Excited and anxious for actually getting on the shuttle – we repeated yesterdays morning ritual – this time on the way out past reception an also anxious but smiling Roberto swinging around his computer screen with google satellite image of our bus stop…. poor fellow must think we are really dumb folk LOL. Ho-Kay, gracias we say with masked confidence and following the shady bits make our way to bus stop Linda, east facing side (which is the opposite direction from which the buses go to town but we were doing what we were told this time). Yes, the yellow pick up bus came about 5 minutes late, but it came. We got transported to town where a guide allocated us another bus number – one of several lined up by the waterfront and we got our seats for the day. It was a very plush and comfortable bus with excellent air conditioning and we were able to finally relax and enjoyed every aspect of the trip from here on.
The first leg took us in a westerly direction through flat land towards the world heritage listed Tramuntana mountain range . We passed a few wine making places, walnut groves and small towns. Generally the landscape is devoid of animals and is very arid. I saw one paddock of horses and they had shelters like over parking lots in Aussie – lack of trees for natural shade. Not long after we started our climb up the foothills we stopped at a small town called Inca at a leather manufacturing wholesale factory outlet. There were some great buys of bags starting at 25 euro, 35 and upwards. They had a few Michael Kors bags there so think they must manufacture for the brand here? They were over 100 euro – so one could get them cheaper on sale in America (must need another trip). We only had a 25 minute stop and advice to use the one toilet there as it would be some time before we got another opportunity. Great – by the time the queue finished I had about 7 minutes to hunt, I mean shop.
I hate shopping or making pressured decisions so err towards nothing at all than an impulse buy. Added to the fact I have enough bags in my stable and no room to carry much extra luggage so we just got a little travel coin purse as a souvenier to replace the well worn one we currently have. The bus driver continued his experienced navigation up the mountain range through a renound stretch of hairpin windy and cliff edged road to the summit. The scenery was very grand; wooded, white and black exposed rocks and lots of ancient terraced olive tree plantations. They even have their own ‘canyon’ up the top. On the slopes we passed through two more small villages; one specializing in walnut products, the other a very high grade and respected olive oil. Interesting to mention that when I say passed through in this region, the bus literally takes up the one lane inbetween houses with virtually no sidewalk, and definitely no street parking. We experienced this a couple of times in rural Greece – and its weird as you can sometimes look right into someone’s window depending on heights of bus and building. Creepy.
We had a stop up the top to have a freshly squeezed orange juice and take a photo before making our fun decent down to the little Colobra cove. This stretch of road is the most photographed with its series of spiral paper clip shaped bends. The road is not for the faint hearted as corners require one to give way – there is an art to this, and a good nerve. We were advised by Carmen our bottle platinum blonde, blue eyed, fluent in 4 languages (at least) Romanian/Greek tour guide that we had an hour and a half to have lunch or take a swim before hopping on our catamaran which would take us to Port Soller. She also said we could leave bags in the bus, and they would be safe for when we next hopped on it. So, we only took one of our bags with essentials (not all our drinks) and set off for the relatively easy 10-15 minute walk to Torrent de Pareis- a fresh water stream mouth. The path which was mainly flat but gradually descending took you around the cliff edge, through a couple of cool (literally) tunnels through the rock to another azure and emerald jewell of a bay fit for a manatee queen.
With this in view, habibi had trouble keeping up with my grape stompers which were in danger of turning into fins in anticipation. Over dress was thrown off, togs ready underneath and in I went passing from cornflower to azure to sapphire blue with teases of emerald green. Delicious blue, delicious cool. When manatee bull joined me, moaning it was cold he got told to harden up and imagine the heat he would feel as soon as he hopped out – being a 36 degree day today just for a change from 34! Again there was nothing wrong with the water temperature – it was merely the contrast from our hot bodies and external heat. The water was crystal clear and our happy time was in the company of lots of fish – from schools of sprats to nice plate sized cousins. This particular bay was not easily accessible by road- only the mountain pass we came through. At the back was a lovely gully inbetween the high foothills of the ranges. This particular stop off was a real highlight for me – just as I had hoped and dreamed of in my planning to come here – Mallorca on a postcard – and I got fully immersed in the experience and soaked up the memory for reminiscing later on.
