Viel Glück in Palma de Mallorca

(My Friday recap can be found here)

Saturday was probably my favorite day of the trip.

At the recommendation of the sweet lady at the Hostal I got up early and found my way to a particularly cool market square a short twenty minute walk away. Here’s something really interesting I didn’t know about Palma before I went: It is filled with German! A lot of Germans live there and visit so I was constantly hearing and reading German. It was such a throw back to my time abroad in Salzburg and I honestly loved it. I actually teared up a bit because it filled me with such warm memories just hearing the language. It also amused me, though, because I went expecting to be confused by the Catalan (distinctly different from Castilian Spanish which is what I know) and instead found myself struggling to read German signs. I also appreciated a little bit of the cultural fusion:



{Pharmacy in Spanish is Farmacia. In Deutsch it’s Apotheke. And here we have... Apotecaria. Love it. Edit: Ok, so my friend Irene just informed me that Apotecaria is actually the Catalan word for Pharmacy. And thus I feel like a huge idiot. Oh well! I'm leaving the picture up anyway. Hey, it's hard to keep up in a town where they often had signs in 3 different languages!}

I realize I am in danger of overusing the word “leisurely” in these posts because I did everything at a wonderfully relaxed pace. So I’m not going to use it, but you can just assume that I did everything in a very pleasantly slow manner. I usually tend to do everything faster than I need to—like talk, or walk—but I made sure to just take it easy and absorb every moment this weekend and not to let myself feel hurried.

So yes, I ate a nice breakfast at a café that had a mix of Spanish, German and English fare and then I headed off to see La Seu, the Cathedral.

I loved the altar piece at La Seu. It was done by El Greco and I appreciated how open the altar space was. I have seen my fair share of Cathedrals and I liked the feel of this one.

Now this altar piece by a modern Mallorcan artist in the side chapel, on the other hand, was just too weird for me...

I believe that's Jesus coming out of a wall. And some fish. Perhaps it's supposed to be the sea? I don't know.

After the Cathedral I wandered the area of town around it for a while and came across some lovely gardens and a random Palace Guard demonstration.

Next came my favorite part of the whole trip. I had a recommendation for a good place to rent a bike and was told that if I followed the coast south there was a bike path that went on for miles right along the water. It was my plan all day to rent a bike in the early afternoon, but when the time came I totally chickened out. I know it’s stupid, but I haven’t ridden a bike in years and I was anxious about maneuvering through the market crowds down to the path. I decided walking along the water would be just as much fun, right?

Wrong. As soon as I got to the pedestrian path I felt extreme jealousy of all the bikers on the path next to me zooming along, wind in their hair, sea at their side. So I turned back and power walked to the bike shop.

I am so glad that I changed my mind and didn’t chicken out after all because riding my bike along the beach was the most joyous experience I’ve had in ages. I felt this bubbly happiness in my chest so that I couldn’t stop smiling. I felt relaxed and exhilarated all at once. I felt like a kid because I was having so much fun riding along—I just started laughing sometimes. I plan to do a lot more bike riding this summer, it’s just too much fun.

The best part was the freedom. I had no other plans to attend to and I didn’t have to check with what anyone else wanted to do, so I just decided to ride for as long and as far as I felt like. So I did. I rode for hours and by the time I decided to turn around the Cathedral (that sits right by the water) was far off in the distance and I was practically to the airport!


{Do you spy the plane about to land in this photo?}

On the way home I stopped at a café for lunch and had a lovely view of the water. The clouds did start to roll in but I didn’t mind.

I stopped on the beach for a while and saw a cute family having a picnic on the beach. I felt sad for their sweet dog, though, tied up at this lifeguard shack. You have no idea how badly I wanted to go cuddle and play with it, but I resisted and settled for taking photos instead.

I finally took the bike back around 5pm and then walked the town some more.

{I think I look like my Mama in this photo. What do you think?--if you know her.}

And then I went for a chai latte at Cafe Cappuciano. I loved the outdoor seating at this cafe! The ambiance was just my taste. Space heaters, cozy lighting, cushions and pillows, throw blankets...the picture doesn't do it justice but it was seriously charming and I wish I had a cafe like this to go to all the time.

I stayed for hours and then finished off my day with a kebab.

Last little trip recap coming tomorrow.

*Viel Glück=Good luck.