As a way to say farewell to our tenure in Spain, we took one final trip to Mallorca, Spain. We figured it would be a good way to celebrate Izzy's birthday and relax in style for our last trip. It seemed odd to us that we'd managed to visit the
Canary Islands, but never managed a trip to the Balearic Islands just a short trip from Madrid. We found some cheap flights on the dreaded Ryanair, stuffed our book bags full, and headed out early Friday morning. When we arrived, we caught a bus to the middle of Palma. The city was founded as a Roman camp in 123 AD when they conquered most of modern Europe. It's seclusion was not enough to save it from sharing in the hapless history of mainland Spain. For the first couple of hours, we wandered through the winding streets of the old town. There were beautiful statues, a plethora of cafes, and Izzy was always tempted by the boutique stores.
As is custom in most Spanish cities, we found the Plaza Mayor(Main Square). It was packed with the customary outdoor cafes complete with overpriced tourist menus and lots of shopping. We poked around for a bit then headed off onto some of the side streets looking for a place to eat. We found a recommendation on an app I downloaded. It said the place was nice and the food was amazing. I don't know who exactly wrote those rave reviews but they definitely had an experience unlike ours or they ate at a different place. We had to endure some bad food and help some German tourists understand the menu. If there's one thing Mallorca is famous for, its it's popularity with German tourists. In fact, the tourism boom on the island caused immigration problems for Franco when he ruled the country.
The thing I love about walking through Spanish cities is the architecture. This is just a dental practice but look at what an amazing building its in. This actually makes me want to visit the dentist just to go inside the building.
The square near St. Eulalia Church is beautiful. We stopped here to look around the church, have an ice cream, and I took a nap on a bench. Feeling refreshed, we walked down towards the harbor.
Along the way, we passed through more awe inspiring streets, including the one with the city council building.
This gnarled tree is in the plaza right across the street from the city council building. How many different shapes can you see? It makes me think of an old man or woman's face.
Down along the water front is Palma's most famous landmark, the Royal Palace of La Almudena. In the summertime, it's the official residence of the royal family. It was constructed over a mosque that stood on the same spot under the Moorish rule and was known as the "Zuda". It was rebuilt in 1309 by King Jamie II. We walked around the grounds for a bit enjoying the sun and the views, which are spectacular.
We made the ascent up the stairs to the main courtyard area and portal. The carvings and architecture all reflect the Gothic influence of the time it was made. There were several horse drawn carriages with eager tour guides itching to overcharge you. We passed on their offers but it looked like some sort of fun.
Around to the left of huge main portal, we found the tourist entry to get into the church. Sadly, there was a 10 euro charge to get in. We thought about it for a bit and decided we'd pay to go in. When we approached the counter, the girl rang us up and I gave her a credit card to pay. She informed me her window was cash only and she couldn't run my card because only the other window could do it. I looked and saw no one there. I asked her to do it. She declined. Positive attitudes all around. We chalked it up to an attitude we've found to be true since moving to Spain. There are just some people who don't want to take your money, many of them are Spanish. It's a mystery. We left and started our long walk to the hotel. Even though it was a few miles, we were still fresh off our hike on the
Camino de Santiago so we didn't mind it at all.
It took a few bad turns and lots of direction asking to finally get to our hotel. It didn't help we were in the wrong neighborhood so a lot of people had no idea which hotel we were looking for. We finally found and got checked in. They gave us a nice room on the top floor with a large balcony and a great view of the harbor. All in all, our first day was great and we looked forward to getting our rental car for the next two days and exploring the rest of the island.
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