We spent the New Years holiday in Mallorca, traveling around the island from our homebase in Palma. The first two parts can be found here and here. I cannot stress enough, that if you visit Mallorca, rent a car, pick any spot on the coast, and drive there. You will be surprised at what you find; at minimum you will find some a cove or beach or overlook to enjoy the natural beauty, and it also comes with a sense of adventure and the unknown.
We awoke New Years day to the nearby church bells at eight in the morning, and were up by the time they chimed nine times. Groggily we drank instant coffee, ate platanos and apples, and were off, this time heading to the northwest part of the island, a town called Cala Ratja. Well, the road we took was a dead end, so we pivoted and stopped at Punta des Carregador, as the clouds were clearing and the sun made its first appearance of the day.
It was a short drive to the nearby Cala Font De Sa Cala II, which faced the bay of Calo de n’Aladern. This mostly quiet in this resort area, with all the hotels closed for the season, had few people. We found two groups of German tourists on the beach, one group enjoying a cookout and wine, on an quiet New Years day. We walked along the rocks, making our way to a nice sitting spot, where we had the whole cove to ourselves.
It is always fun to imagine having a house like the ones pictured above, right on the water, and enjoy the sea and beach; many of the homes had private gates that opened directly to the beach or a nearby ladder into the clear blue water. The island has many of these places, and numerous hotels and condo buildings as well, situated with excellent views of the ocean. Many northern Europeans visit the island, even in the off-season.We actually heard German and other north European accents more often than Spanish.
Our next stop was the Castell de la Punta de n’Amer, which was a 20 minute walk from the seaside town of Sa Coma. Sa Coma reminded me of Florida, with numerous bright white condo buildings and salmon colored hotels, all situated near or next to the beach, The walk to the castle, which was not a castle at all, but a guard tower, was right along the sea. There was an outdoor cafe/bar whre we ordered cafe con leches and split a piece of tarta de queso con fresas (strawberry cheese cake) while we stared out into the sea.
The sunset was rapidly approaching, so we crossed the narrow bridge over a barren moat into the tower. We climbed up the narrow, dark, and claustrophobic staircase to the open tower. The 360 degree views were spectacular, and we gazed out over the landscape toward the declining sun.
Our final day in Mallorca saw us leave the apartment early and say goodbye to Palma; the morning was overcast and cloudy as we drove Cala sa Nau, on the east side of the island. Another cove of natural beauty, we explored the sparse forest on the bluff tops surrounding the small beach.
After this we went in search of desayuno, but most everything was closed, due to it being off-season, so we continued to explore the southeast of the island, with our next stop close by, the beach Platja des Coto near the town of Cala Figuera. We walked on more rocks, searching for smooth ones to sit on and gaze into the sea.
We drove to the port town of Porto Petro, where we finally found two restaurants open, and it being lunch time, we were quite excited to eat really good food; top notch bacon wrapped dates, Cannelloni with duck and foie gras, Lamb shank with verdugas and patatas fritas, and an excellent tarta con helado for dessert. Afterwards we felt satiated, and had just enough time to stop at one final location; the Platja des Marquès, next to the wetland park Salobrar de Campos. We did some more walking on sea rocks as the sun stayed hidden behind grey clouds, and the wind picked up. We walked to the end of the long stone dock, out into the middle of the sea, alongside closed up hotels, and finally down a well kept walking path, enjoying the early afternoon post-lunch walk along the sea.
Mallorca was a dream visit, and it being December and off-season suited our needs well. We were able to drive and never run into traffic, explore beaches and coves with few, if any, fellow tourists, There have been many island views in our pictures, and through the process I realized that this was the first island I had visited, and now look forward to visiting even more.
Phil Barrington's WayPastCool 