We have been in Palma for a few days and will be departing Tuesday, in part because the slips in this marina are uber expensive, think $200 night. As you can imagine, that means SHORT VISIT. However, it is indeed a nice place and there seem to be a LOT of boats that have no problem with the cost as the place is packed.
The other reason the visit will be short is because we are down to the last two weeks before we head back to the US. Our fight is on June 2nd and we are still 300 miles from the Bosa.
I will admit that with the month long delay in departing Almerimar, we lost a lot of the time we would have spent to enjoy some real exploring. With the compressed timeframe, it has felt like a forced march much of the time.
However, along the way, we have really enjoyed the places that we have visited.
After departing Cartagena we stopped in Ibiza for a few days and visited a lovely tiny harbor, Cala Llonga. It was very picturesque, surrounded by cliffs and a few big resorts.
There was a nice beach and it surprised both of us to see how many swam in spite of the chilly water.
There was a small cement “dock” where we tied up our dink. It was pretty rough and a bit of a scramble to get up to the walkway.
We enjoyed putting around the harbor, enjoying the scenery including this arch. It was chilly much of the time so we bundled up to try and stay warm.
Hard to believe the color of the water when the light is just right.
We rented a car one day and toured the island.
As the last stop of the day we visited the western end of the island and enjoyed the view. Very dramatic.
And, we were there…
As we approached Palma we spent a night in a small cove. It was beautiful, with a spectacular sunset.
The cove was surrounded by cliffs and a number of caves. There were some intrepid teens jumping off of the point on the far left. I am guessing that the drop was nearly 100′ to the water. The perspective makes the mast look a lot taller but the boat was far from shore. Note the caves to the right.
When we anchored a huge school of fish showed up to look for handouts. It was great fun to toss bread over the side.
One of the highlights of Palma is the cross island antique electric train. It is housed in an old train station in the city. Very quaint. The train cars are beautifully restored.
All aboard, including Brenda looking like a little kid barely peaking over the window sill.
We rumbled across the countryside on the hour long ride. It was a lot of fun.
At the other end, we boarded a trolly for the final trip to the seaside as it wound it’s way through the tiny town square, honking it’s high pitched horn to clear the way.
There were vendors in stalls everywhere. I loved the flowers.
And the ever-present olives…
This cheese seller helped you know what his cheesed were based on. Sheep on top of some, cows on others. Some with multiple farm animals. Not so sure about the one with a dog.
Loved these unique umbrellas along the beach.
The waterfront is completely lined with homes on the hillside.
There is a traditional type of fishing boats that are now used as recreational fishing boats that are everywhere. They are called LLauts. They won’t win any races but are plenty sturdy offshore. Traditionally they were sail powered but now have engines, some inboards but many outboards as well.
There were dozens of them in the harbor.
And, on the subject of traditional fishing boats, this one was particularly beautiful. At 100 years old, she is in great shape. We saw her at a sardine festival. Lot’s of tiny fish being eaten. Teeny tiny bones too. Not my type.
Another beauty. Slightly larger than the many smaller ones we saw.
And speaking of old stuff, this olive tree has certainly seen it’s share of change in the square where it has grown for hundreds of years.
Well, that’s about it. We’ve been here for four days now, run up a pretty big marina bill, spent hours watching the world go by as we sipped cool drinks in the afternoon and enjoyed not doing a lot for a few hours. So now we head to the eastern most island of the Balearics, Minorca, where we will spend a few days while we wait for a weather window for our over-night run to Sardinia where Pandora will be hauled for the summer while we enjoy time at home in CT.
Tomorrow morning we will fuel up, no doubt at a horrific price, compliments of a little “excursion” in the Middle East. And we think that $5,50 a gallon for diesel is high in the US? I expect that it will cost nearly twice that here. The Europeans think Americans are a bunch of crybabies, complaining about how much we pay, a bargain compared to what they have paid for years and now it’s way worse.
It would have been fun to take a slower pace to get here but with all that happened to delay our departure from Almerimar, our leisurely two month run was compressed by half. All and all, it’s been a wonderful trip, well at least since we fixed everything that was broken at least. But hey, we are aboard in the Med…
Expensive or not, it’s been nice to be here for a few days with the “big kids”. Note this “dink” from a 60 meter yacht. It is longer than Pandora and has her own slip. The big boat is somewhere else in the marina. I can only imagine what it cost as it’s all carbon fiber.
The docks are built for boats that are a lot taller than Pandora. Note how sharp a downward angle our boarding ramp, passarelle, is. It’s a bit of a leap of faith to go up at low tide.
Hopefully our time aboard in September and October when we return will be less “exciting”.
That’s about it for now, it’s “opening time” and I think I will make a negroni (plural) for me and Brenda.