Sword Fight


Duane took us fishing overnight aboard his boat, Hoku Loa. I was excited to spend the night on the water to watch all sorts of small bizarre sea creatures swim past our underwater light, catch squid and hold out hopes that a big fish would bite. We only caught two squid to use as live bait and it felt like a pretty slow start until one of the rods got a bite around Midnight. Duane reeled it in without too much of a fight, and Chris stuck a gaff into the gill plate and through its head and helped bring it on deck. A baseball bat was required to subdue the swordfish - I guess I can't blame it for being mad. It was weighed in at 42.5 pounds, and it's the first broad bill swordfish caught in Kona's waters this year, so Duane's name will make the Big Fish List.

I am told this is pretty small for a swordfish. Duane used to hold some sort of swordfish record for a 200 something pounder until his own son beat him with a 500 something pound fish. Sorry my details on that are so sketchy. One thing I do know, that fish will taste delicious at Duane's 4th of July BBQ. Yeah!


Kona's first Broad Bill Swordfish.


Duane maintains control of the sword as he and Chris wrestle the fish.

76 Steps

Take a walk up the 76 steps from the bottom of the castle to the tower. Thanks to Ken for doing the video edits!

A Fascinating Fortress

We stayed about a 1.5 hour drive northwest of Barcelona in the tiny town of Selra at Castle d'Escales which is a real live castle built in 1032 with the purpose of protecting the area from French invaders. The building captured my imagination and I lay in bed wondering what dramas had played out in that very room. How many battles were fought by archers shooting arrows out those windows? Had a princess ever been locked inside? It's fun to think about, anyway, the whole family enjoyed exploring the castle and wondering about its past. It was unlike any vacation rental we have in Hawaii.


Castle Exterior - the top two tiny windows were in our bedroom.

Gordon takes advantage of the castle's Wi-fi hotspot.

La Familia

Spending time with the family was my favorite part of the trip to Spain. Hearing Paul's wise cracks on the walkie-talkie, learning about previous family trips that I missed because I wasn't yet a Jasper, and hanging around the castle drinking wine, laughing and playing silly games were all good times.

Dad's birthday celebration took place in this incredible dining room in the Castle d'Escales.

From Dust to Dust

An ancient cathedral could be found at the center of most of the towns we visited. They're just like the pictures in the art and history books and nothing like any church building I have every seen.

I wish I had a better understanding of the symbolism of the statues and artwork. I get the feeling that at the time they were created, every detail of the layout and design had meaning and significance that was lost on me, a believer who is used to worshiping in a church that doubles as a basketball court and only has two walls. To my knowledge, the oldest building on our island is Mokuaikaua Church, and it was constructed in 1820 by the first missionaries to Hawaii.

One of the cathedrals we visited had graves in the floor, and the cement emblems marking the burials were impossible to make out because they were worn down by the footsteps of a thousand years. It made me wonder if folks in Europe are more aware of their own mortality than we are. In American we live in the here and now, and when a building is 20 years old, we tear it down. The culture in Europe seems to be built on the generations that preceded it, and my guess is, it would be apparent to someone there that a human lifetime is very brief.


One of many old churches we saw.

Old Stuff

We visited many ancient and beautiful towns. I know I should have read up on the history so I could report fascinating details. Honestly, I don't even remember most of their names and I couldn't pinpoint them on a map. I can say I have never seen anything like it: narrow, cobblestone streets, ancient city walls, towering cathedreals. It's unlike anything we have in the U.S.

Beach Day

Twice we took the half-hour car ride to enjoy the Mediterranean. The coastline is comprised of steep, rocky cliffs that drop down into the water and the steep drop-off continues below the ocean's surface. Beautiful sand beaches were dispersed throughout the cliffs. We spent one day in L'Estartit where we took a boat ride and I went scuba diving off the Medes Islands. We saw two octopus, lots of fish that we don't have in Hawaii, and colorful plants. I wore a full 7-mil wetsuit, and an additional 7-mil "farmer john" wetsuit, and in the 60-degree water I still got cold after about 20 minutes! It was fun to experience diving somewhere besides Hawaii.

The Medes Islands where I dove near L'Estartit.

European Kine Grindz

Everyone asks about the food we ate. I am one of the pickiest eaters around, and yet, every meal was delicious. This paella pictured below was one of my favorites, and I ate it the last day in Barcelona. It was a rice dish seasoned with saffron and it had mussels and some type of crawdad things on top and bits of octopus mixed throughout. The veal was one of my less favorite dishes, but it was still pretty good- nice and tender, but I couldn't get over the texture being like beef but not quite like beef. The rabbit was an above average meal, it wasn't unlike squirrel, not too chewy and it was well seasoned.

Breakfast consisted of fruit and bread everyday. Their kiwi were the best I have ever had and the giant loaf of bread required a HUGE toaster about three times the legnth of an American toaster. I tried to like the sausage but it tasted raw, as if it was smoked or cured and not cooked. I just couldn't bring myself to eat it.

I was also frustrated in how long it took to get service and eat a meal. My life doesn't revolve around food, I am always on a schedule, and I tend to eat out of necessity. I can see dining out in Europe is about something else.


Becky and I share a deliscious paella in Barcelona.

After lots of hand gestures and smiling between our group and the man working the meatmarket in Selra, we purchased some sausage. I thought I liked it at first, then it grossed me out. The meatmarket would fit inside our bedroom, and they sold rabbit and had huge pig legs hanging unrefrigerated from the ceiling.

A Long Trip

Chris and I literally traveled half way around the world to meet up with his family in Spain. It was definitely worth it! Spending two nights in a row on an airplane is tiring to say the least, but I have to admit even the travel was fascinating because it gave me a new perspective on our world and made it seem quite small and enormously massive at the same time. Oceans and continents passed by my little airplane window like cow pastures and Walmarts do on a driving trip. First the Mediterranean, then Spain, then the Atlantic, the continental USA, the Pacific, then I was finally home.

This was my first trip out of the country (unless you count visiting the Canadian side of Niagara Falls as an international experience) Everyone said it would be a real eye opener to spend a week amongst a different culture but what struck me more than anything is how similar life on the other side of the world is to ours. Sure, people in Europe eat weird sausage, but in my limited experience I would have to say people from around the world have a lot more in common than we like to admit.