Saturday, September 23rd, Barcelona, Spain
 
One of the characteristics we have developed since starting our travels on Zia is flexibility.  Plans don't often come together much more than a week or two in advance.  While I sense that this is a bit frustrating for friends and family, it is surprisingly liberating for me.  Somewhere in our wake I have cast off the fear of the unknown.  We embrace new circumstances knowing that we are totally free to change them if we find ourselves in an undesirable situation.  Perhaps this is why it is difficult to commit to specific plans, since changing course is much harder once expectations are set.  Often weather causes us to revisit our agenda, but sometimes it's something as simple as a funky vibe.  I think that is what happened with Valencia.
 
We were thrilled to approach the city after our harrowing passage and were a short half an hour away when Joe spotted a flare.  Someone was in distress.  He quickly found the source of the flare with the binoculars.  It was a small boat of some sort. Although we couldn't tell exactly what had happened, and despite being so close to a much needed rest, we altered course to go see what we could do to help.  Joe was afraid it was an overturned boat with people in the water, so we got lifejackets out to throw and started calling the authorities on the radio.  As we closed the distance between us, we soon realized that it was an inflatable dinghy that appeared to have run out of gas.  In fact, Ruben had engine trouble.  It was 7:15 and would be dark soon.  The wind was blowing his boat out to sea.  Luckily, Ruben speaks perfect English and caught our tow line with gratitude.  With his local knowledge, he navigated us around all the new marina construction and safely into the Club Nautico.
 
Unfortunately, the Real Club Nautico de Valencia is several miles from the city center, right next to the commercial harbor.  We don't have a cruising guide for the region (don't ask me why) so we were a little lacking in information.  Luckily, we were able to connect to a wireless network and get what we needed from the internet.  After a good night's sleep, we vowed to begin our evaluation of the city with an eye towards staying here for the winter, from November 1st to March 31st.
 
After a 15 Euro cab ride, we started out at the new Port America's Cup.  The huge complex is only about half finished, but quite impressive nonetheless.  The new marina is virtually empty, but despite this fact they still wanted to charge us for two berths because we are so wide.  This didn't bode well for our winter budget!  We figured they might be negotiable, and tried to keep a positive attitude.  We checked out the high end facilities with fancy shops and bars, and got a look at some of the areas where the teams work on their boats, and then went in search of dinner. 
    
Of course, it was only 8pm and nothing was open yet.  Seriously.  We walked by two dozen restaurants, all closed, before we stumbled into a Chinese joint. 
 
Still, we were hopeful.  Ruben had promised to act as our tour guide around the city and we made plans to meet him and his wife at the yacht club at 6pm on Sunday.  Laura proved to be equally as lovely as Ruben and we spent an enjoyable few hours wandering the city center with them. 
                                        
Despite our fabulous tour guides, we wound up back at the boat feeling like Valencia was missing something.  Although it is steeped in tradition and history like so many cities in Europe, we just didn't get a good sense of its character.  Perhaps it is all the construction and hoopla surrounding the upcoming America's Cup that detracts from the historical charm of the city.  It isn't something we could really put our finger on, but Joe and I both knew that we didn't want to spend five months there.  So much for the plans for the winter! 
 
Back to square one, we decided to check out Barcelona.  So many people have told us what a fabulous city it is, we wanted to see for ourselves.  We had previously disregarded it as an option because of the whole language issue with the schools teaching in Catalan.  Well, we might just have to be a little flexible on that one!  We figure it is more important to be happy with where we are and are willing to look into other options on the school issue.  There are lots of possibilities including private schools that teach in Spanish, or a tutor, or a separate Spanish course on top of the home schooling. 
 
We had rented a car for four days and hopped in it on Tuesday for the three hour drive.  Thanks to Mary Ann, a good friend of my mother's who has been a faithful Zia Later reader, we had booked a room at the Citidines "Apart'hotel", right on Las Ramblas. 
                                      
You couldn't be more in the heart of Barcelona if you tried.  As much as we wanted to explore the sights, our goal there, once we determined that we liked the city, was to find a place for the boat.  It took us about thirty seconds to decide we loved Barcelona, so our task was obvious. 
 
Las Ramblas is a street that runs south from Placa Catalunya to the harbor Port Vell.  There is a big marina right there.  We had already emailed them half a dozen times trying to book a place for the winter, only to be met with flat out rejection.  The reason was immediately apparent.  It is obviously a highly desirable place, in the heart of the city, surrounded by a huge variety of restaurants, a walk from the amazing market, the metro, and a dozen other Barcelona hot spots.  It figures.  No worries, it would probably be too noisy for us anyway, right?
 
We have been in touch with the current owners of Simpatica, Bruce and Alison Cunard's old boat, and they just happen to be in Barcelona now. 
Wences and Belle are in the last six or seven months of a three year circumnavigation.  They took off from Florida with a one year old, and had another baby in New Zealand along the way. 
    
They are totally charming and we enjoyed a few hours of their company while we picked their brains about their travels.  They are staying at a new marina a little north of the city center, so we also had the chance to check out the facility.  Turns out they do have room for us for the winter, so at least we know we have one option for the boat in Barcelona.
 
Through our fabulous friend, web site host and sail maker, Scott, we have hooked up with a local in the boat industry who has volunteered to help us find other options for Zia in Barcelona.  We drove back to Valencia after two short days of marina touring and are under way to the city in Zia now.  We managed to reserve a few nights at Port Vell.  We are getting excited about the prospect of having so much time to really get to know this city.  It is truly a fantastic place full of wonderful art and architecture, history and culture, modern conveniences coupled with Old World tradition, sights, sounds and fragrances that get the imagination running wild.  It sure does pay to be flexible!
                                  
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Many thanks to our friend Craig Homenko for his assistance in setting up the website.
We also would like to thank our buddy Scott Brunner who has been kind enough to host the website on his server.
 
   

 
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