Staying as long as we could – but conscious of time we headed up the hill, dripping wet at first but dry, sweaty and hot by the time the 15 minutes ascent was complete. We only had a short 15 minutes before our boat left so we decided on a quick coffee and shared cake at a place that Carmen suggested was one of the better ones. They also did traditional cappuccino but had over hot machine and it was so hot it burn Verns tongue on first attempt. On seating the place was a bit grotty – like big platters of warm food in the open on a table for tour operators and others to eat from (saw this in Figueres too – they eat warm food half cold it looks like pig trough food to me – and imagine the bacteria in the heat?). Onward with the story there was a generous senior female owner having a bit of a heated exchange with someone else whilst we were trying to select a cake and at first I thought it was directed at us – but not thankfully but she still was scary. The cake was an apple type torte with almond and ok but I was a bit worried about the hygiene which I only saw after I had purchased the cake. Vern was unable to drink his coffee in time, so I braved the proprietor and asked for takeaway cup. All good – got given a coke cup and if the wax melted I am sure it would do no harm!
We were lucky to get cover on the Catamaran and the journey of about 1/2 hour around the cliffs to Port Soller was beautiful. The water – as I have mentioned is so blue in the deep parts that it has a purple tinge. The green parts range from a minty Colombian emerald to an Irish emerald green and in shallow parts the aqua is pure but chameleon changing to a more azure sky blue at whim. At one part we passed close to some caves and on the edge of the rocks we could see pink and white crystallization- not sure of the technical terms – but like pink and white terraces must have been. We both really enjoyed this part of the tour too, including the sea breezes under the shade of the boat canopy.
Arriving at Port Soller was like doing battle again with the blazing inescapable heat. We had half an hour at this touristy port before boarding our historic tram for a 15 minute slow ride up the hill to the town of Soller (pronounce like Soya). As we were feeling the effect of no liquid, we tried to find a superette by following a sign that said 50m but couldn’t find it, so we had a quick look in another pearl shop and bought some recommended local natural almond and orange gelat (ice cream) to share and a water from a little cafe store.
The tram was a pleasant trip from another age with its blonde polished wooden seats and brass decorations. Our group transferring immediately to reserved carriages on the narrow gauge train which commenced its slow steady journey up and through the mountain range (13 tunnels) where we got transferred to our most welcomed airconditioned bus on the other side to take us to town, and then to our hotel drop off. It was a nice trip but our road one by bus was more spectacular on the way there. It was a little before 7 by the time we got home – which left us very little time to shower quickly and get to our booked table by 7 at our favorite spot.
Whilst we were getting ready there was a soft knock on the door and on the other side was a staff member with a bottle of chilled bubbly in an ice box, a big slab of chocolate cake and a card wishing Vernon happy birthday. Wow, that actually made us feel very special and was a really nice gesture. We would save it for later as we had no time to pop the cork then!
The final meal at Rojo did not disappoint. We started with a spanish soup like gazpacho but way better – topped with tiny but tasty ham and egg dice. It is creamy unlike gazpacho being a blend of tomato, garlic, bread and olive oil. It was yummy and packed a garlic punch. We followed this with the Foie gras again because it was so very, very good, followed by Iberian pork belly with spicey peppers and a classic Madrid ham, egg and potato hash dish topped with summer truffle. They cook chips, layer it with jamon and sunny side eggs, then tear it apart with two forks at the table – very nice especially with the summer truffle slices on top. For a change I washed my diner down with a sangria and Vernon continued to work his way through the spanish beer selection – contrary to his initial reservations. At the end of the meal the waitress advised us the drinks were on them as they appreciate us so much – that she would have given us complimentary desert but we hadn’t ordered it (because we had no room). That was a second lovely gesture for the day – Vernon felt very royally treated for his birthday.
When we got back home we popped the bottle of bubbly and had a glass each (transferring the balance to our excellent stainless travel bottle) to celebrate not only his birthday but a wonderful time full stop – so much to be happy and thankful for. A couple of bites of cake and contented as one could possibly be settled down for our last evening on this pleasantly surprising island with much more to offer than we had time to enjoy.
Travels with Valrock 