Exploring Spain

We celebrated the 4th of July by going to the California Burger Bar in Palma, Mallorca. Since we are the only ones celebrating it, we felt it was only appropriate to have a good old fashioned all-american meal. And it was sooo good...

And on our way out of Palma, we saw the Greenpeace boat Rainbow Warrior in the harbor. We honor and applaud all that they do for our wonderful planet...

Since we are an non-European Union vessel, we have to leave the EU in order to not pay the 21% tax on EcstaSea. We used to leave the EU every 2 years and went to Tunisia twice in the years that we were here before. The regulations have now changed and it is every 18 months. Although since we are here only 5-6 months every summer, it translates into needing to leave every year. So we are on our way to Morocco to take care of this regulation. And on our way we decided to explore the coast of Spain for possible ports to leave EcstaSea for the winter months that we are in Tucson. Since we have spent most of our time on the islands in the Med, and especially the Spanish Balearic islands, this will be a fun adventure of exploring the coast of Spain. And our first port was the city of Valencia.

Valencia is the third largest city in Spain and has a long, complicated and turbulent history with a Greek settlement followed by the Romans in 139 BC. Everyone we talked to has always loved Valencia and now we see why. It is a vibrant beautiful city and we enjoyed it immensely. The food was great with lots of tapas and good sangria...

The beautiful cathedrals...

The Plaza of the Virgins with some he-man surrounded by virgins????

Another church...

The Mercado...

The Bullring...

We remind ourselves that all who wander are not lost, and so we wander, and came into the beautiful Plaza of the Virgins one evening. And it was a happening place. There were a group of dancers in the middle of the plaza dancing the jitterbug (and doing it quite well) to some old time big band music. We watched and were envious of their talent and lack of inhibitions as they danced the night away. And then there was a fire-dancer entertaining us all...

Along with their historic old town, there are also very modern and upscale buildings of art and cinema. We enjoyed an evening of going to this area as well as taking in an Imax theater showing of the galaxies and heavens. This is the Imax theater looking like a big eye...

Notice the structures in the background--they are various modern museums...

And in this same area we saw an activity that made us laugh uncontrollably--kids were put in a bubble on the water and tried to stand up. It resembled hamsters on a wheel and was much harder than it looked. There were a few brave young adults who tried and were no better at it than the kids. Our only regret was that we didn't try it ourselves...

And this is the same area at night with the moon in the background. Magical...

We were in Valencia for a week and really had a great time--even dancing at the disco on the beach till late into the night.

Then we moved on down the coast to the little town of Denia.  It dates back from the Greeks in 600BC.  And as we approached, many sea-puppies (dolphins) came to play and welcome us to Denia.

The ancient castle sits high on the hill...

And Mother Moon came into her fullness while we were there. Walking along the sea wall to celebrate her fullness we saw this Buddha statue all lit up...

Then we saw the moon peeking out from the clouds...

And then the Buddha gazing up and celebrating the Mother Moon in her glory...

As we moved farther south down the coast we came to Cartagena. It has a long and rich history dating back to 243 BC when it became the enter of Carthaginian influence in Europe. We wandered into the town square the first night we were there to encounter a music festival happening all week.
Town square...

Ruins of an old theater...

We also toured a Roman Amphitheater dating back to the 1st century BC. It held up to 6ooo spectators and is still amazingly intact...

And the handsome Captain standing next to the pillars on the stage of the theater...

It was a wonderful visit back into ancient history in Cartagena and we enjoyed it so much.

Although we didn't enjoy their version of nachos--Yuck!!!

Moving on down the coast we stopped in the small port of Aguadulce. The marina is back-dropped with a big mountain...

It is small, but sweet with a nice beach. It reminds us of Santa Eulalia, one of our favorite ports in Ibiza...

The last night we were there, we heard fireworks and looked up to see a boat come into the harbor all decorated and full of merry makers...

There was a statue of someone (we thought Mary but don't know) on the bow and it was a big deal...

We love the way the Spanish are always celebrating "something", as we always look for any reason to celebrate Life.

And perhaps we are truly becoming European as we had this big, scrumptious rib dinner at 10:00 at night...
What were we thinking???

We found a few new possibilities for berthing EcstaSea for the winter along the coast. It will be interesting to see what all of this exploration evolves into...

Now it is time to head south across the Mediterranean to Morocco. A new country and a new adventure for us!!!