Medical Bulletin / Weight Watch
You’ll be almost as relieved as I am to hear that there is good news overnight on both of these fronts.
I have ‘flushed’ my system, by drinking copious amounts of agua and that seems to have done the trick, with my stomach and intestines back to perhaps 70 / 80% of their ‘normal’ state.
The impact on my weight is such that despite being over-hydrated if anything, I have now successfully shed all of the 3 Kgs that I put on over the first week and perhaps a little bit more...........so I can tuck into a full English breakfast this morning and get my full-value money’s worth from the Es Castell buffet.................or maybe not!
Another factor which has no doubt contributed to my improved wellbeing is that I slept much better, ahead of the curve when I read that today is apparently World Sleep Day, whatever that means. Who is it that determines these things and how can they improve their marketing - I heard this from the company who used to supply meds for Bella, but not for example from Fitbit / Boots, or any of those stakeholders who are supposed to care for my personal health, rather than just sell me more of their products.
Desayuno
Sandra is ravenous this morning and hurriedly goes through her waking routine, before dragging me a little more enthusiastically than on the previous two mornings to breakfast.
She fills her plate to the brim full of cheese, pastries, ham, and whatever else she can carry back to the table, whereas I content myself with my muesli / banana mix (but no dried figs) and a Greek yoghurt. I can also stomach an omelette this morning, but substitute a couple of croissants for my usual complement of bacon rashers (too greasy methinks).
Head for the Hills
Having beaten the rush to breakfast this morning, we are also ahead of schedule in leaving Son Vida for our day’s excursion, picking-up the car key from Pedro at 09:30 and driving North on the Soller road, through the tunnel and then turning South to head for our first destination, Deia.
Deia
For once, we are early enough to have beaten the rush and manage to grab one of the free roadside parking places on the edge of town, relishing the walk along the boardwalk that runs alongside the main road.
Sandra, who knows the location of every bano publico on the Island persuades the lady in the Tourist Information office to let her use the facilities upstairs in the Ajuntament, when we find the public toilet up the road closed and locked.
From there, we head up the hill behind the town hall, and reach the church and cemetery after about 15 minutes. The church is locked and again our attempts to find the location of Robert Graves’ (I Claudius) last resting place, which we know to be here somewhere, are thwarted - there are painters / artists and two other Graves named on headstones, but no Robert that we can identify.
We re-trace our steps, head back to the main road and then continue around the boardwalk to the Southern end of town, from where the views are spectacular.
We have the boardwalk largely to ourselves, only encountering two other couples who have ventured this far out of the centre, but then almost trample underfoot a ‘critter’ which we nearly mistake for foliage, only realising that it is a Mantis not very well camouflaged on the wooden slats, saying its prayers no doubt and not bothered at all when I zoom in to take a photo, only swivelling it’s head to keep a beady eye on my movements, evaluating the potential threat to its continued existence.
Heading back to the car, we continue South on the MA-10 and turn inland after a short while, headed for stop #2, Valldemossa.
Valldemossa
Those of you who remember my Un Hiver a Mallorque blog a few years back will know that this is the place where George Sand and Frederick Chopin spent a fateful Winter many years ago, looking for a health cure to combat the composer’s ails.
Seems I was more successful than he, as it is lovely sitting in the sun at the Cappuccino cafe, enjoying a cafe con leche and torta de almendra for lunch - I’ve missed them these last few days.
Now, we need to walk that indulgence off - there’s a sign over there saying that one can climb a tower (Miranda dels Lledoners, whoever they might be!) with splendid panoramic views of the Cartoixa (Carthusian Monastery) which dominates the pretty little town. The lady explains that it involves only 82 steps, and costs only €3 p.p. so we wait 5 minutes for the 13:00 party to depart and then join the two other couples who ascend the spiral staircase with the guide.........only to find that the view is hardly panoramic and through dirty glass windows besides.
Still, be thankful for small mercies, we got up and down without incident, and Sandra’s worst fears were not realised so we’ll take that as a plus.
We strolled around the rest of the pretty town, past the monastery into the gardens and then downhill and past the St Bartholemew church and birthplace of Saint Catalina Thomas, Mallorca’s favourite Nun, before heading back to the car park and then home to Son Vida, only stopping to fill-up the car with petrol en-route as the chances are we won’t drive tomorrow, our last full day before heading home on Sunday..............perhaps!
Don’t Panic Captain Mainwaring!
As I write-up the day’s events some hours later, it seems not to have had any detrimental effect on my digestion, so all is looking good again...........except that on returning to Son Vida at 15:00, all is doom and gloom as Spain declares a State of Emergency and is apparently restricting access to bars, discos and clubs.
Ramon phones through to the restaurante that we are booked at tonight and they tell us that business is as usual, so that is good and we are assured of a bed for as long as we need it in the event that we are stranded here - even if Sandra has to sleep with the Pet Bunny in the spare-room at Miguel / Bettina’s! My easyJet App tells me that our flight on Sunday is still scheduled to leave on time, so that looks promising, but this appears to be a fast-moving situation, so watch this space.
