Mallorca, By Any Other Name Would Still Be Majorca

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What a glorious Sunday. We weren’t rushed this morning with our expected arrival in port around 10 AM and also the gaining of an hour overnight. We’d gone to the Vigil Mass the day before so there will be no church today: unfortunately, we hear that that also means that many things will be closed to us in Palma de Mallorca (Spain) including the cathedral which will be opened only to those attending mass. We went to the Lido for breakfast and I had an American breakfast with eggs over medium with sausage, adding a bit of a continental touch with a couple of croissants. I still haven’t seen those warm chocolate dipped pastries from the first morning again. Sharon had waffles with blueberries. We stopped by the Exploration Lounge and picked up suduko and returned to the cabin for our daily challenge. Sharon came in second on the Easy Sudoku by about twenty seconds, proud of just a couple annotations. I told her those were what cost her that round. I better watch out on the tips I’m giving her: She was less than a minute behind on the Hard Sudoku as well.



We weren’t the first group to be sent packing from the Showroom to board our tour busses. As we came into the Showroom the tour dispatcher was saying, “For those of you who have just ‘entranced’ the showroom, we have just called for tour group …”.



Sharon and I had quite the conversation about whether we were going to Mallorca or Majorca. Everything written we saw with two “L’s”. But everything we heard seemed to suggest that it was the more famous and popular destination resort of Majorca… at least it sounded that way to me. Sharon insisted it wasn’t spelled the same in the paperwork on board. Our guide clarified this for us. They are indeed the same. Mallorca is the largest of the Balearic Islands off the coast of Spain near Barcelona. The community of Palma goes back to two centuries before Christ established in Roman times. Over the years conquering invaders have seized control of this islands, be it the Romans, Moors, Christians and was even an independent kingdom in the fourteenth century (for a time). The island is home to one of the best male tennis players Rafa Nadal. During the peak tourist season of the summer, tourists can outnumber locals by a ratio of ten-to-one. Tourism sprang up after World War II and has become a top industry of the area. The zigzag city wall that formerly protected the city was torn down in the previous century and replaced by one of the city’s main boulevards which separates the older inner city from the newer suburbs and office buildings.



Sharon pointed out the large cathedral by the port. Many sailing vessels and yachts were seen in the marina, along with several cruise ships and a number of ferries. We headed up the hill to see the castle with a beautiful view of Palma below. It’s appropriate that the translation of the castle’s name is “Castle with a beautiful view”. And it did have that. The castle was a double walled, double moated structure with tall towers for each of the four directions of the compass. Today there are stone bridges and walkways connecting from the outside to the walled structure between the moats, and another smaller stone bridge connecting to the interior castle and main gate where formerly a drawbridge would have served as a pathway inside. Once built, this castle was never breached by invaders. It was easily defended from high overlooks, both to the outside and from the interior sanctuary. Inside we entered a completely round courtyard. There was a second story covered corridor around the courtyard and overlooking into the courtyard. The third level was the roof, which was 55 steps up, and again, it looked into the courtyard. On the ground floor there were statues perhaps a dozen in all against the interior walls looking towards the center of the courtyard and evenly distributed around the circumference. From atop the castle was the best view of Palma and the harbor and surrounding area. Sharon decided to brave these steps, 20 to the second floor and then 35 to the roof, so she didn’t miss out on this view as she’d missed out on touching the hand of the Black Madonna.



On the way back from the castle, our bus headed into a very high end shopping district. We were keeping our eyes peeled for gelaterias. As we waited in traffic signal Sharon covered my eyes when I was looking at the items being offered in a retailer named “Intermissimi”. Its manikin displays revealed shear negligees and edible undies and the like. I asked if she saw anything she wanted and she assured me they wouldn’t have anything in her size; but, I dunno. I’m just saying… it might be something we should check out. Then we spotted a Hamburgueseria (we’d seen another in Barcelona the day before). And then we saw it: “Gelato”. And we knew this would be a good day.



