Greetings from Palma!
Happy 4th of July! I am in Palma, on the island of Mallorca, an island in the Mediterranean that is part of Spain. My guidebook tells me that I am equidistant from the South of France and Algeria. The last important thing that happened hear happened in the 13th Century, when the Knights of the Templar showed up.
I arrived at about 3 pm local time after meeting my travelling companion in Heathrow in London. It was brilliantly sunny and about 85 degrees, no humidity. After a scuffle at the airport to find her bag (it was on a different carousel than mine because I had cleared customs in London but she had not) we emerged from the Palma airport into a sea of gardenia, bougainvillea and plumbago flower, and the fabulous Mediterranean sun. There was not a cloud in the sky and it was hot.
We got a taxi into Palma and the buildings and the Sea flew by. Everything was dusty brown, almost peach-colored, as only buildings in the dry Mediterranean can be. Poking out between the buildings are bougainvillea and multiple varieties of scrub pine.Our hotel is in the shadow of the Palma Cathedral and we immediately hit the roof top pool. There we lay, surrounded by the mountains and overlooking the harbor, watching seagulls fly and the sun drift overhead. One dip in the lap pool and all the woes of traveling melted away. We were reborn.
I ordered the first of many glasses of Spanish Rioja wine and a serving of amazing jambon y queso sandwiches (ham and cheese). Instead of butter, the sandwiches were smeared with a wonderful garlic paste. I watched the sun set behind the mountains and watched the outline of the Palma castle emerge on the hilltops. It was silent on the rooftop, except for the splash of people in the pool and the occasional scooter from the street below. The walls of the cathedral and the roof top behind me glowed peach and orange in the setting sun.
At dinner, also on the peach-colored rooftop, we conversed with some folks from Vancouver, Canada, who came to Mallorca via Amsterdam, Paris, Cannes and St. Tropez. He was a Canadian advertising executive. She was a lady who lunches, travelling with her hairdresser, Kevin. They were fascinating.After a few more glasses of Rioja wine, watching the harbor shut down for the night, we turned in. Tomorrow we head to the horse farm in Felanitx, a place with no TV, no radio, no phones. Only Andalusian horses, a beautiful pool fabulous food,, a wonderful windmill, an orange grove, wild almond trees, carob beans, total silence and gobs of sun.I love it here.
Happy 4th of July! I am in Palma, on the island of Mallorca, an island in the Mediterranean that is part of Spain. My guidebook tells me that I am equidistant from the South of France and Algeria. The last important thing that happened hear happened in the 13th Century, when the Knights of the Templar showed up.
I arrived at about 3 pm local time after meeting my travelling companion in Heathrow in London. It was brilliantly sunny and about 85 degrees, no humidity. After a scuffle at the airport to find her bag (it was on a different carousel than mine because I had cleared customs in London but she had not) we emerged from the Palma airport into a sea of gardenia, bougainvillea and plumbago flower, and the fabulous Mediterranean sun. There was not a cloud in the sky and it was hot.
We got a taxi into Palma and the buildings and the Sea flew by. Everything was dusty brown, almost peach-colored, as only buildings in the dry Mediterranean can be. Poking out between the buildings are bougainvillea and multiple varieties of scrub pine.Our hotel is in the shadow of the Palma Cathedral and we immediately hit the roof top pool. There we lay, surrounded by the mountains and overlooking the harbor, watching seagulls fly and the sun drift overhead. One dip in the lap pool and all the woes of traveling melted away. We were reborn.
I ordered the first of many glasses of Spanish Rioja wine and a serving of amazing jambon y queso sandwiches (ham and cheese). Instead of butter, the sandwiches were smeared with a wonderful garlic paste. I watched the sun set behind the mountains and watched the outline of the Palma castle emerge on the hilltops. It was silent on the rooftop, except for the splash of people in the pool and the occasional scooter from the street below. The walls of the cathedral and the roof top behind me glowed peach and orange in the setting sun.
At dinner, also on the peach-colored rooftop, we conversed with some folks from Vancouver, Canada, who came to Mallorca via Amsterdam, Paris, Cannes and St. Tropez. He was a Canadian advertising executive. She was a lady who lunches, travelling with her hairdresser, Kevin. They were fascinating.After a few more glasses of Rioja wine, watching the harbor shut down for the night, we turned in. Tomorrow we head to the horse farm in Felanitx, a place with no TV, no radio, no phones. Only Andalusian horses, a beautiful pool fabulous food,, a wonderful windmill, an orange grove, wild almond trees, carob beans, total silence and gobs of sun.I love it here.
posted by Anonymous @ 11:08 PM
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