Pictured above – our view this morning a promise of another warm day.
Today we planned to see the cathedral and old town in Palma which is the capital of Mallorca. Palma is 7km from Can Pastilla (the bay) where we are staying. There are a zillion bike, scooter and car hires here and apparently we could bike 45 minutes along the water into town however in 34 degrees I would rather take the bus thank you much. The bus is 5 minutes walk up the end of the side street of the hotel and costs 1,50 one way into town. Set with instructions, water and hats we set off and did not have to wait long for the bus. As I hopped on Vern suggested I check we were on the right side of the road and just as well I did – because we were not. No worries – up the road a little more was the bus in the other direction. The trip to town took about 20 mintutes through not so attractive apartment lined concrete shabby streets. Once we got closer to the city centre it looked more affluent and modernized with a nice marina. The city itself is quite big, over 400,000 of the 600,000 people of Mallorca live there and we stayed on the bus as long as we dared to get close to the cathedral.
We got off the bus on a tree lined street very much like and sharing the same name as the Rambla’s in Barcelona. We took advantage of a seat in the cool-er shade to study our map and get our bearings. Our SIM card from the UK covers Spain as well which also helped map our direction. We had jumped the gun a bit in hopping off and had about 1.5 km to get to the cathedral. This is normally not an issue for us, but it was fair cooking and we already had drunk our small bottles of water and were looking for more!
The walk to the cathedral was done mostly in the shade but we were still very sticky and slick with perspiration by the time we arrived at the cathedral. I will let my few photos do the talking on what we saw – but I read that Palma is often likened to Barcelona and I would agree. Firstly the tree lined Ramblers surrounded by tall, stone, distinctly decorative Spanish buildings. The shops and old town area with narrow lanes inbetween the buildings – deliberately built for coolness are very similar. Wiring precariously bunched in lines look like creepers winding along the outside of buildings and wrought iron lighting and framing of signs remind of a former time where power was not a flick of a switch. I love the big ornate wooden doors of the wealthy often leading to tiled courtyards with large pot plants and small water features. Despite the heat and the resulting discomfort we really enjoyed strolling around absorbing the atmosphere.
Arriving at the cathedral was an awe inspiring moment – its is HUGE. Sitting on a hill it dominates the landscape, standing like a sentry between the sea and the city behind. You have to go up some grand stairs like pilgrims to get to it and there are beautiful water features and Palm trees probably a remnant from the Moors surrounding it. We paid to go inside this one, as it was meant to be quite spectacular.
It is the second highest Gothic cathedral, rivaling the Notre dame in Paris which is 10m lower. It is 121m long by 55 wide. Building began in 1229 and finished in 1601. What was really exciting for us was that Gaudi came and spent 10 years working on parts of a restoration in the early 1900’s and there are two key features of his there – a fancy tiled canopy and side nave. We both really love his work – he was so ahead of his time – or any time, perhaps a timeless original is a better description.
After enjoying the relative natural stone cool of the cathedral we got an icecream and explored some lanes in the surrounding old town and then sampled a creme brûlée version of a Mallorcan pastry. Its a flakey yeast dough wheel, often filled with pumpkin jam or just dusted in icing sugar. It was nice but not something I would give a nom nom award to. Next local shopping item was a wee pair of Mallorcan pearl studs. These are a man made method dating back 100 years and actually created by a German engineer. It involves multiple layers of sea minerals, fish scales, and other bits that are heated to produce the ‘nacre’ over a small glass or other bead base. This produces a very high luster and good quality man made pearl – guaranteed for 10 years. There are the ‘genuine’ Mallorcan pearls, and a cheaper one which looks like plastic.
Overall we really enjoyed our wandering and felt the city had lots of interest for all – whether it was history, sight seeing or shopping. Such as an amazing old court house with beautiful wooden Spanish carved detail and big courtyard. The stones at the entry were worn thin from horse carriages and it was like stepping back in time admiring the grandeur of the building – or simply admiring a gnarled ancient 800 year old olive tree in the middle of the city (actually felt like hugging it but probably would have been locked up).
We got a bus back – which to our mortification did not have air-con so we just sweated it out with the rest of the passengers until we got home and peeled off our clothes and cooled off in a cold shower – with room air con blasting! Dinner was at our new favorite haunt and we were treated with great warmth and offered ‘our’ table – being the same as the night before. We were determined to make it to dessert this evening and did so through very restrained moderation!
Menu – very briefly for me to remember – was ‘glass bread and tomato’ which was a very thin ciabatta style bread with a fresh tomato and olive oil topping like bruschetta but nicer, another mixed meats platter, a small shark marinated in milk and herbs, then fried to produce a very moist tender and delicate meat, and then an oxtail dish with summer truffle that was off the planet. Slow cooked meat, cooled, shaped then grilled or fried crispy on the outside? My word – triple NOM NOM award for that. Desserts were excellent – mint panacotta with pears in wine, and a strawberry cheesecake which was made with a fromage blanc type product and very delicate and not sweet – just the way we like it. Really excellent meal. I had a white wine and Vern braved a Spanish lager and thoroughly enjoyed it. Ummm, think we will return tomorrow unless I can find anything else, which by the looks of all the other plates we have seen around – I doubt it!
Travels with Valrock 