We stopped at Antonio’s Pearl factory where they make high quality synthesized pearls. We went down stairs to see the workshop. They simulate the natural process of initiating a pearl and following that with up to 35 coating steps, using a proprietary formulae. Each coating step increases the size of the synthesized pearls. In this way the result has the appearance of natural pearls. There were three workmen in a clean room that could hold just a couple more, polishing and preparing pearls for sale. We saw where a batch of pearls had been immersed in the formulae and were now drying. And we saw some examples of completed pearls and possible settings, and the prices seemed incredibly reasonable. Upstairs was a showroom where jewelry from a full necklace of stringed pearls to smaller items such as earrings or pendants. One woman bought her two granddaughters two bracelets of pinkish pearls on an expandable band that can easily slip over a hand. I asked if Sharon saw any earrings that she liked. I figured this is a no-brainer. The prices were very reasonable when compared to the price of jade earrings in China or diamond earrings with a Jerusalem Cross in Israel. Sharon found a pair, each with a small white and small black pearl for under $50.



We went across the street to see the Bull Ring. Once a popular weekly event during the Bull Fighting season, the bull ring today is used for one bull fight per year, more for the tourists than anything else. The arena is used for other events during the year. We took some pictures of the round arena and its arch supported walls. We walked into the large dirt floored arena, spotting the many barriers which can be used to step behind for protection from the bull that line the interior wall. I went to the center of the picture and took a panoramic picture, which turned out a little dark due to the sun. However; later when we were in the stands I took another panorama shot, and the one with Sharon seated to the left turned out quite good.



Our next stop was at the cathedral. It was formerly a mosque that was raised when the Moors were driven out; or, as our guide put it: “The mosque was repurposed as the cathedral we see today.” Sharon was disappointed that we couldn’t visit inside today because of the services being conducted. We had about one hour of free time and headed for the corner where we found a store selling gelato. I couldn’t decide and got a triple scoop cone with chocolate chip, pistachio, and coconut. Sharon pointed at a flavor called “Malaga” I told her it probably was. Then she asked the sales girl “Coffee?”. She corrected with a smile “Malaga” and so Sharon got what she hoped was Coffee and Chocolate in a cup. Later on the street after I was eating some pistachio and coconut, and my tongue was dealing with those flavors and the extreme cold, Sharon makes a face and sticks a spoon full of ice cream in my mouth, “Saying, ooh… is this coffee.” I am still tasting the coconut, trying to discern the new flavor, and then its aroma hits me full force. “Ah, I say,” chuckling. How do I tell Sharon that it’s rum? “Do you like it?” I ask. She gives me that Casey smirk. I told her what it was, and then I go, “Ugh, raisins!” What we’d mistook for coffee beans in the picture by the ice cream was raisins! I wound up with 4 scoops of ice cream and did my best to avoid the raisins.



We walked up to the corner to take a picture of the fountain, and see if there might be a back way to approach the cathedral. We had been warned about pick pockets, and we had minimized what we had brought with us. We’d been told to be especially vigilant about any “unexpected distractions” when encountering people, where one person distracts you, such as trying to sell you something or even hands you something while their partner is picking your pocket. On the bus we’d heard people behind us talking about something that had happened to their dinner mates in Barcelona. Some woman had come up to the man and pulled up her sweater to reveal everything underneath. She did that, then vanished, just as fast as his wallet. I hope it was worth it. There were too many steps up towards the cathedral, so we chose to head back towards the meeting place. We found a long garden with fountains which was a pleasant diversion. We also stumbled into a swan sanctuary where a pair of swans had the run of the place. We took some pictures and then sat for a spell to take in the tranquility.



We went back and waited some more on the stone fence with a view of the cathedral, and the fountain in the sea in front of the old wall. We are on a large breakwater forming some of the land reclaimed from the sea. We found a fellow cruiser with our Green-6 sticker. It was about time to head for the bus, and she decided to follow us. As we crossed a busy multi-direction intersection with traffic controls for cars, bicyclists, pedestrians and trolley cars, a bicyclist near us was hit by a car. Or it was more bumped by the car; but, knocked down. The bike probably got the worst of it; but, there was an ambulance there when the bus pulled away a bit later.



