Arrival at Palma Airport. We flew with SAS. The food on board was definitely not something to write home about. After passing passport control and claiming our luggage we needed to find the company where we rented the car. That was quite a task. Finally we found a representative for the company at meeting point. He claimed that our car was rented to be picked up in Alicante. We had to tell him that it was not our fault, that they didn't know the citycode for Palma Mallorca. It was printed in clear text Mallorca Palma Airport. We were on his list for rental, so he gave us a ticket with a number on it. The company's name is Hiper Rent a Car. When we arrived the office where we should collect the car they had reach number 8, and ours was number 39. There were 4 people to handle the customers, but it took a huge amount of time. We waited there 2 hours, before our number came up. The car was good, and we had an upgrade, so now it was just to find the apartments where we should stay. The time was now close to 12 pm.
We arrived Apartments Hawaii in Palmanova/Torrenova. It was great and with a very excellent view from the balcony.
The Car rental office with people waiting everywhere
Here they have reached number 16
People were waiting everywhere
We brought Champagne from the aircraft - we enjoyed it when we finally reached the apartment
Good beds - there is a small table and a desk too. Furthermore there is a kitchen section with two cooking plates
View from the balcony
From the balcony to this part of the hotel
The first morning and we had to go to the supermarket for bread. Coffee and butter were brought from home. There was a safe deposit box in the room, but you had to get the key for the amount of 30€, of which you got 5€ back when you returned the key. This day we planned to drive to the western cape of the island. It is called Punte Negra, but it is very close to Sant Elm, a small fishing village which provides boats for the island Dragonera. This island Dragonera is a National Park and it is uninhabited. We didn't go there because none of us are very interested in birds. But this small village was very cosy. After the visit to Sant Elm we continued towards Valldemossa. We are not for citywalks this first day so we return to the hotel for lunch on the balcony. Dinner was comsumed in a nice and cosy Italien Restaurant in this turist area called Torrenova. The dinner was excellent and so was the service.
On our way to Sant Elm
Cosy small fishing village
This is the island Dragonera which is National Park
This small island also was very close to Sant Elm - we don't know its name
It is a bit hard to see, but Dragonera is the light landscape to the left, and the western cape Punta Negra starts where the trees are darker
Punta Negra
En route to Valldemossa
It is so beautiful
We stopped at this old tower
Here you see the tower
Look how steep it is - the photo is taken from the tower
and this is to the other side of the tower
Our rented car
Today we will go to the northern cape called Cap de Formentor. We passed Alcúdia and drove towards Pollenca. It is so beautiful with all these different types of landscapes. We started very early, and only when we drove off from Cap de Formentor the turist traffic started and everything was chaotic with all the cars and people. The returntrip should pass Inca, where the famous leather factories are. But first we reached Selva another village just before Inca, and I recognized a large shop where I had been before. We stopped and went inside. Eyvind bought two pairs of shoes. Dinner was consumed in Blue Bar. Blue Bar is a real spanish restaurant with good spanish dishes on the menu. We had grilled prawns. It was very delicious. After the main course we had dessert. Eyvind had a Copa de Italiana which is a huge icecream (photo) and I had a small icecream called Trufito - mainly chocolate and chokolate icecream.
En route to Cap de Formentor - the northern cape of the island
Notice the terraces
A wall like this is called a dry wall, because it is built without any binding material
A jacaranda - the tree with the blue flowers
Roundabouts are fachinating - they are all with different decorations
Here another roundabout
Palmtrees are all over. Here they are the decoration for an old tower
This is a wild goat - they actually live wild in Mallorca
First we believed it was a sculpture but then it moved
Here is Cap de Formentor with the lighthouse - under the lighthouse is a cafeteria
The view from the cape - it is gorgeous
Again a roundabout
Here you really see the dry wall
This is from Inca
This day we are planning to go to Palma city. We are going to see the cathedral and the old palace. We parked the car in a parking garage under Parc de la Mar. Just opposite the parking garage is the cathedral La Seu. It is very beautiful. Right next to it is the old palace, Palau de l'Almudaina. There are a couple of guys who earn a living from posing for the turists. One of them is dressed as a red indian, and the other as a cowboy. The cowboy is the best because he remains complete silent and poses without moving, and only when the turists have donated a small amount in his pot he moves and thanks them. The red indian is very noisy with grunts and howling. We walk through the city towards Plaza Mayor and from there to Plaza Olivar, where the largest foodmarket in Mallorca is placed. My God how huge, but it is nice and cool and we start out in the fish department. Next comes the fruit and vegetable market, and one floor up a supermarket where you can buy everything. After the tour round the market we take a drink in Plaza Olivar, while watching the bypassing turists and residents. Dinner we once again are having in Blue Bar, where we order the paella of the house. It is very delicious.
The cathedral, La Seu
The old palace, Palau de lÁlmudaina
The Cowboy - he was good and kept his position all the time and he was quiet
Here the noisy red Indian
Citywalk in Palma de Mallorca
On our way to Plaza Mayor
The fish department or more correctly part of it. It was very large
Plaza Olivar where we had a drink after visiting the market
There is a lot of traffic. But it moves all the time
A patio - it is so gorgeous. There are a lot of them in Palma
View to the parking garage on the other side of the lake
The cross is placed between the cathedral and the old palace
Home on the balcony - nice view
Palmanova
On this day the plan is to visit the cavern of the dragen on the east cost of the island. The cavern is in Porto Cristo. We started from Torranova again early to be there when they opened the cavern. I have visited this cavern before and know there will be a huge amount of turists around noon. It is forbidden to take photos inside the cavern. It is a kind of theft because you have to buy the bloody postcards when you leave the cavern. Well, the cavern is worth a visit anyway. At the lowest point in the cavern you will find the lake Martel. You will be seated and boats will appear and in one of them an orchestra will play music. After Coves del Drac we drove through Porto Cristo and to the east cape in Mallorca. First we passed Capdepera and then we continued east to Cala Ratjada and Punta Capdepera. The lunchbreak was in Can Picafort in Alcúdia Bay.
