We look back on a nice and cozy last week Azores on the island of Terceira. The boat has been stationary in the harbour for a while now, but of course we don't sit still all the time and get our movement in many different ways.
That starts last Sunday evening with attending a traditional bullfight. A few times a week, somewhere in a village on the island, a piece of street is closed off.

In that street a bull is 'let loose' to run back and forth down the street chasing men (women don't run). He doesn't really run loose; he sits on a rope that four men dressed in a white shirt with a black hat are holding tightly should things get too crazy. In this way, the bull walks the streets in a reasonably controlled way, but he is chased by men with rags and cloths. If the bull reacts to that, you have to get out of here. For the Portuguese men it is the sport to get as close as possible, but also to run away when necessary. The most dangerous thing about this is that you can be run over and overtaken by the bull. It is a real popular entertainment ... because the elderly and all the women and children are on the side, often on walls or behind solid fences to encourage. Our husbands' stay with us the first two times as well, but they can't resist to join the third bull heroically. With a lot of adrenaline and some small cracks in their clothes they come back happy as little boys at the end. So, had some exercise again ;-).

The kids move around all day. They play a lot together on the jetty ... skateboarding or football. Eline's tooth hurts and we decide to visit the dentist. There's a hole in it, but fortunately it's a milk tooth and the new tooth is already right underneath it, so it's pulled. Eline endures this very bravely and has to eat ice cream afterwards. Luckily the pain has gone away at the end of the day and she can play soccer again.

Every morning I walk to the baker's for delicious fresh rolls. That's quite a walk and up and down the hill again. In between I go back and forth from the boat to the washing machines. And once in a while shopping in the village. That way we walk a lot!

On Tuesday evening we are back with all the Dutch and the Dutch flag ready in the marina café for the competition Netherlands - Uruguay. Very exciting, for us with an extra dimension because losing means we will leave for Ireland / England the next day. But luckily they win and we can stay on this beautiful island until Sunday.

In the middle of the week we rent a car again and make the walk we couldn't find in time last week. A beautiful hike with lots of climbing and descending, through the forest, over rocks, through meadows and halfway the view of a very beautiful mountain lake. Unfortunately it drizzles ... it doesn't really get us wet, but the otherwise beautiful views are packed behind the clouds. On the way back we visit the inside of a volcano ... it 'emptied' during the last eruption (thousands of years ago) and that's how a beautiful cave system arose in the middle of the crater. Very impressive to see, again with all the necessary climbs and descents, but also very cold, especially as we're still wet and sweaty from the hike. Tired and satisfied we return to the boat at the end of the afternoon. In the evening we all watch the semi-finals Germany - Spain.

Friday is Monica's Valentine's Day. In the morning on coffee (tea doesn't seem to be fun, I learned today;-)), in the afternoon on drinks and in the evening dinner together in the restaurant of the marina. In between I go running with Ellen for the first time again (also quite a bit up and down hill). On all the boats there is a lot of talk about what to do about movement when we are back. We also have plans (I plan to, but Toine doesn't do that ;-)) to do sports 2 or 3 times a week. Especially now that we have all been on the scales Monica got for her birthday.

On Saturday evening we all go to a 'white party' in the café of the marina. All neatly dressed in white ... drinking beers out of plastic cups and dancing (or hopping back and forth) to nice music from our younger years ... like U2, Bronsky Beat, Soft Cell, etc. Jan knows almost all those old pop bands by name. Let's go back to 'the old days', and keep going for a long time, with the decision of shoarma bread and fried egg on the Brandaan. We make the shoarma from fried ham with about half of all herbs from the spice rack. Very nice evening!

The next morning it's a bit quiet on all the boats; some recovery is needed. Apparently we are not as trained as we were in our younger years! Besides that, we are preparing mentally and physically for the Dutch national team. We can write down the results here after the race but of course that is not really necessary. Whatever it will be, everyone knows it already ...

In short, a wonderful week; next 8-10 days we will go out to sea again! On our way to Ireland, but should there be too much bad weather along the way, we will leave for England, France or Spain respectively. We are going to see it! In any case, 5-6 boats sail out tomorrow to the north and we will sail together with the Barbarossa and Valentine.

What we're definitely going to miss are the huge church bells here in the harbour; there are three churches telling us what time it is, 24 hours a day on all hours and all quarters. It makes a difference, we haven't had our watches on for a year now, but this way we can get back in rhythm!