TJ in front of the Catedral
It was our second visit to the capital of de balearic island Palma. But since our friends Caralee and Darcy had not been to the island, we decided to do the same excursion as our last call. The Old Town: a maze of narrow streets, home to the Cathedral (La Seu), Almudaina Palace, and Plaza Mayor.
With more time than an 8 hour portcall, cruise passengers could have more choices such as the quaint former fishing villages of Santa Catalina, Portixol and Molinar.
The city of Palma was founded and developed during the early Roman times around 123 BC. In its history are traces going back to the Phoenicians (800 BC) and the rules of Carthage. The Moores ruled in the early Middle Ages, Spain’s early incarnations superseded in the later Middle Ages and by the Renaissance the islands were fully under Spanish rule, except for some irritating occasional incursions from Barnary Coast corsairs. Lots of cultural changes and exchanges over the centuries. Today Mallorca is the 4th largest island in the Mediterranean Sea with close to a million inhabitants in some 55 communities around the island and close to 20 million annual visitors. Many international celebrities over the decades have built homes on the island, but to visit for a limited one day stop, the choice of the Old Town as exploration destination is no doubt the best.
The Princess bus would take us from the ship to the parking lot across from the famous Catedral-Basílica de Santa María de Mallorca. The trip itself takes you along the waterfront of Palma with all its stores, restaurants, ancient windmills and everything that excessive tourism has to offer. Modern day Maseratis were racing 1960s Iso Rivoltas alongside our bus.
The Catedral is a very prominent sight on the hill, with the 14th century Royal Palace of La Almudaina next door across the cobblestoned square. Until today it still is the official residence of the Spanish King and Queen during their stays in Mallorca. On the day of our visit there was a special event for military recruits at the palace, so visitors were not allowed.
Instead the four of us decided to have a refreshment at the Cappuccino Café Palau March that used to be part of the palatial gardens at the foot of the steps up to the Sea. Rich and pricey, but chic, the Café serves many versions of popular coffees, pastries and Mediterranean dishes.
Afterwards we actually struggled ourselves up the steps to the cathedral, but once arrived there, the lines to go in were too long for our taste and Han, a catholic raised atheist, refused to pay $11 admission fee. “Rome has enough money’, was his stoic statement.
Walking the stairs back down we decided to walk some of the small streets, away from where tourism happens, and savored a bit of local flavor.
The bubble blowers we had noticed a couple of years earlier were still active in the parks and pedestrian shopping streets, showing their expanded creativity in tooling. The island hosts all sorts of events, including agricultural fairs in the spring and autumn, live music and DJs in the summer, religious fiestas and international sporting events. Some of the most popular are the Mallorca 312 cycling race in April, the Copa del Rey sailing regatta in July and the Moors vs Christians mock battle in September.
As the sun moved quietly westward all of us tired people strolled back to the bus that would return us to the ship. The last port of call behind us. Tomorrow morning in all of its early morning glory, we would disembark in Barcelona and a long day of packing and traveling was ahead of us. We wished we would have had enough time to meet up with our Matanzas Cuba friends Acela and Julio who had moved to Mallorca, via Lisbon, several years ago. Maybe next time, since we had now moved to Europe.
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