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Published: September 16th 2007
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Mallorca was the last stop on my big tour of Europe. I flew from Lisbon to meet up with Mum and Eric (who had) flown in from Madrid) and James (who had flown from London). They picked me up from the airport in our hire car and we had a family reunion and loads to catch up on from Mum & Eric's tour.
We stayed in Port d'Andratx which is about 40 mins out of Palma, in the south western corner of the island. I was really impressed - I had feared that after seeing Costa Brava that Mallorca would be really touristy and full of Brits on package holiday but it either isnt like that, or we chose a good area to stay!! I think being a port a lot of people choose not to go there, and there aren't huge resorts. There are however loads of German people who have retired there and who own many of the shops in town, so it was interesting going into shops and being spoken to in German!
We stayed in a self contained villa that had a pool out the back which was lovely. We didn't really do much but
eat, sleep and go to the beach each day - it was truly relaxing and great for me as I was able to take my watch off and not have to worry about doing anything! The weather was beautiful - high 20's and sunny during the day and cooler (but not too cool) at night time.
We went to a few beaches but stuck pretty close to the hotel as Eric wasn't keen on driving that far, and we didn't want to be in the car for too long either! There was a lovely little beach in a cove close to the hotel - nothing spectacular but the water was very warm and clear and for the first day it was perfect.
The second day we ventured to Camp de Mar which proved to be interesting finding it - we didn't have a detailed map of Mallorca so had to navigate without it and took a very wrong turn up a very steep hill/ mountain before we decided to abort and try another way! Thankfully we found it but after about an hour - it was only about 20 mins to go back directly on the way home
Where I would like to live some day
How noice is this, I reckon you could jump from the balcony into the water! though! Camp de Mar was pretty built up with a few large hotels. The beach was decked out with sun lounges and umbrellas and contained some of the largest people I have ever seen on the beach! The worst was probably the lady we saw as web were arriving who had to lift up each of her boobs to put sunscreen underneath - ew! This led to all kinds of interesting conversations about what kind of tan mark she would get, etc. We also got to experience the package holiday phenomenon as the hotel directly behind where we were lying had games on during the day - beach games, and also a trivia quiz, with people talking over the loudspeaker for all to hear. Interesting!!!
Sant Elm, the beach we went to on the third day was our favourite beach. Again it was only 20 mins away but had no massive high rise hotels, not as many people and the beach and sea was all sandy. The day was spent on a sun lounge under and umbrella and alternating between swimming, naps and reading. Heaven!!
The place we stayed in had a barbie so we had barbies a
couple of nights. We also went out the other nights and got to sample some of the local seafood. One night we had paellas - Mum and James shared a lobster paella and Eric and I a mixed seafood one - yummo! We also had some great tapas a couple of nights, and some unreal whole fish.
We also discovered a local fish market that was only open 5.30 - 7.30 each night. Many fishing boats would leave the port each day and in the afternoons you could see the nets from the boats on shore and men unloading. One night we went into the fishmarket for a look and there were many different prawns, crabs and shellfish and some pretty interesting looking fish!
Our hotel also had a tennis court so on 2 of the evenings James, Eric and I had a hit and it was great - I havent played tennis in years but I thoroughly enjoyed it and am thinking about taking it up again in London - bad timing tho, just in time for winter!
On Friday we all hopped on a flight and made our way back to London. Mum and Eric
went to their hotel, James home and me back to Robyn's as I am staying here for a week. Yes, I have become the Aussie dosser everyone loves to hate!! On Friday night it was Jess last night in London and also the England v South Africa game, so we headed to a local pub with a selection of Robyn's flatmates past & present and a mixture of work + Aussie friends. My friend Ros has just arrived here with her partner Mark and I hadnt seen her since last Christmas so it was fab to catch up, and to meet new people and say hello to other old friends.
Last night was Mum & Eric's final night before they headed home and we went with them, James & Wing and Robyn & Dan to a great greek restaurant in Primrose Hill called Lemonia. It was a lovely evening with great food and we took Mum and Eric back to Victoria where they were staying. Mum and I had a long and tearful farewell as it may be a while before we see each other again.
Mum and Eric flew out to Australia today and I now have
to face reality and find a job and a place to live! Interviews start with recruiters this week so keep your fingers crossed for me. I am planning on continuing this blog while I stay here, to record weekends away & holidays in (hopefully) exotic and interesting locations and just for generally keeping in touch. So if you subscribe to this you may continue getting emails from me! I also plan to do an entry on the Best & Worst of Europe 2007 so will hopefully do this in the next week or so.
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