February 2004

February started with Rudy and some die-hard football fans watching the Super 
Bowl from 12 midnight to 3:30 in the morning!!!  I decided to go to sleep on 
Boundless since I don't like football except for the replays, and couldn't eat 
or drink because I am on a diet!!!  Then came the Bocce Ball Play Offs!!!  This 
was another new and interesting experience for us.

On February 8th, we went for our bike ride as usual, but this time it was the 
annual blessing of the animals. (actually all we saw were horses…but many types 
and they were beautiful!!!)  They paraded passed us some pulling carts, some 
prancing and others with riders on them.  There were also a couple of small 
bands trying to march around the horse manure. Many of the people in the 
various carriages threw candy to the children watching on the streets.  That 
night we played archery with around 24 people and this time I came in first 
(191) for the ladies and Rudy had a third (252) for the men.  (Rudy was 
competing with hunters and club members!!)  As a couple we came in First!!!!

February 10th, we left for Toledo in our car. Again we marveled at the beauty 
of the countryside.  North of Zaragosa we saw over one hundred modern windmills 
as we approached the top of the ridge.  We were about 3,000 feet above sea 
level and we came upon thousands of fruit trees lining the hillside for miles 
and miles.  The bursting blossoms filled the hills with pink making it look 
like pink snow!!!  Later we came to an area that reminded us of the southwest 
in the states with its copper hills and the mountains looking like the Mesas we 
have seen pictures of and hope to see for ourselves in the next couple of 
years.

We arrived in Toledo and the Hotel Sant Isabel. It was situated near all the 
places of interest we wanted to see including the Cathedral, which was two 
short streets away.  That night we wanted to go to eat dinner at the Plaza de 
Zocodover.  After 45 minutes we realized we were walking in circles and I 
decided to get a taxi…Rudy agreed!!!  We got there and realized our mistake and 
walked back to the hotel in about 5 minutes from the square!!!   

The next day we took a bus to Madrid.  It took only an hour by bus and it cost 
under 4 euros one way per person.  We then took a tour bus where I took many 
pictures of the city.  It was a beautiful clear day, which we were very 
thankful for!!  We got off at the Palace Real, but were told that it wouldn't 
open until 3 p.m.  So we walked to the Plaza Mayor and marveled at the 
allegorical paintings on the outside walls.  This square was used for 
bullfights, executions, pageants, and trials headed by the Inquisition.  We had 
lunch near the San Miguel Market and then went back to the Palace Real.  We 
were then told that the Palace would be closed for the whole day….oh well!!!  
We did go visit the Nuestra Senora de la Alumudena before getting on the tour 
bus again.  We stopped to look at the Plaza de la Villa, Cathedral of San 
Isidro, Puerta de Alcala, Plaza de Cibeles and many other sights of Madrid.  
Our last stop was a three-hour visit to the Prado Museum. It was truly 
amazing!!!  Then it was back to Toledo. The bus ride back to Toledo was 
relaxing and then it was a short ride to our hotel in a taxi.

On March 12th, we went into the town and bought a set of hand made knives and 
some other hand made items.  We needed the knives since on Boundless we are 
still using the knives we got for free at Shell Gas Stations for the purchase 
of a few gallons of gas in the 60's!!!!  We had lunch in an off the beaten 
track restaurant which one of the shop owners told. It was "el Officino".  It 
was great….for about 8 euros we had two local dishes, a drink and dessert.  
This Mom and Pop restaurant was friendly and clean, but the only draw back was 
they couldn't speak a word of English and didn't have a menu.  Rudy and I 
pointed a lot and succeed in not starving!!!!  When we got back to the hotel 
Deborah and Dave from Water Music had arrived. We got caught up on the last 
several months and went out for an excellent dinner.

On Friday we spent the day visiting all the sights!!!  These are the 
highlights: The Cathedral, Iglesia de Santo Tome, Plaza de Zocodover, Museum de 
Santa Cruz, Sinagoga de Santa Maria la Blanca, Sinagoga del Transito, El 
Grecco's House, and Puerta Antigua de Bisagra.  The Taller del Moro and the 
Alcazar were closed so we will try the next time we are here.  After a full day 
of sight seeing, we ended it with stopping at a couple of Tapa places for 
dinner.

On Valentine's Day, we decided to go back a day earlier than planned.  We had 
seen everything we wanted to see and we had many things to do to get ready for 
our guests, getting the boat ready to be hauled and leaving the boat for four 
months.  When we got home, Rudy surprised me with a pair of beautiful emerald 
and diamond earrings!!!!!!

Friday, Rudy took my bike and went to take a shower in the men's room.  He put 
the two bike covers on his bike.  When he came back the bike and covers were 
missing.   At first we thought they were stolen and then realized they probably 
blew over and fell into the water.  We then concluded that the covers probably 
acted like a sail in the windy weather and blew the bike into the water.  So he 
had actually made a sailboat out of the bike and now it was a submarine!!!!  
Rudy and Carlos (Govinda) fished for it for quite a while with no success.  A 
few days later, some divers were in the water and fished it out with one 
cover!!!

On February 17th  (Fat Tuesday) while I was at the gym, a group of people 
dressed in costumes paraded through the gym singing.  A couple of days later, a 
different group of people did the same thing.  This is all for the celebration 
of carnival.  (On sunny days, I still swim in the outside heated pool!!)

Later that night, Rudy, Dan (Dakare), Paul and Karen (Antigua Lady), Tosh 
(Millennium), and Rob and Andi (Akka) went to Sitges for the last night of a 
week of carnival celebrations.  They left at 8 p.m. and arrived back to the 
boat at 8 a.m   Rudy will tell you his experiences: The parade started as 
advertised at 10:00pm. We stationed ourselves near the reviewing area along 
with several hundred other people, TV cameras and various police. It was after 
1:30am, when the last float passed us by. The last float was a highlight of the 
parade for some of us. While many of the floats and attractions were a bit 
bawdy in this town that is know for its gay population the last float featured 
a beautiful dancing and gyrating lady painted in green with little else on. 
Once the parade had passed we found a restaurant for a couple of drinks and 
something to eat. The restaurant we chose happened to be near the end of the 
parade route. We had the opportunity to see the whole parade pass by one more 
time while we sat inside in comfort…..I forgot to mention that it was raining 
most of the night. From there we made our way to the bus station where we hoped 
to catch a bus back to Barcelona. I guess most of the people watching the 
festivities had the same idea; the line was immense. We decided we had to waste 
more time so we could catch the first train instead of waiting for a bus. We 
found another bar/restaurant. It was a bit crowded with the coming and going of 
many revelers. The people were interesting and the drinks were good. I am not 
sure what happened after that but we all seemed to make it back to our boats in 
one piece. I do remember a few things that are probably better forgotten. In 
the end it was a night to remember. 

On Friday the 27th, we had a cocktail party for the whole marina combined with 
a "treasure of the bilge"!!!  We sold about 60 euros of "stuff" and had a great 
time!!!  The next day Donna and Pete arrived and will be with us until March 
7th!!!

Until next month…..Adios