..was food that was tasty- ty ty!
This was by far the poshest port we stayed in.
The night before, when we sailed in, we went to have dinner at a small, overpriced restaurant.
On the table behind us were three decked-out middle aged society ladies, plus the hapless husband of one of them- who spent the night flirting with the owners and discussing how their friend's brother just wasn't the same 'type of person' (of the same snobbery) as his siblings.
On the table in front of us was an old, overweight, clearly-wealthy German man. He was eating alone when a tanned bottle blond of 40-50 dressed in 20-30 came in, sat at the table next to him, and turned on her charm. She found out within about two seconds that he was in a relationship 'good, so you're not lonely', but kept the charm on (he seemed to be ok with it), and kept trying to lure him to a second location. At one point she asked him what his 'thing' was. Because 'everyone who comes to Majorca has a thing'. For example her friend was a writer, a poet. Coincidentally it turned out the he wrote poetry too. I think she was impressed. Then the owner came out, a german woman, and the man started talking to her. In german. The blond lady couldn't understand, was put out, and showed it. She kept interrupting, trying to make him leave with her. She tossed her hair, crossed and uncrossed her legs and waved her heels about. Eventually she go the message and left.
It was gross. As, to a lesser degree though, was the food- I ordered a salad which had overripe (off) avocado and overlybitter lettuce, and the service-I felt like it was immediately recognised that we weren't the wealthy kind of customer.
But everything was beautiful in the morning:
And the posh people seemed to have gone away- sleeping off their hangovers from their overpriced champagne, regretting their decisions of the night before.
Instead we had still waters, beautiful blues, and duckies begging for bread!
Some of these things are not like the others:
(He's very beautiful- but when I tried to save him I realised he was already well gone).
As usually, we spent the morning taking in the town, and soaking in the sunshine.
.. and taking GruppenFotos! Stolen from Marta again. I'm kinda loving how Marta and I are pulling of modeleque Smizing (also known as 'squinting').
The water had definitely hit what we're calling 'azure crystal', but alas! a few degrees too cold to swim still.
Before we headed back to the boat, we ducked into a supermarket. Andy an I bought mopheads, because apparently germans don't believe in the power of the string mop. Of course, it's been weeks and weeks, and I still can't find the right stick to allow attachment of the heads...
I also managed to snaffle this- which is a deliciously light and fluffy pastry stuffed with bitter dark chocolate.
I cannot recommend it enough to anyone who has a soul!
Back to our beloved boat, for the final ever sail- 'homewards' to Palma.
(photo from Marta).
We had to be back before 5pm, and- because we easily made the deadline- and because this is the Northern hemisphere, where spring sunlight lasts forever, we had a bit of time for Palma exploration. So we slapped on some more sunscreen, scrambled over the boat next to us (our boat was weirdly parked so that we only had indirect dock access), and headed up to the very tip out the Palma hill.. to the Princess Castle of Walt Disney's dreams.
(This is during the hill climbing- from Marta)
What do you think? Maybe a bit less pink than Walt would have liked. But with moats and turrets and archways and wells! All very glam.
And 360 degree views across the whole city.
Although of course some people will be plant-nerds!
This last one, also from Marta, is on the way down the hill.
This one is also down near the ocean:
Can you see at the pack near the water there is a tiny arch? As as we walked past a lady came and lowered a little dish of something down on a string. Almost immediately, 2 or three cats shot out, and started chowing down on the (presumably) biscuits in the dish. Spanish love their cats!
So we headed down the hill with our tummies starting to rumble, which turned out to be quite conveniently timed for a meeting with Rafa and friends, and the eating of large amounts of Tapas.
We went to a couple of little bars- the first of which was possibly the most hipster place I've ever seen in my life.
Andy was right at home:
(Above and below from Marta)
And here's me taking photos of my food.
You're welcome.
You're welcome, you're welcome, you're welcome:
The thing with the cheese circle and then jam-y thing on top was one of the most delicious things I've ever tasted!
We didn't stay long, because the town was calling.
Rafa took us to this 'hidden-behind-closed-doors' type place, which is apparently where the royals come when the visit the island. It had fairly exorbitant prices, and the most Over the Top decorating I have ever seem in my life. Up stairs were rooms straight out of Versailles, overlooking a beautiful enclosed courtyard. We only took a couple of shots, because technically no photos were allowed- and in fact a group of tourists tried to come in as we were leaving and were prevented from entering.
But I think you'll get the picture:
As you enter- that's real fruit and fresh rose petals by the way.
From the top of the stairs looking back at the door, the fruit shrine is kind of hidden by the chandelier- but you can see the woman in khaki taking a snap of it.
I kid you not!
This was just ridiculous: rather 'girl with the pearl earring'-y no?
(Photo from Marta).
I wish I'd worn my finery!
Not that that stopped me:
(again, from Marta)
In the bathroom, of course:
Just- WOW! Next time we go we must have a (10 euro) coffee! And wear our pearls!
Anyway, back on the street, where swines like us belong! To something more reasonable, and- I'd bet, a hell of a lot tastier.
(Another Marta Photo)
Oh My! I'm sorry it's blurry- but that in the foreground is some sort of slow-cooked octopus. It is tender, it is succulent.. it is... indescribably good.
Will you be convinced of its merit if I mention that, just trying to describe it you you now, I am literally salivating??
We ordered one.
And then we ordered more.
After the deliciousness, everyone headed to a bar/club with live music near the port. I have to confess that at this point Andy and I bowed out, and headed back to our boat for our final night of sleep in Majorca.
CONVERSATION