Sat 12 was another sunny day with very little breeze so we motored across to the anchorage area east of Palma to have lunch, swim and relax for the afternoon. As we only felt like a light dinner, we strolled along the restaurant area across from the marina and each settled for a grilled bratwurst sausage in a roll, perched on the stools outside the Grillmeister booth, watching the world go buy. There were beautiful young girls in the shortest possible skirts and very high heels as well as some not-so-beautiful women of all ages and quite a hotch-potch of guys. We continued our people-watching at a sidewalk bar, with cocktails being our "dessert". The nightclubs were just starting to attract some clients as we headed home to bed at about midnight.
Sunday started out sunny but as we drove to the north east part of the island through lovely country villages such as Porreres and Felanitx, with their narrow streets lined with old stone-walled homes, the weather deteriorated. By the time we had lunch over-looking the long, narrow harbour at Porto Christo it had started raining, but we still enjoyed sharing the garlic prawns, steamed mussels in wine/lemon/garlic broth, tempura whitebait and fried squid.
We continued up the coast to areas we have not been before - the sophisticated tourist beach town and fishing port of Cala Rajada (where we discovered stunning little coves on the route through the pine woods out to the lighthouse); the beautiful little hilltop village of Capdepera which is crowned by the largest fortress in Mallorca; and the town of Arta which has been occupied for at least 3000 years and also has a hilltop fortress and sanctuary. As it had been raining for most of the afternoon we did not see these places at their best, but still really enjoyed the great scenery and look forward to returning to that area in the future. In fact we would like to rent a place in that area for part of the time on future visits to Mallorca. There are many parts we have not yet explored even though Mallorca's best and wildest beaches are supposed to be located there.
When we returned to Palma we discovered it had been sunny and warm there, without the rain. Dinner was at the rustic Italian restaurant Mangiafuoco, where the owner Daniele is quite a character and the veal dishes and pastas are simple but tasty. That area of Palma, Santa Catalina, is stunning because of its restored little houses and windmill plus because of its height, it provides a fabulous view of the marinas, the bay and the Cathedral. If we had enough energy left it would have been a perfect night to walk home.
Sent via BlackBerry® from Telstra