Sleepless in Seattle Palma
Having written-up my blog in the euphoria of the Toon’s famous FA Cup victory over West Brom in last night’s 5th round tie, my head hit the pillow not long afterwards, lulled into sleep with the enigma of Aixo es Mel circulating in what little of my brain was still in rational working order.......or it may be that my caffeine levels had dropped since consuming Pret A Manger’s excuse for a capuccino at Gatwick many hours earlier.
It didn’t last for long and I was seemingly wide awake by 03:00, only managing to snooze for another hour before succumbing to a bout of Duolingo.
There’s nothing like the still of night to concentrate the mind on language skills, and I managed to rattle-off another couple of modules, elevating my ‘Nature 2’ score to level 5 with little trouble - just as well, since Duolingo had pinged notifications on my Apple Watch last night during dinner, advising that I had initially lost the #1 spot, and then again to say that I had been deposed from #2 in the Pearl League.
So with Duolingo giving no recognition for my daily attempts to speak Spanish here in Spain, I will have to keep-up the learning if I am not to slip down the league, whilst others around the World climb the ladder with nothing better to do spend hours on their App - a bit like the retired bloke from Woking who spent nearly 10 hours last week earning 50 lingots for topping the Sapphire League to earn promotion.
I then drifted back to sleep after trying to read a couple of chapters of Laidlaw, a paperback book loaned to me by my friend John Payne when we visited him in Poole recently. I have to say that I didn’t really get into it, but will persist as it came highly recommended.
And then I finally woke-up properly and opened the curtains to see that all is well in the World, despite the worries of no-deal Brexit, coronavirus and its impact on my pension fund - the sun is shining here in Palma and we must get ready to go and make the most of it.
Desayuno
Whilst on holiday breakfast is the most important meal of the day, as Sandra & I try to get through until Dinner (although admittedly usually failing by tea-time) without adding to our intake.
We know from past experience that the Castillo Hotel Son Vida buffet breakfast is one of the best on offer, catering not only to our tastes, but also to the other guests predominantly from elsewhere in Europe, but also others from around the world drawn to this corner of Mallorca by the sun, golf, proximity to Palma or whatever.
Maitre D’ Toni remembers us and shepherds us to a table to the side of the dining room - whilst a window table for dinner is preferable, sometimes it is too sunny, with the sun shining directly through the large windows as it rises to the East, often necessitating the drawing of the blinds to make the meal more comfortable.
It was good to know that our usual fare of muesli, with fresh fruit and other assorted pastries which typically adorn Sandra’s first plate are all in their familiar place, but then I am flummoxed when I cannot find anywhere the natural yoghurts with strawberry jam that I am used to - perhaps it is another example of the surreptitious economy measures that one encounters these days? But no, they’ve just been moved since we were last here two years ago!
Having washed down the cold buffet selection with dos cafe latte machiatos (un muy caliente / otro muy fuerte) and jugo de naranja, we proceed to the hot plate, where chef Juanman is waiting to expertly make to order my cooked plate - ana tortilla grande, con queso / jamón / tomate / champiñones, a veritable Spanish Omelette, if you like, to which I add bacon, more mushrooms and a couple of sausages from the hot buffet. Sandra is much more disciplined, loading a variety of pastries and ensaimada to her plate.
As we’re eating, General Manager, Oscar del Campo, comes over for a chat and we find ourselves straying onto the classic British sitcoms that he’d grown to love when based in London earlier in his career, as the conversation swiftly moved beyond coronavirus and its impact on the hotel / economy in general and Brexit, which is what prompted him to mention a re-run of ‘Yes Prime Minsiter’, which he’d recently watched.
I can’t remember the specific episode, but it was one where Sir Humphrey was counselling his PM, Jim Hacker, that it was best to tackle the EU and destroy it from within, the typical British way of doing things! Who could have foreseen how prescient the writers, Antony Jay & Jonathan Lynn, were all those years ago in the mid-/late-1980s. So that’s where Mr Farage got his ideas from?
Aixo es Mel
Betwixt breakfast and our heading out into town, we stopped by Recepcion, where Ramon gave us the benefit of his rationale in selecting this idiom for yesterday’s feature. We’re now a little wiser than before, although puzzled by the pronunciation of the first word, which is nothing like we imagined. Failing to find a voice recording app on my phone, you’ll have to suffice with my attempted phonetic description using only words........thankfully Joan Miguel chipped in that it is pronounced differently by people around the island, but the most common pronunciation is more or less the way that I would say my own surname - Shaw es Mel (I am sweet!).
