Can Pedro?
Don’t confuse this with the place that we ate at in Genova the other night.
No, I’m talking about Pedro the doorman, another old friend who has been having a few days off since we arrived and today was the first time that we saw him for a chat.
That was pretty much the only thing worth mentioning about our morning in and around the hotel, other than a tip from Juanman, the chef who makes the best tortillas in the whole of Spain. When I mentioned to him that we were planning on driving to Soller and its Port today, he suggested that we drive to the Faro (lighthouse) at the top of the cliff on the opposite (Southern) side of the town, from where the views of the entire wineglass bay are impressive.
Soller
The drive to Soller is much easier these days, as there is a never a queue to get through the tunnel since the local authorities did away with the toll charge that used to cause delays at the booths on the Palma side. Mind you, we can remember it being much worse prior to the tunnel opening in 1997, when you had to drive over the Tramuntana mountains to get there. We’re not that old to remember that the only way to access the town was via boat from the sea, although that was once the case!
We are well accustomed to parking on the main road (MA-11) and walking into the Centre, because of the lack of car parking and narrow / twisting streets, some of which are one-way. We do so, and make our way down the lane, picking-up a street without a proper footpath, where a local lady gives a driver a right old mouthful when he had the temerity to toot and let her know of his approach.
We make for the station, where we know that the tram out of town to the Port will leave later, determine that the next one is scheduled to leave in 25 minutes, on the hour, and then fill our time with a walk over to the Placa de la Constitucio, where the cathedral and town hall are located.
Then its back to the station and a strategic positioning to avail ourselves of a good seat on the tram - in actual fact, the service is not busy at this time (11:00) of the day, and there were four carriages available by now.
The trip through the centre of town and then along the main road (MA-11) is slow and noisy, but its good fun and we have a good view of the driver from our seat in the first carriage.
Port de Soller
After about 20 minutes we arrive in the port and hop down onto the promenade in the heart of the Port. Now then, we can see the lighthouse that Juanman mentioned and it looks easy enough to get there, as there is a road right around the other side of the harbour, even if it does rise quite steeply to the top of the cliff.
Vamos!
About 3 Kms and 40 minutes or so later, we reach our destination, take our photos of the Far de Cap Gros, grab some refreshments from the Refugi di Muleta and then turn tail and wander back to the Port, where we grab a table at the harbourside Restaurante Mar y Sol, adjacent to the Tram stop, so that we can be ready for the return ride.
To Sandra’s disgust, I also down a €5 cono grande from the Gelataria across the street, just as the Tram pulls into the station, so that was well-timed.
We duly arrive back in Soller, but its about 14:00 and there are still things to do, people to see and places to go, so we walk back to the car and hop aboard.
Fornalutx
Arguably one of the prettiest villages in the whole of Mallorca, Fornalutx nestles in a valley above Soller, high in the Tramuntana.
The short drive takes us back to wards the Port and then North on the twisting road which will eventually lead to Deja, Sa Calobra & Lluc, but they’re perhaps for another occasion and we turn off a few Kms later and descend to the village, which is heaving with tourists and locals alike, all of whom have parked their cars today, as we don’t find a single car parking space and are forced to abandon our plans to stop and turn to Plan B.
Jardines de Alfabia
We first came across these gardens, tucked away at the Palma side of the Soller tunnel when we stayed at the St Regis Mardavall hotel for Sandra’s 60th birthday, when Castillo Hotel Son Vida allowed BMW to book out the entire hotel and we couldn’t get a room - something that she has just about forgiven them for these few years later.
In the six years since our last visit, it doesn’t seem to have changed much, but then it probably hasn’t changed much at all throughout its long history, which dates back to the Moorish occupation of the island, as the name would suggest and indeed there is a very Moorish feel to most of the gardens and associated buildings.
We climb the steps along the palm-lined avenue to the covered cistern and then turn right at the top to enter the Juego de Aguas water feature, just avoiding a drenching when the fountains start to play, so that we have to dodge into the formal gardens, with beautiful shrubs and trees arranged around on ornamental lake, before heading inside to the Main House, a historic property built around a cobbled courtyard.
Apart from being troubled by a couple of kids running around in front of me every time I try to take a photograph, we enjoy wandering around the interior, before exiting and heading back to Son Vida - its 15:30 and today has been by far and away the best day of the holiday so far, sunny and with only a gentle breeze, what can we do?
