Getting some winter sun in Mallorca, Spain COMPLETED - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Getting some winter sun in Mallorca, Spain COMPLETED
Getting some winter sun in Mallorca, Spain
Dates: Saturday 11 – Monday 13 January Adventurers: Me, Cheryl (41) and DH Mark (48) Destinations: Mallorca, Spain Resorts: Barcelo Pueblo Park Meets: None Celebration: My birthday present!
This trip came around in the summer of 2012, when I started to think about what I wanted for my birthday. These days, I tend to ask for things like short breaks away, as it’s a good way of seeing the world. For a long time I’d wanted to see the city of Palma on the island of Mallorca. Mallorca is located in the Mediterranean, to the west of Valencia and to the east of Sardinia. It’s on a parallel with the south of Italy, so it’s a fairly warm place year round, which got me to thinking…
For 2013, we’d be staying at home for Christmas, and the last time we did that back in 2011, we ended up scheduling a couple of day trips over to Belgium just to tide us over through the winter. Although it didn’t exactly end up as we’d planned it, due to a revolution taking place while we were there, I’d really enjoyed our trip to Egypt in January 2011 (insert link), as it gave us something to look forward to, and took us away to warmer climbs. Maybe we could go to Mallorca in January?
When the flights came out for EasyJet, our low cost airline, I had a look to see what the prices were like, and they were very reasonable for January, so I asked Mark for his credit card and went ahead and booked flights for us, leaving early on a Saturday morning, and coming back on a Monday afternoon. I figured a long weekend away would be plenty of time, as I only really wanted to see Palma.
So what’s so special about Palma? Well, the thing that really attracts me is their cathedral. It’s just a stunning building, and if you take a look at the website, you’ll see a shot of it at night-time. I remember a postcard that I’m sure my parents had of it at night, and I was just enchanted by it. So there you have it – the reason I want to go there is all down to a postcard!
After I’d booked the flights, I needed to find some accommodation. From browsing Hotels.com and TripAdvisor to see whether I could find a well rated hotel that wasn’t too pricey, I came up with Barcelo Pueblo Park. As we were going in January, I was very taken by the fact that it had an indoor heated swimming pool, so we could still swim, which would be a definite bonus. I was intending to go for just bed and breakfast, but then it came up with a price of just £53 ($85) per night for half board, it was too good to resist, so Mark’s credit card came into play again, and that was that booked.
It was a few months before I added on car rental, as we’d need it to get around the island. Then it was just a case of working out what I wanted to see, outside of Palma’s beautiful cathedral of course that is. I ordered a guidebook on Mallorca from my trusty line of Dorling Kindersley, and that was when I realised that actually the island had a heck of a lot to offer. I was also told by a colleague at work, who visits Mallorca regularly, that we really needed longer there. Oh well, we’re all booked. We’ll just have to make the best of it. After all, we can always go back, right? It’s only a two hour flight when all is said and done…
So what have I planned for our very short visit there?
Well, we’ll be driving up to Gatwick the night before to stay at the airport, as when I say our flight is early, I mean really early, like around 6:00am! We’ll also drop off our luggage, as they have drop-off open the night before for early flights, which is very handy.
When we arrive in Mallorca, we’ll head straight to the hotel to drop off our luggage, then the plan is to take a drive through the north western side of the island, which is supposed to be very beautiful. I want to visit a couple of places along the way, including La Granja, a country house dating back to the 13th century, and the Monestir de Lluc, a monastery. Of course, we’ll be back at the hotel in plenty of time for our included dinner, and maybe a swim?
On the Sunday, the plan is to take the antique train that runs from Palma to Soller. Because of the time it takes to get there (it’s an hour on the train) and the times of the train, that’ll see us gone for a fair chunk of the day, so I’ve got no other plans for this day. Again, we’ll spend some time back at the hotel.
On the Monday, it’s the day to head into Palma, and as well as visiting the cathedral, we’ll also go and see the Castell de Bellver, said to be one of Europe’s most beautiful Gothic castles, and the Palau de l’Almudaina, the royal residence of King Jaume I that dates back to the 14th century. Check-in opens early in the afternoon, so we’ll have the morning and lunchtime to fit in as much as we can before we head back to the airport for our flight home.
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It's snowing today, so a sunny vacations sounds like a great idea! I've never been to Mallorca, but did a bit of research on it when I was considering one of the DCL cruises that went to Palma.
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Hope you and Mark are enjoying yourselves in Mallorca! Looking forward to the photos and TR on your return!
__________________
October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
As we have Wi-Fi in the room (well, it was €12 or $9 to you guys) I thought I'd do a quick update. I've just posted a few photos on Facebook, which give you an idea as to what we've been doing today.
We had a lovely flight over and the hotel is great, although I don't think I could manage more than a couple of days here, as it's a bit isolated, and apart from the pool, they don't have much to do here, if you know what I mean.
We've been out to the northern coast of Mallorca today - one beautiful place and one place that was nice, but didn't quite live up to expectations.
We went to Castell de Bellver, which had some amazing views of Palma (I've seen the cathedral from a distance) and it was just a beautiful place to explore.
The weather is very nice, not warm enough to be in a T-shirt, although we did brave crops today. I think we might go back to jeans tomorrow though, as it's not quite warm enough for that...
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and went ahead and booked flights for us, leaving early on a Saturday morning, and coming back on a Monday afternoon. I figured a long weekend away would be plenty of time, as I only really wanted to see Palma. 
I was intending to go for just bed and breakfast, but then it came up with a price of just £53 ($85) per night for half board, it was too good to resist, so Mark’s credit card came into play again, and that was that booked. 
I ordered a guidebook on Mallorca from my trusty line of Dorling Kindersley, and that was when I realised that actually the island had a heck of a lot to offer. 
I was also told by a colleague at work, who visits Mallorca regularly, that we really needed longer there. Oh well, we’re all booked. We’ll just have to make the best of it. After all, we can always go back, right? It’s only a two hour flight when all is said and done… 
We’ll also drop off our luggage, as they have drop-off open the night before for early flights, which is very handy. 
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Pixie Dust
Waiting for our next adventure after enjoying our Alaska cruise. 
Jenn
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