Heaven is where the police are British, the cooks are French, the mechanics are German, the lovers are Italian and it is all organised by the Swiss.
Hell is where the police are German, the cooks are British, the mechanics are French, the lovers are Swiss and its all organised by the Italians.
It’s not quite the same, but the French mechanics bit is what prompted me to reference this here and now.
And so let’s tackle the easy bit first, I now know where the Cruise Control settings are located - beside the electronic handbrake on the centre console and on the steering wheel - why not all together in the one place?
Not so easy is the SatNav and I blame Marie Antoinette as I have christened the lady behind the dashboard who voices the instructions - admittedly in good Spanish, but then you know what the French are like - trying to understand how to set a new destination is initially beyond me and when we set-out from Son Vida thinking that we have programmed Arta as our destination, I soon realise that something has gone wrong when Marie Antoinette (MA) tells us to continue towards Palma Centro, rather than pick-up the MA-20 for the Manacor road - that surely can’t be right?
I decide to ignore MA and follow my instincts, and head for Manacor regardless of her increasingly whingey entreaties to turn around and head back to Palma.
Arta
Being located towards the top of the East Coast of Mallorca, Arta is just about as far from Son Vida as it is possible to be, without crossing the Med to Minorca.
It is 11:45 by the time we reach the outskirts and find a car parking space at the side of the road beside what clearly used to be a railway station, as there is a disused platform outside what is now a Tourist Information office, but which presumably served as the station itself before the closure of the railway.
A plaque that I discovered later tells me that the railway used to run between Arta & Manacor, before the Mallorquin equivalent of Beeching decided to close the route.
Anyway, the lady in the Tourist Office persuaded us to buy an Arta card for only €3 p.p. one of the benefits being that we were provided with a free map of the town centre and discounted / free access to some of the main sites.
We duly noted the location of some that we’ve not encountered on our single previous visit to this neck of the woods, even though we’re sure of where we are headed.
Stairway to Heaven
No, I’m not going all Jimmy Page / Robert Plant on you, but this is how our 111 Places in Mallorca That You Shouldn’t Miss guide book described the ascent to the Santuari de Sant Salvador, which looms over the town from a steep hill at its Northern extremity, and so-called on account of the 180 steps which comprise the Way of the Cross, but first we’re going to stop off at the 16th Century church which stands at the foot of the steps.
Transfiguracio del Senyor
Our Arta card entitles us to half-price access to the church, so we part with another €2 and spend the next half-hour exploring the interior of the impressive church, which I don’t recall entering last time we were here.
I capture a few of the things that caught my eye and then we exit and head for the ascent to Heaven.
Church of Sant Salvador
Within a fortified walled enclosure that protected the town and its inhabitants from marauding pirates in years gone by, according to the guide book / information provided by the Tourist Office, I can’t help but wondering why bother, when the nearest sea is about 10 miles away - go figure!
We didn’t enter the church, but circumnavigated the walls and then descended back to the town, encountering a lady who we’d seen earlier walking up and down the Stairway to Heaven, presumably as part of her fitness regime - it takes all sorts!
Art in Arta
The last time that we were hereabouts we recall the tree trunks which lined the Main Street being covered in colourful knitted ‘socks’ - never discovering the significance - they’re no longer evident.
We stop for coffee and torta de almendra at Sa Placa cafe which is nice, but lacking the finesse of our favoured Capuccino version - as well as the scoop of helado that makes it so much more attractive.
Returning to the car, whilst stopping into an art gallery and shop / cafe, which features interesting local crafts and artworks, we head further East towards our second destination, Capdepera.
Capdepera
This place is not one for the faint-hearted driver, as the steep narrow streets and one-way system are formidable, so I chicken out and park on the outskirts of the town, way below where we are headed. The walk will help achieve my daily exercise goals and so we set-off risking life and limb as we stride out along the narrow streets shared with those hardier (foolish) souls who drive all the way into the Centro.
There’s not much of special architectural significance until you reach the more or less pedestrianised street which rises steeply to El Castell, which towers over the town, having been positioned here for very good strategic reasons with its splendid views over to the coast at what is now the resort of Cala Rajada.
When we reach the castle, a helpful lady assists us with the automated ticket machine that will surely one-day soon replace her job and then we set about exploring the place.
Castell de Capdepera
My photo of the model in the exhibition centre illustrates the roughly triangular shape of the castle’s layout - what is not so obvious is that the most interesting remains are furthest away from the entrance point and that the ground continues to rise steeply to where the Miquel Nunis Tower and Church are situated.
The terrain is rough in parts, although attempts have been made to improve the walking with designated routes, which Sandra struggles with despite wearing good walking boots.
