Mallorca: Skase was really onto something...
Trip Start
Feb 07, 2007
1
22
34
Trip End
Sep 03, 2007
Mallorca, Spain
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
I am in Spain and it has already been such a whirl-wind trip. I would like to stay for longer as I think 2 or 3 days per city is not really adeuqate...but here is what has been happening so far...
MALLORCA, SPAIN
I arrived in Mallorca and was greeted by a cheery Charlotte at the train station...(some of you may remember that Mallorca is where Christopher Skase fled in order to evade the government when they discovered what a naughty financial mess he had created in Australia). Mallorca is enormous...could even constitute a small country if it tried. She took me far from the city to an organic farm where she is currently staying and working. The farm is absolutely gorgeous...most of the surrounding fields are covered in almond and olive trees, the laneways leading to the farm are lined with little poppies and small purple, white and yellow flowers, and the walls between paddocks are made of rocks (according to Charlotte, you can find a animal or shell fossil in about every tenth one you pick up...Mallorca used to reside under the ocean long ago). It seems like everywhere you look, things are alive...there is a flower waiting to me smelled, a rock ready to be investigated, or a cranky sheep baaaaa-ing abuse at you (despite which they are just so cute)! The farm really is a little paradise. The night I arrived, Charlotte and I fished for some fresh chicked eggs laid in the nearby lemon grove, and dawdled back inside the (amazing) farm house with a bottle of organic wine from the farm shop to make some dinner.
The next day I went into Palma while Charlotte had work for the first half of the day. I planned to visit the famous cathedral but it was too packed, so visited a nearby doll museum which was great!!! I learned all about the Mariquita Perez doll, which is like Spainīs version of Barbie. The woman at the museum obviously loved her job and sat me down for 10 minutes, just talking to me about Spainish dolls and those from other countries (all in Spainish...I struggled with some bits but picked up most of it)!
I then met Charlotte in town and we travelled by bus to Lluc. We visited the 700 year old monastery in Lluc (which holds a very sweet church...complete with somewhat gaudy baroque gold guilding on everything) and later journeyed down the 8km pilgrimage route into the village of Campionete. The scenery is beautiful, with more olive and almond orchards terracing down the mountains but the walk was pretty long. We made it back to the farm at about 11 pm...we had missed a few buses, got stuck in a nearby village but had some great coffees and glasses of wine to pass the time, and were talking so much that we forgot to get off at our train station...so we had a super interesting walk back home. We walked about 2 kilometers back to the farm from the train station, in the dark, with what sounded like a very angry farm dog at our backs. Europe is fantastic in the summer as it stays light for so long...and allows you to get the most out of the day...but when it gets dark it gets really dark!!! We couldnīt tell if there was a fence between our laneway and the dog...which made our walk a little brisker than normal. Although not expected, I loved the walk back in the dark...it gave me the chance to see the stars again (not too many in hazy Brazil)!!!
The next morning we visited Soller on the coast, which was a buzz as it prepared for itīs annual fiesta to celebrate the Christian versus Moors clash of many centuries ago. There were red cross flags and Muslim flags flying, free orange juice around every corner, a lovely market, Mallorcan musicians and people in traditional outfits. The 100 year-old tram took us to the port of Soller, and we then caught a huge boat to Sa Calobra (a tiny port village). We only were there for a half hour or so but it was well worth it...there is one part of the village that connects the river and the ocean (dividing them only with a handful of white stones, perfect for skimming). It was lovely to just sit there in the shade of the cliffs with our feet in the river. We travelled back to Palma (main town of Mallorca) and went to a fabulous restaurant where I tried my first Paella!!! First of many to come...who ever thought that putting seafood with rabbit and chicken and a bit of rice was a genius!!!
Charlotte really spoiled me every day of this weekend. We had the yummiest coffees and ensaimadas (traditional Spanish pastries) and ice creams and dinners. She also took me to stay the night at a hotel in Palma, where we had a lovely long sleep after so much travelling around. The next morning we visited the beach and watched the beautiful torquoise sea (along with many overweight German topless bathers...it is times like those where I claim that I am 100 % Australian and not a halfy-halfy German/Aussie). We then visited the townīs modern art gallery (lots of Joan Miro paintings, a few Picasso) and the cathedral (a part of which was designed by Gaudi...really different and I would guess quite controversial. I wonder how the church ever commissioned him)! We later visited what might be my favorite part of Palma...the Arab baths. It is the only Islamic/Moorish area of the town that is still standing. Although the building is quite small it makes a big impact. The baths are beside a quiet courtyard, full of palms and ferns and blooms of all sorts of colours. And the actual bath building is a group of arches that come together to form a circle, topped with a high dome ceiling. The baths were in the middle of this room, but are now covered with stone. The dome has skylights which makes the ambience in the building beautifully perfect...it gives the place a slightly mysterious vibe, and allows you to picture yourself back all those 100 years ago.
We made our way back to the farm...again really weary from the walking...and a little hot! Connie and Bren (the farm owners) have a huge "pool" which looked really inviting when we arrived. Well...it is not so much a pool than a resoviour (sp?) which is 4 meters deep (you cant see the bottom), has green slime growing on the walls, and has a family of 30cm long fish living in it. It was a little creepy...but we made it in for a swim with Connieand Brenīs 2 boys (Danny and Peter) and the water was fantastically cool (Charlotte got in first...brave soul)! I had to keep on moving the entire time because I was sure that something would nibble on my toes if I kept still!!!
So all in all, my stay in Mallorca was fabulous and I would recommend it to anyone visiting Spain (especially if you get to stay in the little villages or even on a farm like I did)! Charlotte was the most beautiful hostess and I would go back to stay with her for another week in a minute! We had the best conversations and a even few good gossips :)
I flew to Barcelona next...tell you all about it soon :) Love to everyone and hope you are well! xoxoxo, Kirsten
