Mac Garonda Playa de Palma

We woke up this morning to find ourselves just coming into Palma de Mallorca. Mallorca is the largest of the four Ballearic Islands – part of Spain and Palma is the capital. Very pretty little city and extremely well organized cruise ship dock – with ramps like at an Airport that you use to get yourselves into a covered walkway that takes you to the exit where you can pick up taxis or a bus into the town – ...

And at long last we are on our way ... can't quite believe we are actually starting this journey after all the work, planning, talking .... And we know we've been to San Telmo many times before but this time it is different!! And so good to have Simon's old friends Max & Linsey onboard - after all they were really the people responsible for him ending up in Port d'Andratx to begin with.

Palma is a beautiful city and has a nice attitude about it. You get the feeling that there is mystery, danger or something just lurking around the next corner, but when you round the corner, what you find is yet another party and another group of residents who seem to have truly mastered the secrets of a good life.

We arrived in Palma close of midnight on Wednesday. This city is also known for its wild nightlife and tonight was our only opportunity to ...

We arrived in Cala de Calobra around 5:30. We anchored in the small bay and took a tender to shore. The little village has a small pier along one side of a steep hill and the village is crowded on the hillside raising between two much larger and steeper hills. The whole thing looks like some Hollywood set because of its idyllic setting on the small bay. There are several bars and restaurants where we got drinks and ate an early dinner.

... waded around in the surf or fell back to sleep on the beach. It was good to get rehydrated after all the alcohol and dancing from last night. It was a nice relaxing afternoon with a beautiful beach view with several other yachts in the bay and a parade of nude or topless people walking by.

One of the girls met a guy on the beach. They spent a few hours chatting and getting to know each other. It was ...

... from Germany. Good music, dancing starts up. We leave at 1:30 to catch the last bus. I am relying on my roommate who is totally confident about the schedule. Well, we wait with others but find out the last bus left awhile back. We need to find a cab which is difficult since everyone is trying to get to a bar/club somewhere. We finally get one. A late night by my standards but just starting to get going. My back could not take any more.

Breakfast is provided at the hostel. Coffee, juice, toast and cereal (cornflakes or cocoa puffs). It serves the purpose.

I go to the Palma city center (20 minutes by bus). The historic area is OK. Cathedral is beautiful and there is a Moorish castle. Most of the city lacks character. So, this is pretty much a beach island although I understand there are some nice hikes in its more remote hills.

A ...

... up at me and stare. I ask in Spanish if anyone is working there. No reply. My Spanish can’t be that bad. Someone finally shows me a buzzer at the entrance. It turns out that there is a large group of mentally challenged people from France. The person working at the hostel says that there is a bed available. Yeah! It is $22 including breakfast. It is also 2 blocks from the beach in the main beach area, Playa de Palma.

There is only 1 guy in the room during my stay ...

... Verkäuferin mein Englisch nicht, mein Deutsch aber sofort. Liegt das jetzt an meiner schlechten englischen Aussprache oder doch daran, dass Mallorca sich mehr und mehr zum 17. deutschen Bundesland entwickelt?

Wenn man's nicht besser wüsste, könnte man Mallorca doch fast für eine ruhige spanische Insel halten. Palmen, Strand und schöne Uferpromenaden laden zum entspannten Spazieren gehen ein. Außer dem ...

i visit spain so often but I had my first trip there at the tender age of about 8 months! haha!

needless to say I can't remember that particular trip but the subsequent ones really hit the spot with me!

I love Majorca because it has something for everybody. Mad nightlife, beautiful beaches and scenery, lovely people and not as "high rise" as main land Spain.