After unseasonably warm and sunny May weather in Seattle, June was much cooler. But we got plenty of sunshine and high temperatures with a trip to Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix at the beginning of the month, and inland to Hood River, Oregon near the end of June.
In between, we made a weekend trip to Mukilteo, Washington and attended a couple more Seattle Mariners baseball games. We’ve not generally been big baseball fans, and attended a game in May for the first time in years. We found being so close to the field of play made a huge difference to our interest and enjoyment of the game.
We also tested our recently-purchased Iridium GO! Exec with the apps James needs for work at Amazon (Outlook, Slack, Chime, Wickr, and internal work web pages), and it worked flawlessly. This is great news because we’d need it for our upcoming trip to the geographic north pole where we’d be beyond the reach of the ship’s satellite system. Being disconnected for over a week doesn’t work well with James’ job. The GO! Exec also would open up some land-based trips out of cellular range where our Starlink satellite system is either too big to transport or doesn’t yet have coverage.
Below are highlights from June 2nd through 30th, 2023. Click any image for a larger view, or click the position to view the location on a map. And a map with our most recent log entries always is available at mvdirona.com/maps.
 |
Spanish Grand Prix
Position: 41°34.21’N, 2°15.69’E
Barcelona was high on the list of stops for our aborted trip to the Mediterranean in 2020. And we’re big Formula 1 fans, but hadn’t attended a race since the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2018. So when a last-minute opportunity came together to attend the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, we jumped on it.
|
 |
Barcelona Gothic Quarter
Position: 41°23.00’N, 2°10.59’E
Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter is the oldest section of the city, with ruins dating back to the Roman Empire. Narrow cobblestone lanes, wonderful to explore on foot, wind through the quarter past varied architecture. Although most of the buildings appear medieval, many actually were built in the late 1800s and early 1900s as part of a renovation project aimed to improve tourism, particularly for the 1929 International Exposition.
|
 |
Barcelona Gaudi Architecture
Position: 41°24.22’N, 2°10.47’E
Catalonian architect Antoni Gaudi is famous for his unique and fantastical designs inspired from nature. The majority of his creations are in Barcelona, with seven comprising the UNESCO World Heritage Site, “Works of Antoni Gaudi”, including his masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia.
|
 |
Montserrat Day Trip from Barcelona
Position: 41°35.33’N, 1°50.54’E
The Montserrat mountains rise almost vertically from the surrounding landscape to 2,055 ft (1,236 m) above sea level. Montserrat means “jagged peaks” in Catalan, and their unusual shape is prominent for miles around.
The mountains are a popular day trip from Barcelona, reachable in just over an hour by train or a 45-minute drive. The main attraction is Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey, a Benadictine monastery perched near the mountain top 2,000 ft (600m) above the valley floor. The mountains also have several good hiking trails, and two funiculars that ascend and descend from the monastery area. The monastery can be reached on foot, or by automobile, rack railway or cable car. |
 |
Barcelona Montjuic
Position: 41°21.83’N, 2°9.99’E
The Montjuic hilltop was the birthplace of Barcelona, in the 3rd century BC or earlier, and the site of many of the city’s significant events. With a commanding view to the Mediterranean and the surrounding area, several fortifications were built on hill, the latest being the still-standing 17th-century Montjuic Castle. More recently, the hilltop hosted the 1929 International Exposition and was the main site for the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics.
|
 |
Girona Day Trip from Barcelona
Position: 41°58.98’N, 2°49.62’E
The city of Girona is famous for its medieval wall and many centuries-old buildings and artifacts, including the 14th-century Girona Cathedral. The city’s Jewish Quarter also is one of the most well-preserved in Europe, with a maze of narrow, cobblestone streets, steps and arches dating from the 12th century. These features made it the location of choice for filming season six of the medieval fantasy saga, Game of Thrones.
|
 |
Barceloneta
Position: 41°22.63’N, 2°11.07’E
On our final day in Barcelona, we returned to the Barceloneta waterfront district to tour the area in more detail and visit Barcelona’s L’Aquarium. The aquarium is among the largest in Europe, with a spectacular 262-ft (80m) shark tunnel, and contains one of the world’s best collections of Mediterranean sea life. The 11,000 creatures housed here also feature sea life from all over the world, such as the Red Sea, the Caribbean and the Great Barrier Reef.
|
 |
GranKito
Position: 47°36.99’N, -122°20.60’W
GranKito, the first of the Nordhavn 64 series, departing Bell Harbor. The vessel currently is for sale with Yacht Tech in Anacortes.
|
 |
Downtown Sailing Series
Position: 47°36.99’N, -122°20.60’W
Vessels taking part in the weekly Downtown Sailing Series from Elliott Bay Marina across the Seattle waterfront and back. Running since 2004, the series is a casual summer regatta designed to showcase the sport of sailing and encourage people get out on the water in their boats, either racing or simply cruising along with the field.
|
 |
Insignia Gardens
Position: 47°37.02’N, -122°20.63’W
The verdant 7th-floor gardens between the two towers of our apartment complex, Insignia.