I also note from an Apple News bulletin that the Foreign & Commonwealth Office has issued advice to UK citizens not to travel to parts of Spain, but on reading further, note with relief that it is largely Madrid, which is now second only to Italy in European terms, to be affected so badly by the virus. Later, Matthew tells us that the Canary Islands have been cut-off!
Oo’er?
The Wind is Up
Don’t worry, my tummy is still OK - not that sort of wind!
After an hour’s R&R in our room, we head for the Bar Armas, having quietly practiced the stock phrase that Jose Antonio taught us the other day - the problem is that he gave it to Sandra, so I am going to have to change the order and substitute masculine for feminine - now where were we:-
‘Buenos Tardes Senor, Me pones una cerveza grande por favor y una copa de cava para mi esposa”
Not a bad effort, he concedes, only correcting me in relation to Sandra, who is my ‘Chica’ (girl) - wife is far too formal amongst friends!
We head for the Balcony of Mallorca, where there is only one other hardy soul braving the elements - the sun is shining, but unlike Deia & Valldemossa, it is very windy, and so we have to hold down our drinks whilst we sit there for the next 35 minutes, catching-up on the news and enjoying the drinks / nibbles for the first time in a couple of days.
There is a suggestion that we might head for the indoor pool, but I honestly feel too lethargic for a swim and know that in this sort of weather it will be very warm in there, under the glass roof, so we return to the room for the rest of our R&R routine - blogging / Duolingering / napping (it’s a tough old life).
R&R
More blogging / napping / Duolingering - I’m up to my rightful place amongst those at the top of the league; in second place, 200 XP ahead of the person in #3, but a distant 179 off first place and having now converted all of my level 1 modules to level two, things are going to get harder in converting them to level three...........now here’s a thought; perhaps I could persuade Jose Antonio or another of the Son Vida staff could sign-in as me during some quiet moments in the Bar Armas / Recepcion?
That would be cheating, wouldn’t it and I just wouldn’t feel right after all of the weeks of learning.
Panic Measures
OK, it’s time to fess-up - I have been known to filch the odd pen / bar of soap from the hotels that we’ve stayed at over the years, but nothing major like some people I know, who have somehow managed to cram their suitcases with towels, bathrobes etc.
Reading of the shortage of some essentials back in the supermarkets at home, I am wondering how I might manage to squeeze into the suitcase the odd toilet roll / box of tissues?
Knowing that Pep reads some of this rubbish during his quiet moments on the Concierge Desk, perhaps I’d better not!
Creatures of Habit..........
For whatever reason, I looked back at my blog from two years ago earlier in the day and spookily discovered that on our last Friday before flying home, we visited Deia & Valldemossa, before eating dinner at Xorigeur in the evening - guess where we’ve booked tonight?
Coincidence, or is there something more to it?!
Xorigeur - Carnivores Welcome
We first ate at this basque restaurante in Fabrica Street, Santa Catalina two years ago and enjoyed the experience, so with my tummy on the mend and in need of a good steak for the first time this week, that is what we fancy tonight.
What’s the chances that we order an identical meal to last time?
Deja Vu - you knew we were going to, the waiter (who seemed to remember Sandra from two years ago) knew we were going to, we were going to and so it was!
Mojellos to start - that’s sweetbreads to you. Not everyone’s taste, but deliciously tasty and tender, when grilled to perfection and served simply with a little salt and pimientos.
Then we shared a platter of Hereford ribeye steak, although this time it was accompanied by ‘scratchings’ of potatoes, rather than French Fries, with a few grilled vegetables on the side (sorry, Sandra had started to tuck-in before I could grab my photo).
All washed down with a bottle of Muga red, a favourite Rioja, which seemed to represent better value for money than some of the Mallorcan wines on the carta del vino.
We declined postres in the hope of ‘legging it’ back over to the city centre to grab a coffee at Cappuccino, but missed their 22:00 closing time by ten minutes - never mind, two on the same day would have been over-indulgence!
If there is any criticism of this restaurante, it is the lack of atmosphere, on account of the sparsely populated tables - we were first to arrive just after opening, and were the only diners for the first course shortly after it opened at 20:30. By the time we left just after 21:30, only three tables were occupied & Ramon had told us that this is typical. Whether it is the location at the far end of Santa Catalina, the decor or the fact that they were playing dirges by Ed Sheeran over their sound system I couldn’t say!
On returning to Son Vida, with a very friendly taxi driver, who tried to engage us in conversation en Espanol, we chatted to Matthew, Ferran & Bettina before retiring to bed, where we discover that despite being on a day off today, Pep has arranged delivery of today’s Mallorquin saying.
The Idiom’s Guide to Mallorca
I could have sworn that we’d already had an idiom attributable to Miquel, but perhaps its my memory playing tricks.
Anyway, today’s Bon mots are:-
‘D’es teu pa faras Ses sopes’
.....which translates literally as ‘From your bread you will make their soups’
Put into context, it means that one's actions can have an effect on other people.
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