After just 6 weeks at home in Canberra, we returned to Trilogy for another glorious Mediterranean sail, this time along the Spanish coast from Barcelona to Gibraltar. We were delighted that Sue and Peter Lucey agreed to join us again and later we'll be joined by Colin and Amelia Goodwin from the UK. John and Myra Rowling, along with Lee and Paul Ferrari, handed over Trilogy in immaculate condition, in spite of steady rain the previous day, which had complicated the cleaning process. Trilogy was berthed in the ClubOne Marina in Barcelona harbour which was well located near the old city. As Friday was the start of a public holiday weekend in Barcelona, the waterfront was filled with families relaxing and enjoying the nearby market stalls that offered all manner of delicious artesan goodies.
Barcelona is an exciting and pleasurable city to experience. To our surprise next morning, literally at the pontoon gate, twenty or so privately owned Swedish sports cars ( Ferrari, Lotus, Porsche, Koenigsegg, Rolls Royce, Maserati) each worth millions of euros, were being off-loaded from a specialty semi trailer onto the secure roadway within the marina. This meant we were privileged enough to get up-close to these lean beasts which felt pretty amazing! They had come to Barcelona for a race meeting and these pristine cars were most likely going to sustain significant damage! After spending the morning stowing the provisions, we excitedly headed off to the Power 8 Stadium for a soccer match between REAL MADRID and RCD ESANYOL, a Barcelona team. We were seated amongst the REAL supporters, who being the stronger team won 6-0 in a packed stadium of 110,000 spectators....needless to stay, the locals were a bit subdued. It would have been nice to see RCD's score at least one goal! Drums, flags and the roar of the crowd were unforgettable, not to mention seeing the famed Rinaldo score four goals.
With the ocean calling us, we set sail next morning. There was a large swell at the harbour entrance that was compounded by the rebound of the waves hitting the long sea wall. Once the main was hoisted Trilogy settled and we set the course for Sitges, a beach resort 20nm to the south. In June we had made a road trip with our B&B host to Sitges but this time we arrived by sea, always a bonus! The marina was to the north of the city development and in the afternoon after the heat of the sun had dissipated, we walked along the elevated coast path towards the old city. However, the highlight of the walk was not the old city but the gay nudist beach which provided us with much entertainment and made zoom photography quite voyeurish!! The odd thing was that the very crowded beach was filled with men who were mostly standing or strutting arm in arm along the shore displaying their wares, and the equally large number of men standing waist high in the water hiding their wares.......swimming was not part of the agenda!
Refreshing showers, GNTs and a delicious meal at Can Laury Peix restaurant near the marina finished a lovely day filled with the usual surprises of travel!