Day Sixteen: I'm on a Boat

Ruben calls in the morning and gives us an address to go to. Kate has so many questions. "Where are we going? Who is coming? Who's boat?  What kind of boat?"

"I just got the address," I tell her. "Plus, it doesn't matter. This is what we are doing today," I add.

Our taxi pulls up to a large contemporary house.  A little woman answers the door.

"Hi honey! We are Ruben’s friends. Is this the right house?" Kate asks.

Pazita brings us into the living room and we see Nacho is sitting in his office on the phone. He is not really "in" the office though because there are no walls.  The whole house is open.  He knocked down all of the walls so that the living room, dining room, foyer, and office are one huge open room.  It is very Zen.  There are three large Buddha statues throughout the room.

Nacho was an oil and gas lawyer in Spain.  He moved here and now he owns a depleted oil reserve in Spain. In Spain they do not have their own oil and gas.  They import it from Russia and Africa.  In the winter the demand for gas is high and in the summer it is low, but the supply is pretty constant throughout the year.  His company rents out his depleted oil reserve to gas companies such as BP and Shell, who use the space to store oil in the summer months for consumption in the winter.
Nacho and Carolina
Nacho loves music.  He has at least ten guitars, a keyboard and a drum set.  Every Thursday night he hosts a party with famous Spanish musicians.  They jam out from 8 at night until 8 in the morning.

Enter Ruben, Arturo and Mireia.  Ruben owns a cigar company in the Dominican Republic.  He has a place in Miami and comes here often.  Arturo is his good friend from the DR visiting for the weekend.  Mireia is from Spain.  She was a model and now she has an event planning company.

Once Nacho’s girlfriend Carolina arrives, we get on the boat.  It is a beautiful day, 75 and sunny.   To everyone other than Kate and I, the weather is cold.  Nacho and Carolina are wearing scarves and sweaters.  I am talking to Mireia about Brazil and she tells me that her ex-boyfriend is from there and she is still close with his mom.  She once visited her without him after they broke up while he was in Madrid.  Turns out her ex-boyfriend is Ronaldo and she moved to Madrid to live with him before coming to Miami.
The site of Nacho's new restaurant
We go through the Miami River and downtown.  Nacho shows us the plot of land on the water where he is building his restaurant.  It is a new business venture, his first restaurant.  It’s a great location and concept.  As we are docking for dinner at one of Nacho's favorite places on the water, I have a chance to talk to Carolina.  She tells me about her career and how she became the head of marketing for Pepsi Latin America. 
Pitstop for drinks at the Standard
For dinner we all eat lobster with spaghetti, Nacho's favorite dish.  It has been a few hours since I left Lyla and I need to let her out.  Nacho suggests I bring her back with me and tells me that she is welcome on the boat.   I grab a cab back to the Raleigh and pick her up.

After dinner we take the boat back to Nacho's house where we sing and dance as he plays the guitar.   See video

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Mireia, Nacho and Carolina at dinner