of new boots which she got two nice pairs at bargain prices but the dream boots escaped – they didn’t have the right size!. We had an excellent evening meal at our favourite sushi bar and a great lunchtime menu-del-dia at Nass. Alas she had to leave on my Birthday but not before we had a little celebration. Only now do I realise I didn’t take any photographs so she will have to come back!

The day after Debbie left Rachel arrived with Isabella but their trip was not classic textbook because the airline lost Izzy’s pushchair despite Rachel taking it to the door of the aeroplane. Being pregnant and not knowing when it might re-appear we set off in search of a new one with Izzy riding on my shoulders. We scoured the large shopping complex at Diagonal Mar (I’ve never been there so many times in one week) then headed across town to El Corte Inglés. Izzy finally fell asleep on the tube so I carried her to the store and up five flights of escalators, but we finally found a suitable pushchair.

Barcelonetta Carnival Just before Christmas we heard that our friend Noel (retired Vet) had been rushed to hospital because he fell whilst on his boat and lodged himself in the stairwell. Fortunately his daughter calls regularly from England and when she couldn’t reach him she call Tim who went to investigate. Tests revealed he had a serious urinary infection and was kept in over Christmas. Tan was one of his regular visitors. All the nurses called him “papa Noel” and made quite a fuss of him. He is now fully recovered and we received a postcard from him in Jamaica where he is visiting his son.

Barcelona’s festival week started on the 10th Feb. and this year Valentines day fell on the same Sunday as the celebration of Santa Elulia when the giants dance in Placa Jaume (St George’s square – didn’t he got around a lot?) so we test drove the new pushchair and took Izzy. Instead of being captivated and impressed, it was all too much and frightening so we retired to McDonalds to recover.

Izzy is quite at home on grandma’s boat, loves sleeping in the “big” bed and refers to me as captain Jack (pronounced – cap’n Jack in a pirate voice). As I pen these digital notes on the last day of the festival I can hear the closing procession, the burying of the sardine – don’t ask!

One of the great things about Spain is that you don’t have to wait long between festivals, three days after the Barcelona festival ended the Barceloneta festival started. The finale of the two day festival is a grand procession through the streets of Barceloneta by local groups and organisations. Fortunately. although the skies were grey the rain held off. This year was particularly spectacular with three different South American groups dancing in traditional costume – wow, can they dance?

Sitges Car Rally March 8th – Snow. Lots of it by local standards, huge snow flakes swirling around and a thunderstorm. Lightning and snowflakes – bizarre! About 2 inches (5 cm) settled, then a brief thaw during which globs of snow lost their purchase on the mast and rigging and crashed onto the deck. I imagine it to be a bit like living in a kettle-drum, with no rhythm. An overnight frost helped preserve some of the snow and create local ice-rinks, it was treacherous on the aft-deck until the Señora dealt with it next morning. Thank goodness for the hot air heating system we have on-board – we stay warm and dry.

Gleaming vintage cars, dating from before 1924, parade along the Catalonian coast for crowds of spectators during the Sitges Vintage Car Rally. The antique vehicles start in Barcelona and race for 45km before winding up at Port Aiguadolc in Sitges. We went to Barcelona’s Parc de la Ciutadella on the Saturday 20th March to view the cars, and on Sunday morning we watched the rally start from Sant Jaume square. There were fewer cars than two years ago but the standard was just as good, with magnificent costumes and well kept cars. The winner of the race depends more upon the car itself than the time taken to cover the distance, with extra points awarded for dressing up in the appropriate vintage attire. As is typical of Barcelona, an hour after a big event there is no trace left, the very efficient Barcelona cleaning department have cleared and cleaned everything.

And finally, before we leave for the summer we have replaced an old battery with two new ones, bought a standalone petrol generator and had the Perspex and stitching replaces on the hood. Based on the state of the rudder, I decided not to lift out this year and anti-foul, I will dive and clean the bottom whilst we are at anchor in cala’s when the water is warm enough.