We got back to the ship and headed for the Lido. I went to the Dive-In to order a “Dog Paddle” for me (Hot dog with sauerkraut and German mustard), a plain burger for Sharon and one French fries for us to share back in the cabin. Meanwhile, Sharon was getting herself some ice cream and chocolate chip cookies. I easily placed my order and went to the taco cart and got some guacamole, jalapeños and tortilla chips with cheese dip. I only waited about five minutes after just finishing my chips before my beeper went off. When I got to the front, only one plain hamburger was ready. They told me that there were no hot dog buns so I would need to wait. I asked about using a hamburger bun instead; but, he misheard me, put some French fries on the tray and said he’d let me know when the buns were ready. Not knowing what else to do, I took the burger down to Sharon and rushed back up to the Lido Deck. There was now a crowd of about two dozen people jammed around the Dive-In, some of them impatiently waiting with pagers, others wondering where they could place their order. I got close enough on the Orders Taken Here side and got the attention of an over-worked order-taker and asked if the hot dog buns were done. He remembered me. He called to the back and they did indeed have hot dog buns. He managed to get me my Dog Paddle within just a few minutes. He was telling those placing orders “Please be patient, it will take thirty minutes to get your order.” Some in line were livid that they’d already been waiting in line for thirty minutes, while others after them had ordered and already gotten their food. I’m not sure what the issue is; but, clearly, something needs to be fixed.



Next on our itinerary was to go up for Team Trivia, arriving for Happy Hour at 4 PM and ready to start answering some challenging questions at 4:30 PM. It was hard to find a place to sit because of Happy Hour; but, found a table behind the bar with some chairs. I ordered a highball, and this caused much discussion among the bar tenders… one seemed to think he knew how to make it; but, they sent the beverage waitress back to me to find out how I would make a high ball. I told her “ginger ale, bourbon, grenadine and a dash of bitters.” She wrote it down. What she came back with was quite good; but, I think they may have skipped the bitters. We couldn’t find our teammates and tried to save seats for Jim and Lucia. We turned a couple of people way. Then a couple showed up, looking to play, and asked to join us. I told them we have two people coming; but, that the two of them were welcome to join us. They eagerly sat down. With about 5 minutes to go until 4:30 another of their friends showed up, and they asked if he could join us as well. We couldn’t say no, not now. Unfortunately, Sharon said Jim and Lucia did appear just after that; but, there wasn’t room. Mike started fast, asking which of Columbus’s three ships when he first arrived in the New World, didn’t make it back home. The last guy to join us knew that it was the Santa Maria. And I knew whose record of 7-gold medals Mark Phelps broke when he won 8-gold medals in Beijing. It was of course Mark Spitz. I also knew, “Who was the first golfer to win the US Open, The British Open and the Masters?” Ben Hogan was an answer to several previous team trivia challenges. We couldn’t remember the occupation of Charlie Brown’s dad. What did you think… what would be appropriate for a nearly bald kid. His dad was a barber. We also couldn’t come up with the first figure skater to perform a quadruple jump in competition. It was Kurt Browning. Then we got a repeat from the previous cruise as the 3-point bonus. Name the (first names only) original Jackson Five. Previously, we’d only gotten Michael. This time we also got Jermaine and Tito. But we forgot about Marlon and Jackie. And Mike doesn’t give partial credit. We were again in the middle of the pack. Our teammates invited us to a Mega-Trivia challenge tonight at 9 PM in the Queens Lounge where they’d be asking questions like Geography, Flags, and movies. And now I’ve somehow gotten the reputation of being able to handle the tough Sports questions. (Well maybe, if I’ve heard them two or three times before!) We said that we’d be there.



