Captain Ken (along with his able crew) greased Moonbeam into a slip which didn't look big enough for her beam, let alone giving us any wiggle room. This was particularly amazing considering we were all suffering from 2 nights of bifurcated (Lorelei's word) sleep. Once again, we ordered a rental car and....poof! Twenty minutes later, one appeared. As usual, when entering a new country, our first order of business was to find a phone store and get SIM cards, so we can get back into contact with the rest of the world. We made the mistake of driving up to the town which, while not as impossible for cars as Monterosso (in Cinque Terre), was not auto-friendly. The streets are almost all one-way, owing to the fact that being a Medieval city, they are only as wide as one (small) car. There are many pedestrian-only walks, and we ended up driving in circles. That said, the ride through the streets was wonderful, unless you were the designated driver. (Thanks, Ken.) It is a charming town, with lots of energy. Eventually, we just drove back down to the port, parked the car and walked up the hill and found the phone store. One hour later, we were back in business. I've never bought a SIM card in the States, but I can't imagine that it takes as long and involves as much paperwork, documentation (passports) etc, as we have experienced all over Europe.

With our mission accomplished, we set out to drive 'cross-country'. This probably sounds quite impressive, considering our lack of sleep, but the whole 'country' (island) is no more that 30 miles across with one main road traversing it. The drive across is interesting. This little island of Menorca is known for its 70,000 kilometers of dry stone walls. The soil is very, very rocky, and when it is cleared, they use the rocks to build these walls. One can still see the rocks in the undisturbed soil. (It is also known for having the 2nd longest natural harbor - 6 kilometers - in the world. (Don't ask us the name of the first.) In no time, we arrived at the western end of the island in the town of Ciutadella. The rainbow at the end of the road was a lovely harbor, lined with boats, many restaurants, towered over by a Medieval city. (See pic above.)The first place we came to was a Sushi restaurant, but we thought it inappropriate to eat Japanese food on our first day in Spain. Bob serendipitously picked a Spanish place, Es Forat, which was a wonderful choice. We started out with a delicious Andalusian gazpacho. (Note to self: Look up recipe for Andalusian gazpacho so I can make it for our first dinner party back in Marco.) And, only fitting for our first meal in Espana, we shared a terrific mixed paella...almost as good as Ken's. As we were finishing up, (fine time to check), Ken looked it up on TripAdvisor...it was #13 out of 76 restaurants. Good choice, Bob.

Once back at the ranch (harbor), we were most fortunate in being here just as the Panerai Classic wooden boat race was wrapping up, and the boats were available for viewing. The oldest was from 1896...many were from the twenties and thirties, and there were a few later models, but each and every one was a beauty in its own right. We spent quite a bit of time with an owner who bought his boat eight years ago from Dennis Connor., (Mr America's cup)..and believe you, me...(that's for you Geoff), stories, he had.