730 days: Island Paradise

Flew into Palma Monday evening, and the first thing that you notice coming into the bay is the massive cathedral lit up on the waterfront. It looked majestic against the backdrop of the island mountains. My first day I spent exploring the old town. Phil's apartment is very centrally located right of the main shopping street, with the old town just behind. A maze of small cobbled streets, up and down stairs and rising over the hill. Then I wandered down to check out the waterfront and cathedral. In front of the cathedral they have developed a beautiful park with an inlet of sea water. In the evening I went with the boys up to the hills where they did a bit of outdoor climbing. With a bit of encouragement they managed to get me up a couple of walls, in my sturdy chucks no less! But made it to the top and down without any dramas.

The rest of my week was pretty relaxed. Went into the cathedral for a look around, it has the largest rose (circular) stained glass windows in Europe which were beautiful and some very old gold gilded alter statues.

Walked along to the castle on the hill, which was a bit of a trek to the top in the hot sun. The castle itself is pretty old, and apparently the only one of its kind which has a fully circular shape. Was going to chill out in the surrounding 'park' but it turned out to be more like scrubby Australian bush, so walked down to the waterfront and read my book by the marina.
Friday night we headed out for some tapas and drinks. Dinner Spanish style however is very late, after 9pm so I required some snacks before dinner! Had some amazing tapas though - croquettes (creamy chicken filling), potatas bravis (potato with a spicy sauce) and a delish half chicken. After dinner was finished at about 11 I was shown the vibrant night life of Palma.

On the weekend a Spanish friend took us out to her batch in the middle of the island. A gorgeous little cottage in an orchard complete with rooftop deck. We drove out to the eastern coast for a walk. The coast there was very different, jagged volcanic rock. Then it was back to the batch for a big bbq dinner. With pimentos as entrees - one of my favourite Spanish dishes, small green peppers fried with salt - delicious! After dinner had a great game of 500 with the boys. (Just for the record Phil and I smashed them!).

On Sunday we drove north up the island and stopped at one of the villages where they were having their annual market. The market had a medieval theme, with the streets lined with stalls working their was up the hill towards the castle. They had the most amazing food - cakes, olives, a whole tray of meats, cheese, it all looked amazing. The castle itself was perched on the very top of the hill, and had amazing views out to sea and down across the village.
After the markets we headed out to the beach to cool off and relax. The beach had quite large waves rolling in, but jumped in for a refreshing dip (it was quite cold!) before drying off in the sunshine. Then it was time to trek our way back across the island and make our way to Phil's boss's house Fi who'd invited us for a bbq. We had an amazing dinner with far to much food, and I got my dog fix for the month (they and four crazy dogs running about the place!). As we were eating dinner we saw a lightning storm coming up the island from Palma - there were huge flashed and rumbles. And when we drove home, we drove through the storm which was massive, there were huge hail stones pelting down on the truck, and fork lighting which struck only about 500m away from us! It was crazy. But made it home safely if a little bit wet!

Moday I tested out my riding skills. Borrowed the flatties bike and took myself for a ride around the bays. I only realised as I went to turn to go back exactly how hard the wind was blowing. And on my one gear cruiser bike, it was quite an effort getting home against the wind! In the evening Phil and I went to check out the terracotta warriors exhibit. Theses life size warriors were built for the tomb of the first emperor of china, and there were 8,000 of them! Very impressive!

Tuesday the flat mates took me out to the markets for breakfast. And selected some fresh prawns which the local cafe in the market cooked up for us to have with our coffee - amazing! Then I spent the afternoon chilling in the park and finishing my book. After Phil finished work we drove north up the island to Soller a cute little old town, and had some tapas and a wine while enjoying the last sun of the day. Then continued our drive around the northern bays to Deia set up in the hills with amazing views across the ocean, and then inland a little to vent another old town with gorgeous leafy trees. Before heading back to Palma to meet the others for some tapas for dinner.

And then Wednesday I was off on my next adventure. Had a fantastic stay in Palma, it was great to chill out after being all go travelling. Such a diverse and beautiful island I can see why it draws so many tourists there. Will defiantly have to return for another visit some time :)