What I haven’t mentioned is that none of this is helped by the wind, which is blowing a hooley, such that Sandra fears being blown off the ramparts were she daft enough to venture up to the most exposed parts.
No such worries for myself, so I make my way onto the church roof terrace, take a few photos and then meet Sandra again for a look inside the church and exhibition within the Governor’s House.
We make our way back down the other side, where I do venture onto the ramparts to see if I can orientate the town below and remember where I parked the car - ah there it is, let’s head back.
Return to Son Vida
It’s 15:30 when we set-off from Capdepera, successfully programming the SatNav to take us back to Son Vida, so we set-off on the road back to Manacor and then circumvent the town centre to pick-up the road back to Palma.
The drive is uneventful and takes about an hour, only really becoming busy when we reach the outskirts of Palma and encounter the tricky access onto the MA-20 ring road.
Matthew has replaced Tomas at the front of the hotel and expertly parks the car in a space that has been designated for us, one of half a dozen right beside the main door. The boys are quite fussy about such things and arrange the vehicles so that the Kadjar and a Range Rover are nearest to the door, with the smaller cars beyond - and I thought I was OCD!
We head for the room to drop-off our bags and then head for the Bar Armas, in need to refreshments. Ideally we would like to have sat on the Balcony of Mallorca terrace, but despite still being c. 19 degrees Celsius, the wind is too strong to make it comfortable, so we settle at a table inside and catch-up on a few tasks on the iPad, updating Tripit with the three new reservations that Pep has made on our behalf etc.
I note with contempt that I am now #6 in the Duolingo table, but can’t really address that problem until we get back to the room, which we do after half an hour’s relaxation.
The Battle for Promotion
The way that Duolingo works is that the top 10 each Sunday earn promotion to the next league and there is no leeway, if I am not to be left behind, so I must continue my learning, as I will earn lingots if I finish in the Top 3.
Unless you’ve ever tried it, I doubt that any of this will make sense to you, but it matters to me, so I forego any attempt to write-up the days events in the blog; that will have to wait until tonight after dinner, when I am in the mood to counter the vagaries of the software glitch that ruined my day yesterday.
By the time that it’s time to get ready for dinner, I’m back where I belong in the Top 3, having earned 120 points by completing 6 modules of learning in the House 4 and Shopping 6 categories.
We pop along to Recepcion at 19:30, and Matthew calls the taxi that will take us into Palma for dinner tonight.
The Idiom’s Guide to Mallorca
Today’s idiom comes courtesy of Joan Miquel and goes as follows:-
“Aii, cavallet, quan eres jove......... que hi anaves de pentinat”
As we know from recent days, the google translate from Catalan option doesn’t really help with the literal offering:-
"Ah, horse, when you were young ......... that you went there for a hairstyle"
But Joan Miquel (Pep) has helpfully added context, with his explanation that this expression is used to refer gracefully to the passage of time as we grow older.
El Patio de Gloria
We’re dining tonight at the restaurant of one of the many boutique hotels that are cropping up in the old town of Palma, and which we recce’d during yesterday’s visit, you will recall.
Not that we needed to, as the taxi drops us right outside and so we make our way to a nice table that has been reserved by Pep in the very smart surroundings of the restaurant, where we take our seats and are presented with menus.
What was not so evident when we looked at the menu yesterday is that the food has oriental themes, which could be an issue for Sandra with her Crohns Disease, but the friendly waitress helps us choose starter and mains which are not spicy she assures us.
And so we order as follows:-
Sandra - Kamado roasted scallop, creamy cauliflower with smoked butter, pork jowls and pickled capers / Seasonal mushroom rice, deer carpaccio and truffled sheep cheese
Myself - Steak Tartar ‘Rossini’ with carasau bread / Pekin style Veal Ribs with ‘Tuetano’ bone smoke, homemade hoisin and oriental pancakes
From these explanations you will appreciate that this is not the type of cuisine that we would ordinarily choose (and probably won’t again, if we’re honest) but it was an interesting experience and it’s nice to try different things now and then to expand your palate.
We declined postres and headed down the Calle to the top of Passeig de Born, where the Capuccino outlet there had a nice slice of torta de almendra with our names on it, washed down with dos cafes con leche, and then we jump into a taxi and head back to Son Vida, stopping only briefly to chat to Matthew before heading to bed.
I manage only about an hour’s blogging and will finish it tomorrow morning, or in the middle of the night if we don't sleep well - in fact, I manage a solid 6 hours before waking-up and completing the blog.
Now, back to bed for another hour!
No comments:
Post a Comment