We went to dinner. I ordered the seared tuna that is served ultra-thin… it’s almost a film deposited on the plate that you virtually need to scrape off. There wasn’t anything else that I wanted from the appetizers and so I got the French Onion soup, which isn’t bad. Sharon enjoyed her chicken noodle soup. I got the Asian vegetable noodles that I’d enjoyed so much on the Nieuw Amsterdam. I asked for them spicy, what the steward was reluctant to honor that request. And the noodles were the much thicker Asian noodles rather than the thinner rice noodles. There was a tiny amount of spice or zip, and the veggies were quite good; but, I’m thinking I don’t need to get this dish again. Sharon had the English Beef with Yorkshire pudding and she really enjoyed this. We both had the double-chocolate-tortchen, a round mousse topped creation that was great. Sharon is happy to have something chocolate back on the menu. After dinner Sharon went to the casino, already up $40 for this cruise she was eager for some more action. I’m beginning to wonder if moving to Las Vegas is a good idea. I went back to the room to “study flags”. Part of what Sharon calls my “Taking Trivia Way Too Seriously”, is this trivia spreadsheet that I’ve put together. In addition to capturing the more interesting trivia questions/answers, I’ve also created several dozen subject-category tabs in the spreadsheets. My “Country” tab includes among other things, the names of every country with a picture of the flag. I went through the list twice. Sharon met me in the room and we went up to the Queen’s Lounge together.



We went to see the 8 PM cast show featuring singing and dancing called “Stage and Screen”. We’d never seen this show before. One of the male dancers was missing; still, they compensated quite well. Afterwards we headed to the Queen’s Lounge. I ordered a Martini Rosso on the rocks and Sharon had a Sprite. We found a table-booth and looked for someone to play with. We spotted the man who’d joined us that afternoon and I walked over to see if it was really him. While I was looking at him, he recognized me and asked if Sharon was with me… we came over and joined them. Mike handed out seven answer sheets stapled together. The top sheet was labeled “FLAGS” and I smiled. Next Mike passed out a laminated sheet with ten flags and a bonus flag. I recognized most of the flags. Mike then started asking questions dealing with history and geography. Our new teammates seemed to be handling them fine, while I concentrated on the flags. The guy kept asking Sharon if what she told him was true, “Did he really go back to the cabin and study flags? How does one do that…?” Everyone knew the first flag was Turkey. Sharon says that she didn’t recognize the Vatican Flag, even though I’d pointed it out to her a week ago. Then they got hard. I recognized the two similar flags correctly, Puerto Rico and Cuba. And I got Syria right. When I was looking at one flag that I remembered seeing, my gut said Micronesia. That is until I saw that tenth flag, and I was pretty sure that was Micronesia. I wrote that down for both, figuring it was better to get one point for sure. The first one was actually Hong Kong (which to be honest, looks nothing like the Micronesia flag… one is mostly red and the other mostly blue). I had told Sharon to remember that the flag with the white circle in the middle is Laos, and when I had tested her when we were leaving the room she said, it was an L-country. Sigh! That wasn’t one of them anyway. We both should have recognized the bonus country because we were both there last December. No Erin, we know what the flag of Israel looks like. We missed Jordan. When it came to music in the final group, our lady teammate who had said nothing for the previous question, named after tune after tune; except, for one tune. It was a country western tune. The lady knew it was Johnny Cash singing; but, even I knew the tune (it’s on my iPod). The clue included the lyrics up until (…but the meanest thing that he ever did, was before he left… (he went and named me Sue). “A Boy Named Sue”! The other visual puzzle was identifying logos (another topic in my spreadsheet; but, I didn’t know I needed to study these too!) Some were obvious, and we all contributed. Sharon recognized Kindle. I of course knew Wikepedia. We all recognized Atari, but couldn’t come up with the name. I had to practically beg them to accept Maserati, which I must have remembered from creating my spreadsheet, because it was right. The one guy kept saying it’s got to have something to do with a trident. And we came up with UNICEF as the bonus question. Our team won the challenge (by a wide margin). We got 58 out of 84 points, beating the second place team by a wide 12 point margin. We each won a drink from the bar. I ordered a gin and tonic; but, would have done better with one of the chocolatey drinks some of our teammates ordered. Sharon got a lowly Sprite, which she mostly took back to the room. We chatted for a while and reveled in our true team effort.

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