December     Christmas Time in Barcelona

Today Rudy and I bought our Christmas tree at the Christmas Fair at the 
Cathedral Square.  It was the first time we have transported our tree via bus.  
We put the tree in a granny cart and got on a bus and no one seemed impressed 
but us!!!  We put the live tree in our cockpit with blue and silver Christmas 
decorations, and lights that blinked on and off to the beat as the music 
played!!!  Then we put green blinking lights on starboard and red blinking 
lights on port so Santa would be able to find us and know which direction we 
were heading!!!  

On December 6th, we went with Limerence (Judy and Doug) to see Handel's 
Messiah performed by a Russian Company at the Palau de la Musica Catalana 
concert hall.  The performance was very impressive and the concert hall was 
magnificent.  We then went to an Argentinean restaurant called el Foro for some 
wonderful steaks.

The weather in Barcelona is still so beautiful (December 16th) that we are 
able to eat lunch outdoors and Rudy was still wearing shorts!!  On the 18th, 
Jaclyn and Jason arrived and on the 20th we went to Valencia, Spain about 220 
miles away to see Cirque Du Soleil's performance of "Saltimbanco".  We had 
seats in the third row and we could clearly see the expressions on the 
performers faces and hear them talking to each other.  It was our first time at 
a performance of Cirque Du Soleil while Jaclyn and Jason have seen a couple of 
others, but we all thoroughly enjoyed this show. 

On December 21st, Stacy and Rob arrived and on the 23rd, all six of us joined 
some other cruisers and went Christmas caroling on the docks.  The non-singers 
greeted us with many kinds of drinks and goodies that gave us strength and 
warmed us as we sang from boat to boat. Maybe it was their intent to give us 
something else to do besides singing!!  One cruiser actually came out on the 
dock to pay us....again I am not sure if it was because he enjoyed it or hope 
to keep us walking down the dock.  We assured him that we were singing for 
pleasure, but if he had any drink to warm us, we would gladly accept that!!  
Jaclyn and Jason went back to the boat early to start dinner, which was 
fantastic because I was in no shape to go near any flames or propane by the 
time we were done!!!! 

On Christmas Eve I made pizza (a family tradition) and we all opened one gift. 
 Then on Christmas Day one of the cruisers thought it would be a great idea to 
take a dip in the Mediterranean Sea.  So, Rudy, Jaclyn and Jason went swimming 
in the Med with the crew on Magellan Cloud (Jackie and Steve) and the crew on 
Kari (Philly, Ted and Oisin).  (I took pictures and Stacy and Rob stood by if 
CPR was needed!!)  When they had enough, we went back to the boat to open 
presents and to get ready to eat dinner at a restaurant called Flo's.

Everyday we would see some sights of Barcelona.  A few nights we had enough 
time to play Dominoes or Progressive Rummy. We all took turns winning, losing 
and setting world records, and we all enjoyed playing the games!!!!

On December 27th, Stacy and Rob went back to the states to finalize their 
purchase of their new house. Jaclyn and Jason left on January 1st to go back to 
their world after we celebrated the entrance of the New Year!!!!  After eating 
dinner on the boat, we played Progressive Rummy in which Jaclyn set new world 
records in the two winning categories.  Then we joined some cruisers on one of 
the boats for drinks and snacks.  Around 11:30 p.m. we walked to the Ramblas 
and watched hundreds of people walking, running, singing and of course drinking 
as they approached the square. Then at midnight with Sangria in one hand and 
our peeled and pitted grapes in the other hand, we ate one grape for each of 
the twelve beats of the clock to bring luck to the New Year the Catalonian 
way!!!

It was wonderful to have these four members of our family to be with us 
sharing our world for a short time as we all enjoyed Christmas in Barcelona. 


Rudy and I would like to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas and a Joyous New 
Year!!!  This year we have had many interesting experiences, seen fantastic 
places, enjoyed fabulous food and met wonderful people everywhere we went!!! We 
are so thrilled to have been able to experience these sights that we have 
either only read about or have seen pictures of with God's help and Rudy's 
expertise!!!  And it is really wonderful to be able to enjoy these experiences 
from our home on Boundless. We are still planning on returning to the states in 
the spring for a few months and hope to have sold our boat by then.  If not, we 
will decide in 2004 whether to sail Boundless back across the ocean, ship it 
across or stay in Barcelona one more year to try to sell it. Only time will 
tell and then we will tell you....

Adios until 2004....have a wonderful 2004 with love from Faith and Rudy