This castle we passed every time we were in Palma
En route to Porto Cristo
Also en route to Coves del Drac / cavern of the dragon
The entrance - and as you can see there are not many turists at this time. The photo was taken when we came out from the cavern
All the next photos are from the cavern of the dragon
This is called The Bandera
Because this is so light it is called the snow mountain
This is Diana's bath
This is called The little Lake
Detail
Here is the lake Martel, where the boats with light slowly pass the public while performing music
This is from a bit outside Porto Cristo
Another roundabout
And actually one more
We reached the eastern cape with the lighthouse
Here it is very steep too like many places on this island
A view to the opposite side
And the game of this island
This church we passed on our way to Can Picafort
Right outside the restaurant, where we had lunch
The master waits for his food
En route back from Can Picafort
This too is from the returntrip
Today we are going on a real mountain tour. We will drive in the mountain range Serra de Tramuntana on the west side of the island. The goal is Port de Sóller. We are driving a tortuous route, and the roads are very narrow. They are not one way roads, so you need to know the rules for mountain driving when you are driving places like this. This was the most beautiful part of the vacation. Everywhere there were so gorgeous views, and since we like mountains so much this was a speciel treat.
Lunch in Port de Sóller in a restaurant placed at water front. The food was excellent. It was such a good day with a lot of beautiful views. Back home we went to Blue Bar, because Eyvind wanted a Copa de Italiana (photo). Back and tired after a long day in the mountains there was a noble visitor in the bay. A yacht with a chopper had anchored up in Palmanova Bay. Some have a lifeboat and others have a chopper !! We saw it start from the boat while we were having coffee on the balcony.
In the mountains - Serra de Tramuntana
More from there
There actually are hotels the most odd placed in the middle of nowhere
We saw a lot of bicycle enthusiasts. Some were on the heavy weights scale and also elderly, but all of them were fighting to get to the top. Admirable - these 3 in the photo are younger
Here you can see a little of Port de Sóller
Here it is - a very beautiful town - but you need to mention that where the tram ends the most lousy restaurants are
This is taken from the water front
This too
Lunch far from the end station of the tram
The Tram - it goes from the town Sóller and along the water front in Port de Sóller
Still from the water front
Nice square with a nice shade
En route home - here in one of the samll villages
This tower is placed in the western part of Palma
In Blue Bar - Eyvind with his Copa de Italiana
Here the yacht with the chopper
The chopper has been moved backwards so it can start the blades
And here - just taken off
Now we had visited all the capes on this island except the southern cape, so I thought we should go there too. It is called Cap de ses Salinas. First we passed Palmanova and then Palma. The area east of Palma is flat, but nevertheless variatet. Lunch this day in Porto Colom, or like we say the Port of Columbus. Expensive but good. We had planned since this was the last night in Mallorca that after dinner we would drink a bottle of champagne. We returned on the highway from Manacor to Palma. On this highway there are bushes in all colours planted in the middle between the lanes going north/south. It looks very beautiful and furthermore it prevent the cars coming against you not to dazzle when it is lighting-up time.
Here Palmanova
And here the maritim boulevard in Palma
These windmills we saw a lot of
It is unbelievable the sculptures you find in roundabouts
Very old olivetrees. They can reach several hundred years of age
The lighthouse in the southern cape of Mallorca
This island is a National Park too, and the name is Isla Cabrera
Here you see part of the beach close to the lighthouse - not very friendly
Watch the sunshades. Right where they are there is a very fine sand beach
Porto Colom
The restaurant at the water front where we had lunch
Porto Colom
These towers - and there was a lot of them - we passed on our way to Llucmajor.
They looked kind of strange and we couldn't guess for what purpose they were there.
The finest art is placed in roundabouts
This is not a workplace , but a statue and a machine put up for ornamental purposes - also in a roundabout
Here you see all the bushes with flowers along the highway
And just one Museum
Champagne on the balcony the last night
The end.
Eyvind needs to drive through some more mountains where he has not been yet. It is again in the range Serra de Tramuntana, but this time we will go where the tallest mountain Puig Major 1445m is placed. We don't need to go to the airport until 7 pm so we have plenty of time. After passing Puig Major we continue to a small village called Sa Calobra. In front of us a very nerveous driver is blocking the traffic so we take the first turn to the left just to avoid him. The road goes to Cala Tuent and it is nice to get rid of him.
It is so gorgeous here. We end up in a small valley, where there is a beach and people are bathing. Well, we had to go back on the same road as we came from. Eyvind gets a bellyache, and we have to find a toilet. We find one in Sa Calobra. We take a soft drink there and Eyvind uses the facilities. While he is away I use the time for taking a birds photo. After this experience we left for the airport. Fortunately it was much easier to leave the car than to get it. We just handed the guy the key and that was it.
En route to Puig Major
In the earlier days Mallorca had a lot of banana plants. These two were the only ones we saw in all the days we were here
Still in the mountains
This is water reservoir - there are two like this
Here and the next photo is Puig Major
This is another top - the military has a base on top
Another artificial lake
Exit from one of the many tunnels
On this top we had lunch
And now heading for Sa Calobra
This is the sideroad where we ended up in Cala Tuent
Here the sand beach in Cala Tuent
Isn't it gorgeous ? - this is from Sa Calobra
Watch all the terraces and the olivetrees
Last glimpes of Inca