January 2004

Well, a new year, new friends and some new experiences and adventures for 
the crew on Boundless!!!!

January 1st, Jaclyn and Jason left for the states after celebrating 
Christmas and the arrival of the New Year and we are once again in the 
"empty nest syndrome!"   We had a really great Christmas holiday with our 
family.  The time went very quickly and we miss Stacy, Rob, Jaclyn and Jason 
already!!!

Well, our tire was slashed again and it took me three tries and about 5 
hours to report it to the police. This is getting expensive and 
frustrating!!!  We realized what happened as the motor scooter passed us.  
When the "slasher" followed us on his motor scooter, Rudy stopped the car, 
got out and ran after him.  The "Slasher" did not know what to do now that 
the tables were turned!!!  He got to the dead end and drove on the sidewalk 
to get away from the "crazy tall American" running after him.  We did get 
his license plate number and I hope he will tell all his buddies to stay 
away from us from now on!!!!

On January 6th Spain celebrates Three King's Day in the big way.  On this 
day the children receive their presents. The Three Kings arrive on an 
80-foot sailboat and get into fancy antique cars to lead the parade.  Then 
the King's and their courts throw tons of candy to the children young and 
old!!!  Today is also my father's 86th birthday…Happy Birthday Dad!!!

We are still teaching couples (10 couples so far!!) to play dominoes and we 
really enjoy the company of our new cruising friends!!!  Now everyone wants 
to buy their own domino sets!!! And the beat goes on…..

On January 13th, we went to the Caix Forum Museum where they showed works of 
art by Van Dyke and Rubens.  Then we went to the National Art Museum and 
viewed the Roman Room and works of art by Fortuny.  We both were very much 
impressed by Fortuny's work.

The next day we visited Montserrat. The scenery was fantastic and the 
monastery, which is cradled on the top of a mountain, was breathtaking!!!  
We arrived just in time to hear the boys' choir and have lunch before our 
drive back down the winding, steep mountain.  That night we went to a 
Chinese restaurant with Paul and Karen from Antigua Lady and their guests 
Joe and Maureen.  After dinner, we went to an Archery Bar.  It is set up 
similar to bowling in that you have lanes (4) and 10 frames with three 
arrows for each frame.  When we came back to our boat, we found a flood.  
One of the water hoses that was attached to the dock burst.  The bilge pump 
took care of the water…. thank goodness…. but we did have soggy carpets and 
towels!!! (Only took two days to dry out!!)

On January 15th, we went to a Tapa and Cava Party at a new bar that just 
opened in Barcelona and then we went to eat Argentina steaks at el Foro's!!! 
  It was excellent again!!!

The next day we went to the Salvador Dali Museum.  We do not care for his 
work, but the man did have a great imagination with a dash of madness!!!  It 
was by far the most interesting museum we have ever seen….inside and out!!!!

On January 18th, we left Barcelona for a 5-day ski trip to the country of 
Andorra. (The country sits on the border between France and Spain!!) The 
group of skiers consisted of Boundless, Wind Song (Karen and John), Lady 
Cath (Tinia and Tony), L'ame Libre (Nancy and Jerry), Limerence (Judy and 
Doug) and Akka (Andy and Rob) who came up for two days to join us.  We all 
had a wonderful time skiing, eating and telling stories.  (Ask Rudy about 
his pool game and the orange ball!!) The skiing was great! Good snow 
conditions in a nice area. The weather even cooperated with bright blue sky 
and sun for our last day of skiing. The three-hour trip gave us a good 
chance to see the Spanish countryside and most of Andorra.

We went to the Archery Bar again, but this time with 31 people!!  Rudy had 
the third high men's score with a 240 and I came in third amongst the women 
with a 166.  Our combined score was second among all the boats. We really 
enjoyed ourselves and the evening was a great success.

The days fly by with Sunday bicycle rides, Tuesday women's get together, and 
Friday watercolor painting classes and the men's get together.  So we are 
pretty busy especially with going to the gym Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays 
and Saturdays!!!! (I am still swimming outside in the heated pool!!! The 
weather is warm enough that we only need a sweatshirt for warmth and many 
times we eat outdoors for lunch!!!

Life is tough in Barcelona, Adios…..

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