No, we weren’t run over by a crazy driver, kidnapped or beamed up to an alien ship.  We simply took a mini vacation from our vacation and headed to Mallorca, a small island about one hour east of Valencia. The night before leaving, Jocelyn went on line to check us in only to discover that the flight had been delayed four hours so we would be losing a lot of our first day in Palma de Mallorca, the capital. Leaving our flat on Tuesday morning, Joey had a bit of a slip on the stairs and fell on her behind and arm.  She was OK but we knew she’d have a bruise to show for it all in a few days.

Arriving at the airport, we headed to security.  We saw what we thought were large glass doors leading to our area and Jocelyn stood in front waiting for the doors to open.  They were windows!  After we had a good laugh about that one, we found security and our gate, a bit of lunch and then boarded for our short flight.  We were greeted by light rain and a drab grey sky so I didn’t get very good pictures coming in.  Once at the airport, we were to board the #1 bus to our apartment and were told there was a “problem” on the highway so we were delayed again.  The bus finally arrived and by that time many flights had come in and we were in a huge crowd of people pushing to get on the bus.  Jocelyn was having a hard time getting back on the sidewalk when the bus pulled too closely, and a nice man pulled her back before the bus hit her.  Scary time!

We made our way by bus and foot, found our apartment easily, met our host and settled in before heading towards the old town and dinner. The streets, like most European cities, do not run in a true grid pattern, but helter skelter, small narrow streets spidering off from the larger main ones.It is hard not to get turned around but Jocelyn did a good job of keeping us on track and we found a small restaurant to take a break at and enjoy dinner.  It was a very crowded, tiny place with little room between tables.  Our waitress did speak English and we all ordered crisp chicken dinner. She asked if we wanted bread and water with it and it wasn’t until we got the bill that we realized there was a charge for both.  Our supper consisted of a small deep fried piece of chicken (I thought is was more like pork) with a bit of salad, or should I say lettuce, and that’s it except for a small piece of bread each, and don’t forget the water.  Oh, we each had a Coke.  Our bill was 40Euro ($60) and we were still hungry.  Gelato anyone?

We wandered the streets, looking into but not entering the many high-end stores where we knew we knew our heart rates would soar just looking at the prices.  On the other end of the spectrum, I did find my first thrift store since coming to Spain.  It was neat and clean and I bought a cute little brightly painted gecko that I’ll take south next year as well as a genuine, imitation turquoise ring.  We spent hours walking and people watching, slowly making our way back home.  Joey has been our step counter and we weren’t surprised when she told us we had done over 15,000 that day. Not bad for three old grannies.

Our first night in our new place was a catastrophe as none of us got any sleep.  We left the big double doors open to let in the cool night air but it also allowed the not so welcome night sounds to permeate the darkness.  Traffic zoomed down our busy street, motorcycles roared their engines at full throttle, people talked loudly (the Spanish do that!) and laughed in high pitched tones from somewhere on the street and to top it off, a loud thunder storm rolled through.  We woke up in a daze the next morning from lack of sleep but we didn’t want to waste a moment of the full day we had planned.

Our first stop was breakfast which we had at a small neighbourhood cafe. I couldn’t make the waitress understand I just wanted a regular coffee so she brought me what she thought I wanted and I ended up with an espresso, I think.

We decided that the best way to get a feel for the city would be the Hop On Hop Off Bus but first we had to find it.  A long walk in and out and up and down some new streets brought us to the ticket lady.  Jocelyn always asks if there is a seniors rate – must be something she picked up in Arizona- and this time it paid off as we got half off the fare.  Away we went, sitting atop the double decker bus with the sun on our skin and the wind in our hair.  It was a perfect day.  I had never been to a castle so we got the tour with one included and it was wonderful.  Surrounded by a dry moat, the castle sat high on a hill so we walked more stairs. We looked into all the rooms filled with artifacts, paintings and doors of all sizes and shapes for my picture collection.  Joey and I decided to go to the top level but we couldn’t convince Joce to do any more stairs so she waited while we trudge upward. I finally got to use the panoramic option on my camera and you will see the results below.  What a view!  Situated high on a hill, the castle’s top level treated us to 360 degrees of beauty, from the mountains far to the east to the azure ocean waters on the other 3 sides.  Houses dotted the hillsides and we could see Palma del Mallorca far below with its huge harbour spread out in front, one of the largest harbours in the world.

We left the castle, snaking our way back down the mountainside and drove along the many winding, narrow streets that I wasn’t sure the bus could go through but I had faith in the driver and we only hit one curb along the way.  The drive along the coast was magnificent, offering us views of huge cruise ships docked far off shore along with thousands of boats of every size from huge yachts to tiny sailboats, their masts so thick in some areas that we could hardly see the sky through them.  We hopped off here and walked for some time.  Being braver than Joey or I, Jocelyn not only hopped OFF the bus but she hopped OVER some pillars that were sticking out of the water from one point of the sidewalk to another. She said afterwards that the pillars were a little further apart than she thought but once she started there was no turning back.

Crazy lady!

An old windmill on the hill looked lonely sitting by itself, forgotten over the years ,but it would have been happy knowing it lives on in people’s pictures.

The huge cathedral near the port can be seen from almost any place around the city and I took many pictures of it but Jocelyn captured it fully while on the bus. We never did get time to walk into or around it but it stood magnificently against the clear blue sky. We hopped off at McDonald’s for lunch as we all wanted to compare it to home.  It was much the same but we all thought we got more for our money – too much more!  We couldn’t eat it all.

Once we were back to our starting point we walked the streets some more and came across a lovely little square where a fellow dressed in some weird costume sat in mid air…..well, the pictures tell the story.  It was a great illusion and we stared at him for some time trying to figure out how he did it.  A policeman came over and talked to him for a while and I got a nice picture of him also.

By this time it was late afternoon and we were getting pretty tired so decided to start our trek home. We got a little turned around and had to ask for directions.  A nice young man helped us out and after yet more stairs – at least down this time – we found our way.  Our legs were burning and we needed a rest so we hopped back on the bus and did the whole tour again – about an hour and a half, but the scenery was so worth doing it twice.  It was getting late so we started for home, picking up “take away” of rice and meat (not sure what kind) and tomato sauce.  Jocelyn, of course, had her regular dinner of chocolate and potato chips and pop.  How she stays healthy is beyond us! We all fell into bed early, keeping the doors closed this time and enjoyed a much better night.

The next day we packed up and headed back downtown to do a bit of shopping.  We didn’t have a lot of time before we had to get to the airport but realized our hop on hop off tickets were still good so we took the tour one last time.  Joey had thrown her ticket away but Jocelyn managed to convince the guy to let us back on.  What a nice way to end our time in Mallorca and get a feel for the island.

With not enough time to do much more, we caught the bus to the airport.  We were very early but what a busy airport.  Once again, Jocelyn took over and got us through the business class check-in counter where we were sent through security – not another person was there.  Down a hallway, we came across a dozen or so people in wheelchairs just sitting there.  It was all very strange and when we got to our gate there wasn’t a person in site!  We had lunch at the cafeteria and I looked over and noticed the man sitting at the next table had left 1/2 his bun on his plate.  Looking at it, we noticed he had nibbled around one side of it and we were joking about it so Jocelyn took a picture – he was on his computer so he didn’t notice.  No privacy when you’re around US!

We arrived home safe and sound and exhausted but our day wasn’t over yet.  We had tickets to an event starting and 10PM so a bit of a rest, some dinner and we were off again!  Stay tuned for the next blog.