|
 |
Leschi
Position: 47°36.92’N, -122°20.66’W
The Seattle Fire Department fireboat Leschi testing its pumps in Elliott Bay. Using two MTU 8v-4000 M71 diesels, rated at 1,550 hp at 2,000 rpm, the ship can pump 20,000 gallons (75,500 L) of water per minute.
|
 |
Mariners vs White Sox
Position: 47°35.46’N, -122°19.98’W
We’ve not generally been big baseball fans, and attended a game a couple of weeks back for the first time in years. We found being so close to the field of play made a huge difference to our interest and enjoyment of the game. We had another great experience tonight as the Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago White Sox 3-2.
|
 |
Testing Iridium GO! exec
Position: 47°36.98’N, -122°20.59’W
Testing our recently-purchased Iridium GO! exec on our balcony. We were weren’t hopeful we’d get a clear enough view of the sky here with the cement roof above, but it hooked up just fine.
|
 |
Iridium GO! exec app
Position: 47°36.92’N, -122°20.66’W
The Iridium GO! exec has a nice app that displays data consumption and controls how long the port is open and what apps can use it. Choices include one of several pre-defined profiles that allow specific apps to use the connection, or “All Open” meaning no restriction on internet access. We are using the latter to test with the apps James needs for work at Amazon (Outlook, Slack, Chime, Wickr, and internal work web pages), and it worked flawlessly.
This is great news because we’ll need it for our upcoming trip to the geographic north pole. Much of the time we will be north of 70° latitude, beyond the reach of the ship’s satellite system, and being disconnected for over a week doesn’t work well with James’ job. The GO! exec also would open up some land-based trips out of cellular range where our Starlink satellite system is either too big to transport or doesn’t yet have coverage. |
 |
Insignia Garage Door
Position: 47°36.99’N, -122°20.58’W
The garage door in our apartment building was hit by a service vehicle. But fortunately we can still get in and out while they work on it.
|
 |
Mukilteo
Position: 47°56.92’N, -122°18.38’W
Mukilteo, a small Snohomish County city about a 45-minute drive north of Seattle, was a native-American settlement for centuries before the arrival of Europeans. Captain George Vancouver was among the first to visit, when he landed there in 1792. In the mid-1800s, the land was ceded to the Washington Territorial government and European settlement began. The still-operating Mukilteo Lighthouse was built here in 1906, with a rotating Fresnel sextagon shaped lens that in 1927 was replaced with the current fixed fourth-order Fresnel lens. The lighthouse was automated in 1979 and the keepers’ homes turned into a museum that is part of Mukilteo Lighthouse Park.
|
 |
Fog
Position: 47°36.99’N, -122°20.55’W
The Olympic Mountains visible over a morning fog bank drifting from Elliott Bay over Seattle.
|
 |
Sunset
Position: 47°36.92’N, -122°20.66’W
The morning fog dissipated and the day ended with a spectacular sunset over the Olympic Mountains.
|
 |
Hood River, Oregon
Position: 45°42.88’N, -121°30.87’W
With five breweries and a population of only 8,341, Hood River, Oregon has more breweries per capita than any other city in the US, and possibly the world. All have tasting rooms and, combined with the city’s many pubs and bars, beer lovers will never go thirsty here. And the city has numerous excellent restaurants and winery tasting rooms, much public art, and is close to many good hiking trails.
|
 |
Spitfire
Position: 47°37.00’N, -122°20.55’W
Spitfire dozing in the sun under James desk.
|
 |
T-Mobile Park
Position: 47°35.46’N, -122°19.98’W
At T-Mobile Park to watch the Seattle Mariners Major League Baseball team take on the Washington Nationals.
|
 |
Honeycomb
Position: 47°35.46’N, -122°20.01’W
A striking way to serve honey at the Mariners Diamond club.
|
|
|
Mariner Moose
Position: 47°35.45’N, -122°19.98’W
Jennifer loves to get pictures with team mascots and added another to the list with the Mariner Moose of the Seattle Mariners.
|
 |
Overtime
Position: 47°35.45’N, -122°19.98’W
The game ended up being a late one with two extra innings. Unfortunately the Nationals scored three unanswered runs in the bottom of the 11th inning, and the Mariners lost 4-7.
|
 |
More Floors
Position: 47°36.92’N, -122°20.66’W
The apartment tower under construction to our west at 4th & Bell continues to grow taller, and windows have been installed in some of the lower floors.
|
 |
Sunset
Position: 47°36.92’N, -122°20.66’W
The Olympic Mountains painted orange in the glow of a dramatic sunset.
|
 |
First Win for Ross Chastain
Position: 47°37.00’N, -122°20.55’W
Ross Chastain, one of our favorite NASCAR drivers, celebrating his NASCAR Cup Series win at Nashville Superspeedway by throwing a watermelon to the track while standing on the roof of his car. This traditional victory act reflects Chastain’s roots as a watermelon farmer on his family’s Florida farm.
|
 |
Click the travel log icon on the left to see these locations on a map. And a map of our most recent log entries always is available at mvdirona.com/maps. |
If your comment doesn't show up right away, send us email and we'll dredge it out of the spam filter.