Palma Mallorca

I apologize for my overenthusiasm in this post.

Let's backtrack:

We woke that last morning in Brussels at 6AM, totally knackered, and packed up our stuff.  We walked to the metro station across from the Botanical Garden, just a five minute walk from our miserable hostel (yes, Jon was too kind--it was miserable) and rode out of the city, back to the bus station where we had first landed.  We took out some money and searched around aimlessly for our bus.  After about a half hour, we found it and hopped on.  An hour more to the airport and then an hour and a half in the air, and we finally touched down on Palma.

Mallorca is a large island (about the size of a small US state) located directly to the east of Spain in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.  It was first settled over two thousand years ago by an Arab population that built fortresses and mosques in the bay area where the main city of Palma now stands.  In the seventh century it was invaded and conquered by the Spanish, who turned the largest fortress in the city into a palace honoring James I.  A impressive gothic cathedral was built some centuries (I believe the 13th) later next to the palace.  The expansion that followed surrounded these monuments with stunning architecture and narrow, bustling streets, which would eventually attract flocks of tourists (like Jon and myself) by the plane and boatloads to explore the bars and clubs designed especially to drain them of all their cash.  The further one ventures outside the city, the more one begins to notice the effects of this tourist industry on the island.  Hotels are constantly being refurbished and rebuilt, and the city of Palma itself seems to be expanding, always in preparation for the warmer months.  The three days Jon and I were there, things were noticeably calmer than we had expected.  The tourists were older and mostly Dutch, and the nights were reasonably quiet.  Most clubs were closed for the off-season. 

From inside the palace

But I would argue that being in Mallorca for the fall/winter months actually enhanced our stay.  We were not regularly accosted by people trying to sell us stuff, and we were never lured into tourist traps the way we always were in bigger cities.  The food, although unremarkable, was much cheaper than anywhere else we had visited (including Scotland)--probably because most places made their money on selling you tropical drinks with long straws and umbrellas on top.  By now, Jon and I were wary of this practice, and rarely ordered a meal without knowing what we were getting ourselves into.  

It was drizzling when we landed, which was a bummer because we were banking on being able to wear our beach clothes to give our reeking warmwear a rest.  Thankfully, the overcast sky cleared by the time our bus reached the hostel, and the weather was clear and warm for the rest of our stay.  

A rainy start

In fact, I would say that the rain ended up being a good thing, because it prevented us from being able to lie around on the beach all day (some of the day would have been nice, but that's alright).  We checked into Tierramar Hostel, a terrific place with free wifi in the lobby, free breakfast every morning, private rooms with balconies, comfy beds and keycards that worked, and fantastic service, all for the same price we had paid in Brussels.  Plus, there was an ice cream freezer next to the front door.

At a cafe outside the hostel

Anyway, we set our stuff down, took [much needed] showers, and got some lunch at a pizza cafe on the beach.  Then we took a bus into Palma, which was about forty minutes away and walked around.  There, we saw the palace and my favorite landmark of the entire trip: the cathedral.

The Cathedral

It was getting late, so we headed back.  Because we had spent all our money on entry fees and postcards, we decided to walk instead of taking the bus.  After all, how far could it be?

It was actually really far.  Turns out it was almost 14km (nearly 9 miles).  So THATS why the bus ride had taken so long.  We finally reached the hostel after about three hours of walking, totally exhausted.  But oh well--we got some great pictures of the harbor, the beaches, and the city as the sun went down.

That night we met the first Americans we had seen on our entire trip.  We introduced ourselves and accepted an offer to go out with them and explore the area.  While exploring, we almost got convinced to enter a club that was playing "Black Music" (this joke would come up for the rest of the trip).  Finally we settled on a little place called "Bogart's Bar" only a few blocks from Tierramar that dragged us in with a sign that said "Special Offer!  Two drinks for the price of two drinks!"  The guy inside was a riot--he was from Glasgow himself, but hadn't been back since he first came to Mallorca nearly twenty years ago.  He entertained us with rude jokes and strange drinks (including a free, spicy liquor he had been brewing with jalapenos for weeks) until it got late, and then Jon and I headed back to the hostel and went to sleep.

Good marketing?

The next day we decided to head beyond the city to Castle Bellver, another old fortress with circular walls, a dried up moat and a view overlooking all of Palma.  We came across a shop that rented electric bikes, powered by batteries that gave you about 5mph of juice on top of whatever speed you were pedaling.  They were more expensive than the normal bikes, but too fun to resist.  We made it about 15 miles to the castle and back in about 2 hours without breaking a sweat.  On top of Bellver we had a panoramic view of Palma and the mainland on the other side of the hills.  It was pretty stunning.

Bellver

The rolling hills of Mallorca

A view of the city from the top of the castle

We came back and had a cheap dinner of Chinese food, then decided to go back to Bogart's that night instead of heading into Palma.  The Americans told us it was pretty quiet there anyway--I guess we believed them.  We all hung out with the funny bartender for a little while longer, had a couple of drinks,  and then said goodbye.  Jon and I were leaving the next afternoon and intended to rent the electric bikes for another day to venture further into the mainland.  

The next morning I got up early and did something I had been meaning to do since we landed in Palma:  a jog along the coast as the sun came up.  I made it just past the halfway point into the city before I stopped and climbed a large rock to look out at the ocean.  It's incredible how sappy something like a sunrise can make you feel.  Those ten minutes sitting there was one of the highlights of the trip for me. 

  

The ride to Llucamajor

Jon was awake and ready to go when I got back.  We had our breakfast, checked out, got the electric bikes again--this time for a whole day, and pedaled about 20 miles inland to the little town of Llucamajor.  The ride there was pretty scenic--long narrow roads between acres of orchard and pasture, marked here and there by old, stone farmhouses.  I guess this was what Mallorca was really like, away from the tourist's side of things.  We stopped at a gas station where nobody spoke english and plugged in our batteries to let them charge, but realized that the outlets didn't work.  We didn't want to try and explain the problem, so we ordered two glass bottles of coke and hung out for awhile, hoping that we had enough charge to make it to Llucamajor.  Once we got back on the road, it turned out we were only about five more minutes away.  

Taking a break

We sat down outside a cafe in the main square of the town and ordered ham and cheese sandwiches on baguettes and two glasses of Estrella, the Spanish Keystone Light.  The headline in the local paper told us that the previous night, someone had been murdered with a heavy blunt object and left in a field a few kilometers away.  So we waited just long enough for the batteries to get us back to Palma, and then we booked it on out of there.  It was nice while it lasted, Llucamajor.

Lunch in Llucamajor

We returned the bikes, bought ourselves some gelato (something I'd been dying to do the entire trip) and sat on the beach, enjoying our last hours in Palma.  Ever since arriving from Brussels, we had been warmed, rested and refreshed.  One more destination and our trip was finished.  

The road back to Palma

We had the ingenious idea of walking to the airport, a 3+ mile trek that would have involved crossing a freeway if we had gone through with it.  We chickened out once we got to the onramp to the highway and instead turned around and took a bus to the main city, where we boarded yet another shuttle to get to our terminal.  Instead of arriving with hours to spare, we actually had to sprint the last 200 yards to the gate after hearing the final boarding call.  We sat down on the plane, tired and sweaty, and looked out the window as we rolled on down the runway and took off into the sunset.  Ahhh.  Palma.

Overall Rating:

5/5

Pros: 

- Tropical weather

- Cheap(er) food

- Great hostel

- Great sights

Cons:

- No potable tap water

So yeah.  Go to Palma Mallorca.