Getting some winter sun in Mallorca, Spain COMPLETED - Page 23 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Sunday 12 January – part ten: the cathedral at night
Then we headed back to the hotel, passing more of the sea as we did. I was able to grab a number of shots as we drove past it.
Then we were on our way out of the city…
When we got back to the hotel, we were lucky enough to find a parking spot right at the front of the hotel which was definitely a result. Mind you, we thought the place was a lot quieter now, as a lot of people did appear to be checking out this morning. We saw a lot of people with suitcases, many of them containing bicycles. Whether they were heading out on a day trip in a vehicle or going home though, I don’t know.
We headed downstairs to check out how busy the pool was, and the verdict was that it wasn’t. Literally there were two people sitting on loungers, and no-one in the pool, so we went up to our room to get changed, and then headed back down. By the time we got there, we were the only people there. we had the place to ourselves. We grabbed a couple of loungers nearest where the late afternoon sun was still streaming in, as by now, it was heading towards 5:00pm.
I went to go down the steps into the pool, and got a bit of a shock, as it was a lot colder than I thought it would be. I got used to it for a while, before heading off to do 10 lengths. I didn’t want to do too much and wear myself out, as we’d already done a lot today, so I stopped after that, but my ankle, which had been playing up a bit, felt a lot better after its workout in the water. Mark stopped at about the second step and then headed back to his lounger, declaring it was too cold for him.
When I got out, I headed over to the sauna to sit and warm up in there for a while. Honestly, it is crazy that you have to go outside when you leave the pool to walk over to the fitness centre. I’m sure in the summer it’s fine, but it was a bit of a shock to the system today.
Once I’d spent a few minutes in there, and warmed up and dried off a bit, I went back to the pool, and we gathered up our stuff, and headed back to the room, where I grabbed a shower, and washed my hair.
We headed down to dinner around 6:30pm, and it was certainly a lot quieter in here tonight, which fitted with a lot of people leaving this morning. I reckon there was about half the number of people in there, compared to last night.
The whole time we were there, despite my best attempts to speak Spanish to the staff, they kept replying in German, which just goes to show that they make up the majority of the guests, as they obviously assume everyone is German. When we went to pay, and the woman who served us heard us speaking English, her face was a picture!
There was a lot of the same food, although there were some changes. I was personally delighted to see vegetable lasagne, as it’s been a long time since I’ve had that, so I happily dug into that. I also thought the salad selection was better, as they had aioli mayonnaise, which neither of remembered seeing last night, and they had some fish salad item as well. They still had three different cooked fish, so there was plenty for those of us who don’t eat meat.
I was also very taken by the courgette (zucchini) cream soup. It didn’t look like courgette at all, as it was a creamy colour with noodles in it, so very gingerly I took my first sip of it, and despite appearances, it definitely tasted of courgettes, and very good it was too.
Mark raved about the pork and crackling, saying it was melt in the mouth. In fact, he was so taken with it that he went back for seconds, although he was disappointed not to get given as much on his second visit up there…
The desserts had also changed, and I liked the way that they’d lay bananas, or almonds, as it was tonight, on top of the various desserts, so you could easily work out what it was. Very helpful for me, with my allergy to tree fruit.
All in all, I was very impressed with the food here. Considering I wasn’t sure what to expect, as it was half board, I thought we really got our money’s worth, with some good quality food, and a very good selection of it too.
We went back to the room to gather up our stuff, as we were heading out again. There was still one thing I desperately wanted to do today, and that was see the cathedral all lit up at night. We parked in the same place we’d used before, and headed out into the park, to see this beautiful sight in front of us:
Wow, it was just as breath taking as I’d imagined.
Once we’d taken some photos, we paid the massive 15c (20c), as this car park calculates its charges by the minute, which I think is a good system, and then we headed out.
We drove along the seafront again, although I was only able to get photos if we weren’t moving, so the shots are very limited.
We carried on so far that we ended up leaving Palma by a completely different route, joining the motorway as it started. We were soon back at the hotel, and of course there was no parking left in front of it, although fortunately we were able to find a space just opposite the hotel – a big improvement on last night.
With that, we headed back to the room. It had been a wonderful day, and I’m absolutely in love with Palma – what a beautiful city it is.
The weather today was cloudy with some sun and a little bit of rain with temperatures in the low 60s. The best thing today was spending time in Palma. The worst thing today was getting up those horrible twisty and turning roads to the monastery. Today we tried going to the Monastery at Lluc And the result was it was a lovely place, but wow, what a journey to get there! The most magical moment today was walking out of the car park and getting my first full look at Palma Cathedral.
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Finally able to catch up on this trip now....
Now that's a sight to see as you exit a parking garage. Wow! And I totally see the M in the water for the M in McD's! Funny.
Lovely resedential neighborhood! And with macaroons. Swoon. At least the wrong turns brought you to that beautiful building. Amazing!
Whoa, I'm so glad you were able to get into the cathedral when you did! It sounds fascinating inside. And yes, where did those suits of armour run off to? Glad the sun is coming out full force finally too!