Acclimatisation
Unlike the UK, where we woke to sunny, but freezing, weather conditions yesterday morning, here in Mallorca it must be at least 10 - 15 degrees warmer. We decide to kill two birds with one stone in addressing our need to adapt to the warmer climes and catch-up on our exercise, which dropped considerably from our normal levels in transit yesterday.
We’re going to jump in the hire car, drive down to the front in Palma, park and enjoy a passeiggiata along the Passeig de Maritim, which ought to get us settled into the holiday mood.
We find an underground car park, conveniently situated near the centre of the City, in the Parc del Mar, and emerge into glorious sunlight over the ornamental lake in front of Le Seu (the cathedral), our starting point for the walk.
And so we spend the next hour striding out along the seafront, only stopping briefly to pop into the splendidly gothic La Llotja to admire the interior of the 15th Century Merchant’s trading exchange, eventually covering nearly 6 Kms, the equivalent of one of our habitual walks at home.
So, that should avoid me having to repeat last night’s callisthenics in bed in order to hit my daily Apple Watch activity rings targets - job done!
Refrescos
In need of refreshments after our exertions, we head inland from the seafront into Placa Drassana, where we note with interest that Restaurante Sadrassana is showing signs of activity - a favourite dining option, which has usually been closed at this time of year during our past few visits; must check what’s going on with Pep.
We walk along the narrow streets behind La Llotja, past familiar shops and restaurants in this quarter of the City, across the busy Passeig del Born and then into the old City behind the Cathedral, into Placa de Cort, where we find our destination, a Capuccino coffee shop outside Hotel Mama.
We’d already passed two other such places, but this one is our preference because of its location, where one can sit in the square outside the hotel and watch the world go by, whilst enjoying dos cafe con leches, con una torta de almendra.
Mission accomplished, now on to the next item on our itinerary, a recce of a possible eatery for dinner later in the week - El Patio de la Gloria, which is situated more or less due North as the crow flies from where we set-off, although it is not quite so straightforward to navigate the twisting streets in the City Centre.
After 15 minutes we arrive in the C. De Sant Jaume, turn right past the church from which the street takes its name and voila, there it is. We review the menu posted outside the hotel / restaurant, confirm its potential suitability and make a mental note to speak to Pep about a reservation, but first of all we need to walk back to the car park, retrieve the Kadjar and drive back to Castillo Hotel Son Vida.
Simples! Stopping only to buy some essentials at a supermarket close to the Real Mallorca football stadium en-route, it is c. 13:00, when we hand our car keys to Tomas and head back to the room, but only to change clothing and seek our next haven from the rat race.
R&R Son Vida Style
When we were last staying at Son Vida, the indoor pool area was closed for renovation, as the Gymnasium / Spa Treatment salon we’re undergoing major refurbishment.
Not that we were considering anything other than a swim / chilling in the pool area, although the conducted tour of the new facilities was very impressive for those younger than ourselves who might avail themselves of the torture workouts.
We have spent many a happy hour in the sanctuary of the indoor pool over the years and it is good to be back again, with the place to ourselves whilst other guests must be taking a siesta in their room, on the golf course or out and about for the day.
I can’t remember the last time that I swam, but I know that my ‘style’ and indeed stamina will have suffered after the debilitating injury caused by the damage to my left rotator cuff in 2016. And so it proves, when I struggle to complete ten laps of the 15m pool, five each of front crawl and breaststroke.
No sooner have I dried off than Sandra pronounces the words I never anticipated hearing her utter - “I’m too hot, can we go back to the room?”
Back in Room #653, we sit on the balcony where there is indirect sunlight after it had seemingly clouded over at lunchtime. I write-up the day’s activities for my blog and then turn my attention to Duolingering, when I find to my horror that whilst I have been inactive my position on the ladder has dropped to #5.
An hour and two modules later, I’m back where I belong, up to #3, with the prospect of overtaking those ahead of me if all goes well and I manage a few more sessions due to insomnia overnight.
Meanwhile, Sandra has managed to touch base with her friend Inge, a German lady she met at Spanish classes some years ago, and who is now resident in Illetas, just along the Bay of Palma from where we are based. We will rendezvous with her next week, with 2 years of news to catch-up on.
I pop back to Recepcion at c. 17:00 to check on something and renew my acquaintance with first of all Mathew, who has taken over the portering / doorman duties at the Front Office and then Jose Francesco, who is manning the main desk and covering concierge responsibilities for the afternoon / evening shift. It’s nice to think that we can take over from where we left off two years ago, as if we’d only been gone five minutes.
