Visiting family and friends in Mallorca

  Mallorca, Spain
Tuesday, September 6, 2005

Hola from sunny Mallorca!!

I boarded a night ferry from Valencia to Spain on the 6th. The ferry was 20 euro more than flying (!!) but I love the water so decided to take the slow option. I curled up my sleeping bag on the floor and fell asleep and awoke as we entered Palma Port.


Cousin Sacha came to meet up me at the ferry and took me for a quick tour around his boat. A boat is an under-exaggeration of the small PALACE he is working on. It has a crew of 10, diving compression and re-compression chambers, 3 washing machines, 3 dryers, 3 waterskis, spa and all. Even the crew quarters are clean and comfortable. Sacha took me for a quick peek at the owners suite of rooms - his bathroom was as big as half of my apartment in Reading!!


Sacha had booked me into a lovely wee Pension type hostel on the hills above the harbour where he works. I caught up on some sleep (I have been sleeping sooo much since I have been away!) and then walked down to the main shopping centre to stock up on some of my regular non-wheat non-diary foods.

Sacha got the afternoon off work so we walked up the hill to the ancient castle (Castell de Bellver - circa 1300s). What a view you get from the top! A panaramic view of all of Palma. I didn´t realise that it was such a big city - Sacha reckons about 600,000. The castle was designed as a royal residence, later becoming a military prison.


Later that night Sacha took me out on the town. We drank at the local yachtie bar (´Corner Bar´) and then met up with some friends of his - Jess and her cousin, then later on Rocio. We flitted from bar to bar drinking our way around the city, in between storms. The first two days I was here it was pouring cats and dogs!!


The next day I wandered the streets of Palma while Sacha worked, before boarding a bus bound for Cala Egos on the east coast of the island where I met up with Cindy and Andy. (I worked with Cindy at Mizuno UK). Cindy and Andy met me at the bus stop and took me back to their apartment. Andy´s father owns the apartment (with a communal pool!) and they have been staying there for the last week for a bit of R&R. The town itself is strange to say the least. Its one of those seaside resorts overun by tourists. In this case the English. All the shops were in English and there was even a Yates Bar playing the cricket! We went out for some very average pàella that night and spent the next day down at the beach. Small and crowded but fun! Thanks Andy and Cindy for a lovely time!!


I took the bus back to Palma on Friday night and met up with Sacha. We went out for a cheeky drink or 2 and mexican for dinner. The next morning we picked up the rental car and decided to head for the east coast. I chose at random a place called Sant Elms - the guidebook said there was a nice 2.5hr walk up to a monastry. What the guide forgot to mention was that it was a MOUNTAIN and that the walk shouldn´t be done in the midday sun, and that it really takes 3.5hrs. But, we enjoyed it. Both the walk and the view from the top.


Coming back down, we decided to head up the coast in search of a quiet beach we could spend the night on. We made it all the way up to Soller, a rundown tourist sh*t hole where we had the worst buffet meal in history. At this stage it was late and dark. So we stocked up on some cheap cardboard cartoned sangria (1 euro!) and drove around with no luck. Eventually we decided it was probably quicker and safer to head back to Palma to a beach Sacha knew. Close to midnight, we finally got our spot in the sand. We curled up in our sleeping bags with our casks of Sangria, and Sach serenaded me with his guitar playing. We eventually slept - I woke up when I felt someones prescence. A strange man with a scar down his face was kneeling over Sacha. I woke Sacha up and he mumbled at the guy in Spanish to go away - which he did! No more incidents to report!


The next morning we headed back to the boat for breakfast and to pick up some scuba diving equipment. We headed off to a bay, Cala Morando, in the east where we fought with the rocks and the waves to enter the water. Eventually in (I haven´t been diving for nearly 3 years so it was a hard fought battle to even get into the water) we spent 45 min under the water - saw some caves and even an octopus! After coming up, Sacha´s friend Rocio met up with us and we headed for another beach up north (Canyamel) where she was hoping she could surf. No luck with the waves, so we just hung out on the beach enjoying the sun.


Now its Monday. Sacha´s at work and i´ve just returned the rental car. I´m heading off in a bit to meet up with some more Mizuno friends - Naomi, husband Luke and babie Sadie. They´re staying in Magaluf.

Tomorrow afternoon I fly to Málaga to met up with Kirsty - and after that we tackle Africa!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY for today mum. It was lovely to chat.

A special big thanks to Sacha for being the best cousin I could ask for - for being not only family, but also tour guide, dive instructor, camera lender and friend!

xxxx Hannah