Oh those beautiful palm trees. Although, they do look a little out of place with the walled city wall behind them..... And your night photos are fantastic! The cathedral looks the same, but... different. Very peaceful.
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Tanya
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Ah, so nice! I visited Mallorca on an excursion from my Disney Med Cruise in 2011. We went to Soller, Deja, and Palma. We had some extra time on the return and the guide asked if we wanted to visit the cathedral - sadly, I was outvoted by a bunch of tired people . Enjoying your photos.
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Ah, so nice! I visited Mallorca on an excursion from my Disney Med Cruise in 2011. We went to Soller, Deja, and Palma. We had some extra time on the return and the guide asked if we wanted to visit the cathedral - sadly, I was outvoted by a bunch of tired people . Enjoying your photos.
Oh what a shame. Having said that, your excursion sounds amazing and like you packed a lot in.
Once again, we had a long night’s sleep, and this time a lot better than the night before. We went to bed around 10:00pm, and didn’t surface until 8:00am, so I guess we needed the sleep!
We headed down to get breakfast just after 9:00am, and there was a very different clientele down there, as everyone looked like us, i.e. here to do some sightseeing. When we’d been down earlier for breakfast, we got the distinct impression is that we were the only ones not here to go either cycling or hiking.
The selection was very similar to yesterday, and fortunately you could still get a glass of Buck’s Fizz, and of course I did! However, the chocolate fountain had gone, making way for fruit smoothies instead, which was a bit of a come down.
Once we were done with breakfast, and all filled up, we headed back to the room, and finished up our packing, which didn’t take too long – another bonus of only going away for the weekend!
We headed out around 10:00am, and Mark went to fetch the car, while I checked out. We loaded up, and we were on our way. I suggested that we head for S’Arenal, as that’s where the closest beach was located, and I figured we may as well see it before we leave here. I tell you what, it wasn’t the greatest place. I just felt it was a bit dirty as we drove through it.
We found the harbour front, and that was nice enough. I can see why it attracts people, although honestly, beach holidays are just not my sort of thing. As you’ve probably gathered from my trip reports, I like to go to places to explore, and sight see, not sit on a beach.
That done, we headed off for Palma, and the roads were a bit busy, but it was nothing terrible. I’ve seen much worse traffic, notably O’ahu… just saying!
We headed to the car park we had used last night, and while it was a lot busier (well, you wouldn’t expect anything else, would you?), it still had plenty of spaces in it, and we found a space easily enough, parked up, and off we went.
We headed straight up the steps by Parc de la Mer, and got a very different view of this area that we’d already seen yesterday…
I was a bit worried about the swans, as I couldn’t see them, but Mark being a gentleman, went and found them for me, so I could be reassured that they were fine.
As we made our way up the steps to the cathedral, we took various photos of the park below and the harbour…
… and of course the cathedral.
Thank goodness we had visited the Palau de l’Almudaina yesterday, as it was indeed closed. I’m really annoyed at wherever I got the information from, as I know that I never read it was closed on Mondays.
We made our way around the side of the cathedral to the entrance, and paid our €6 ($8.20) to go in. Now that was interesting, because again in all the research I’d done, both guidebooks and their website, there was no mention of a charge to go in. I had rightly assumed that it wouldn’t be free, but even so, it would’ve been nice if someone had mentioned it somewhere, just so you knew.
There was no flash photography in here, which of course didn’t bother me in the least, as I could easily take photos without flash, and made sure to get plenty, as I’ve wanted to come here for as long as I can remember.
The first area we came into was actually a museum, and wow, the stuff they had in here! In the first room was a silver gilt monstrance, which dates from 1585, and is used in the annual Corpus Christi procession.
Then you move into the Gothic Chapter House. In the centre of it is the tomb of the Bishop Gil Sanchez Munoz.
Then you go into the Baroque Chapter House, which was restored in 2001, with the lime mortar that covered the ceiling and columns removed. What were they thinking when they covered this up? In here is a silver candelabra with seven arms, which was created in the early 18th century in Barcelona.
Wow. Can't even pick a favorite. Everything is... Wow. And there's more too?!
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which was definitely a result. Mind you, we thought the place was a lot quieter now, as a lot of people did appear to be checking out this morning. We saw a lot of people with suitcases, many of them containing bicycles. Whether they were heading out on a day trip in a vehicle or going home though, I don’t know. 
Literally there were two people sitting on loungers, and no-one in the pool, so we went up to our room to get changed, and then headed back down. By the time we got there, we were the only people there. 
we had the place to ourselves. We grabbed a couple of loungers nearest where the late afternoon sun was still streaming in, as by now, it was heading towards 5:00pm. 
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At least the wrong turns brought you to that beautiful building. Amazing!
. Enjoying your photos.
Beautiful pictures of the cathedral at night!
I just felt it was a bit dirty as we drove through it. 
As you’ve probably gathered from my trip reports, I like to go to places to explore, and sight see, not sit on a beach. 
In the first room was a silver gilt monstrance, which dates from 1585, and is used in the annual Corpus Christi procession. 
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