Before you know it, the clock is showing 19:00 and we’d better get washed / changed for dinner - a casual affair at one of Palma’s culinary institutions, Meson Ca’n Pedro in Genova, arguably the area’s most popular venue for traditional Mallorquin cuisine amongst locals and tourists alike.
It’s a short taxi ride down the hill, picking-up the MA-20 for one section, and then heading to Genova, which is surely only a couple of miles away from Son Vida as the crow flies, but then the roads in the hills don’t go in straight lines, so it is a somewhat convoluted route to get there all things considered.
Meson Ca’n Pedro
Why has this place become so popular with locals and tourists since it opened in 1976? Perhaps because of the choice of food, with a huge selection of traditional grilled and roast options, but also representing very good value for money, with efficient and friendly service from the long-standing staff, many of whom we recognise from previous visits.
Checking back, we reckon that we first dined here in 2001 and have been here more or less on each occasion that we’ve returned - by my reckoning this will be the twelfth such occasion!
There was one year that we broke with tradition and tried something different, but tonight we more or less know what is in store without looking at the menu - Jamón Iberico Cinco Jotas to start for Sandra, followed by Suckling Pig / Pulpo Gallego & Suckling Lamb for me, washed down with a bottle of Enate Rosado, the Spanish rose wine introduced to us by Victor, the Maitre D’ from the Puente Romano hotel in Marbella and which has become a firm favourite, being so difficult to get hold of in the UK.
There was a time that we used to be relegated to one of the side rooms, usually reserved for ‘tourists’, whereas we now insist on a table in the heart of the restaurant where the atmosphere is best and one can see all the comings and goings from the grill / kitchen / bar area.
The food, service & ambience were as good as ever and despite the superstition, I think that we can safely say that we shall return in due course to complete our thirteenth visit.
The taxi ride home was quick and uneventful, the driver taking the back road into Son Rapinya, which remains one-way from the West direction for some reason only the local Highway Authority will know.
We say our goodnights to Mathew / Jose Francesco and head back to Room 653............where another very pleasant surprise awaits us!
The Idiom’s Guide to Mallorca
Where else would the staff knowingly pander to the eccentricities of their customers’ whims, than leaving another thought for the day in the turn-down Service tray, this time attributable to Pedro, who we’ve yet to see on this visit.
I’m sure that he won‘t mind me saying that I’d never taken him for one of life’s great philosophers, but he must have hidden depths to have come-up with the following idiom:-
”Entre poc i massa sa mesura passa”
“Entre poc y demasiado, la medida puede que se pase”.
Se utiliza como frase para exagerar un hecho o medida
To save you the trouble of cutting and pasting the text into Google Translate, I have done it for you, taking the liberty to try and make sense of the meaning with my own interpretation, which I shall check for you tomorrow, so that you don’t lie awake half the night, worrying about its meaning:-
"Between little and too much balance happens"
"Between little and too much, the right balance may be achieved."
It is used as a phrase to exaggerate a fact or measure, where for example if you have too much of anything at the extremities will be very good and perhaps very bad, so better to choose a smaller proportion of equal quality.
I can’t say that I recall Pedro using the phrase when we’ve chatted in the past, but then again it may have been lost in translation.
Technical Troubles
But then horror of horrors, I note that half of my content from the day’s blog is missing when I proof read my draft ahead of hitting the ‘publish’ button - damn!
I search through the various versions of the BlogTouch Pro App that I use to load content on my various devices and then thankfully manage to retrieve about 50% of the missing text in an online draft accessible via Safari.
I cut and paste this into the draft, hit the save button............and it disappears! This is weird. I don’t know what is going on and all attempts to cut and paste / edit the missing text into the BlogTouch Pro version meet the same fate.
It’s nearing midnight, I’m very tired and can’t be doing with this; it’ll have to wait.
And so it does, with success finally coming at 03:11, after waking after 02:00 and trying to capture again everything wot I had writ all over again.
I ought to be Duolingering now, but had better go back to bed and try to get some more sleep!
Sleeping quite solidly until 07:30, I wake-up ready to hit the publish button........only to find that the text that I’d reinserted in the middle of the night has disappeared once more (or was it just a dream?!).
Perturbed and completely ignorant of what is going on, I resign myself to have to re-write the content of the day all over again - another hour’s effort wasted but with appropriate risk management measures to ensure that I don’t lose it all again. That will have to take place after breakfast and before we head out for the day.
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