Filed from Calvi, Corsica
Peg at Isla Cabrera,
Baleares at the top of the castle under the flag of Espana
June 12, 2000
Hi Everybody:
It seems as though we spent a very long time in Spain and had visited most of the country. We still have not seen Barcelona and the
northeastern region, but we plan to do that when we are on our way out of the Mediterranean. We really enjoyed Spain. Some of the things we really
like are:
1- The informality - We had no direct contact with Customs or other officials in Spain. When we arrived at each marina we were asked to show
our boat papers (US Documentation) and our passports to the marina staff who would register us into the marina. The local Guardia Fiscal visited
the marinas each day or two and picked up copies of the marinas' registration forms, but we never had any contact with them directly.
Several of the marina offices also required proof of boat insurance.
2- The varied beauty of the country - the rias (rivers), the coastal cliffs and beaches, the rolling hills and mountains inland, the wonderful
old cities, each with unique beauty and charm.
3- The attractiveness of the people - they are handsome, slim, fit, stylish, and well-dressed. They are serious, intelligent, hard-working
(don’t be fooled by siesta) and fun-loving. They love to sing and you can often hear a group at night in a marina or on the beach singing, with
guitar accompaniment, a popular tune or, more likely, a folk tune.
4- The bustling energy - the country looks prosperous, active, growing and “under re-construction”, all the while preserving their monuments and
history.
5- Their attention to the preservation of park lands - the Isle de Cies and the Isla Cabrera are wonderful examples of the good job they do in
making these lands available to everyone while preserving them for the future.
6- Their great fruits, vegetables and fresh fish (the ones I can identify,
anyway).
7- Their chicken is much better than any I’ve had in the US - I don’t know why, but they are meatier, juicier and tastier. I went into one grocery
store and asked for 8 chicken breasts. The butcher took 4 fresh whole chickens, deftly trimmed the breasts and handed them to me - maybe they
are just fresher!
8- They are becoming very technologically savvy - mobile phones are everywhere, internet cafes are very available. They are putting a lot of
effort into teaching their youngsters how to use computers.
9- Siesta - Most shops and businesses close from about 2pm to 5pm and then reopen in the evening from 5-9pm. This meant that we could not shop or do
chores in the middle of the day. After the weather warmed up and the temperature soared in midday, we were glad to be able to stop and take a
long break and be out and about later in the cool of the evening.
10- Fiestas and fireworks - always happening and always lots of fun. The
fireworks are the best we’ve ever seen.
11- The ice cream - rich and smooth.
12- The system of putting a coin in a shopping cart to unchain it from a line of carts. Your coin is then returned to you when you replace the
cart - there are no stray carts all over the parking lots.
13- The resourcefulness of the Spanish people - For example, you can see miles of plastic greenhouse hydroponic farms at the foothills of the
mountains along the southeastern coast of Spain. It is not pretty, but it makes very good use of rocky, hilly land that is otherwise not usable.
And it is inland a bit from the tourist areas along the coast.
14- Spanish coffee - so flavorful and rich that coffee at home last winter tasted wimpy by comparison.
15- Prices - generally, prices in Spain were extremely reasonable, except for fuel and laundry. Food, wine, marinas, storage and haul-out varied by
location, but generally were very reasonable.
16- Flamenco dancing - in small doses.
17- The horses - and especially the horse show at the Royal Andalusian Equestrian School .
18- Pimenti de Padron
Some of the things we didn’t like include:
1- Fish served with head, tail and bones - we’re just so used to filleted fish.
2- Bagging our own groceries - No grocery store in Spain supplies baggers, so you have to bag your own groceries, while watching the cash register
and trying to count out your money and furiously hurrying so the person behind you doesn’t have to wait for you. We hear that this is the case in
most of Europe.
3- The red dust that gets over everything whenever the wind blows and whenever it rains. The rain seems to gather the dust and bring it down
onto your boat to leave a muddy residue.
4- Being unable to find a self-service automatic laundry and having to take our laundry to a service to have them do it. The alternative - doing
it by hand (and I did a fair bit of it that way) - is not appealing to me.
5- Siesta - it just took us so long to get used to it, and I’m not sure we ever really did. I guess we remain ambivalent about siesta.
6- Bullfights
Hasta Luego, Espana
Peg & Tom
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