The Balcony of Mallorca
Quite a few others have the same idea - head for a drink on the Bar Armas terrace to relax in the afternoon sun, where we overhear a distinctive accent, unfamiliar in this part of Spain and eventually chat to a lady from Durham, across the River Tyne from where we hail.
It transpires that this lady and her Spanish husband, who has developed a Geordie accent himself by living there for so long, are visiting the hotel for the day, with one of their twin sons and the husband’s sister, who has introduced them to this place.
Anyway, soon enough we finish our drinks and head back to the room, where I have more unfinished business - today is the day of reckoning for the Duolingo league table and I must consolidate my position to ensure that I’m not left behind............and being a compulsive sort, while away the next two hours securing my third place and promotion to the Obsidian League next week!
DINS Santi Taura
We had initially asked Pep to reserve a table for us last Thursday night, before learning that it was one of those nights of the week where a la carte was not an option and the tasting menu comprised a minimum of 12 (yes, twelve!) courses, which would have been far too ambitious for Sandra, even though the portions are quite small.
Famous local chef, Santi, has relocated his operations from the small town of Lloseta in the North of Mallorca, where we’ve dined before into a new restaurant housed in one of the smart new hotels cropping-up in Palma, this one being located on the edge of the old town, behind the cathedral.
Its location is where we encounter our first problem, when the taxi driver, takes the MA-20 after descending past Son Rapinya and then speeds around the ring road, completely in the wrong direction. He takes me for a fool, when I challenge him as to why he’s taking this circuitous route, saying that access to the restaurant is not possible from the normal direction.........which leads to an interesting confrontation when we pull-up at the restaurant with €19.75, plus €2.95 extras showing on his meter. I tell him that I’m not paying more than the usual €15 which I hand over and the last thing I hear as I jump out is “I don’t need your money, here take it back” - our first ever bad experience with a taxi driver in all these years of coming to Mallorca.
Never mind, things can (and do) only get better when we enter the restaurante and take our seat at the window table which has been reserved for us, with only one of the other five tables in the room already occupied, although they will all be taken before we finish.
We order as follows:-
Classic Cannelone of Meat Roasted with Truffle to start (for me) / Roasted Shoulder of Mallorcan ‘Porc Negre’ Suckling Pig (to share).
And our first bottle of Malvasia white wine on this holiday, Conde de Suyrot Es Mussol from Colonia de Sant Pere, not far from Arta where we visited the other day.
But before, all of that, the amuse bouches start to arrive - first of all a Celeriac soup with black truffle, then a white fish croquette and finally sobrasada sausage spread thinly onto a crispbread.......and some of the best freshly baked bread that I’ve ever tasted.
The cannelloni wasn’t like the Italian version that we are more familiar with, except in appearance, owing more to its’ Catalan origins, and then the Suckling Pig was on another level altogether when compared to that sampled in Meson Ca’n Pedro the other night - more sophisticated by half.
Tempted by the desserts, we finished a lovely meal with Greixonera de Brossat (deconstructed ‘cheesecake’ with honey) and a Walk Through the Sierra de Tramuntana (honestly, this is all it said on the menu), but comprised ice cream and a range of flavours of the mountains, doused in a hierbas sauce. Very unusual, but very tasty.
So, after a disastrous prelude to the meal, all ended well and we settled-up and headed outside to walk along the old City Walls overlooking the ornamental lake at the Parc de la Mar where we parked the other day, past the floodlit cathedral and then down to the Passeig de Born, where we are disappointed (at 10:25) to find that the Capuccino cafes have stopped serving at 10:00 on a Sunday night, so we hail a taxi, checking carefully to ensure that its not the same one, and then return to Son Vida with only €10 showing on the meter - damn, I was over-generous earlier!
We chat briefly to Pep about our experience and he has been catching-up on the blog, as we laugh and joke about the secrets of the idioms and the turn-down service, which brings me on to.....................
The Idiom’s Guide to Mallorca
Sandra had correctly guessed that Bettina would be responsible for tonight’s idiom, which reads:-
‘Alla on hi ha pel, hi ha alegria’
A literal translation may be ‘where there is hair, there is joy’, but the expression is used to illustrate that all will go very well when there is an abundance of something.
The only thing that’s in abundance with us is tiredness - it must be the sea air, so no blogging, no Duolingering, no reading - straight to sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment