Saturday March 19 was a mix of cloud, a bit of rain and about 15 minutes of sun. High of 16C. We had decided to take the famous 1912 vintage train to Sóller. Sóller is heralded as one of the most beautiful towns on the island, with palatial homes built in the 19th and early 20th centuries by the landowners and merchants who thrived on the export of the region's oranges, lemons, and almonds.
While it is only 30 km north of Palma, one takes a vintage narrow-gauge train that has been trundling through the Serra de Tramuntana mountain range since 1912. The trip takes about one hour. The train has wooden carriages with brass ceiling lamps and wood paneling. It is a beautiful, scenic trip passing many lemon and orange groves as well as olive and almond trees. There are also 13 tunnels of various sizes that the train travels through. Sóller is located in the Valley of the Oranges (Vale de los Naranjos).
There is a separate train station in Palma for the private railway company, Ferrocarril de Sóller. Luckily it is only a twenty minute walk from our apartment near the main street that leads into the historic city. We had checked it out a few days ago.
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| Entrance to the station |
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| Alano, a few days ago when no one was at the station. The ticket office is only open 30 minutes before the two morning trains and there are only 4 trains a day in the winter. |
Our train left at 10:30 and was quite packed. We bought the return ticket which also includes a tram ticket to and from Sóller to Port Sóller which is just a few miles from Sóller, located on the water. The combination ticket is less than the return ticket to Sóller alone.
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| Inside the 1912 train |
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| The train ticket |
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| Leaving Palma |
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| En route |
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| The mountains coming into view |
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| Olive trees and mountains |
The train made a brief stop so people could take pictures.
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| Alano in the train |
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| Picture of the train at photo stop |
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| Ah... lemon tree, very pretty... |
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| Valley of the Oranges |
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| The train after disembarking at Sóller |
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| Train Station in Sóller |
There were a number of wonderful photos of Joan Miró and Pablo Picasso in the train station. There are also two galleries in the train station that have 35 etchings by Miró and 50 ceramics by Picasso. Picasso and Miró shared visits to Sóller in the late 1960s. Miró's grandfather was from Sóller and he rode the same train we were on for visits.
Miró resided on Mallorca for the final 20 years of his life, mainly in Palma. We had been looking forward to see these galleries but they are closed at the present time. The station belongs to the railway company Ferrocarril de Sóller and was built in 1606 as an elegant house. The railway company restored the building.
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| Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, Emilio y David Fernández Miró, Mougins, France, August, 1968 |
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| Picasso and Miró |
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| David Fernández Miró, Joan Miró y Pablo Picasso Mougins, France August, 1969 |
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| Under the Miró banner- extracts from his "Sèrie Mallorca" during the 1980s |
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| One of the Mirós behind glass |
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| Alano and another Miró banner |
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Joan Miró mural at the Station
We walked down to the main square- Plaça Constitució, where the Church of Sant Bartomeu is located. The original building dates to around 1236. In 1688, the original church partially collapsed and a new baroque church was started to be built, but it wasn't finished until 1733. The third restoration was carried out between 1904 and 1947. After a long pause that lasted from 1913-1946, the current facade designed by Gaudí's disciple, Joan Rubió i Bellver, was finished. The Church is an example of how the modernist Art Nouveau features mixed with Gothic elements.
Church of Sant Bartomeu
Former Bank of Sóller now Santander Bank
We wandered along the main shopping street. Alano found a jewellery shop filled mainly with the work of one jeweller (Carlos Tellechea- originally from Argentina, but living in Sóller for many years). He has had the store for the last 21 years and works in a studio at the back of the shop. Alano bought a lovely pendant (mother of pearl and ebony). Outside of Arteartensania
We were going to stop at a small interesting looking restaurant, but it turned out they were only serving a prix fix meal with each course having a number of orange elements. There is a "days of Orange" festival where a number of restaurants are featuring menus with orange courses. Maybe if we had been in town for dinner... Poster for Days of Orange festival
We hopped on the tram at 1:00 p.m. for Port Sóller. It is about a 20 minute ride.
The vintage tram
We wandered along the port, where there are a number of restaurants. We weren't hungry yet, so just meandered. It is a very small town with a small beach. It would be very beautiful in the summer. Unfortunately, we had only a few minutes of sun.
Port Sóller
Restaurants on street with harbour view
Interesting narrow streets
Very tall palm tree, harbour and mountains
In front of metal tree
Lots of boats in the harbour
We took the 2:00 p.m. tram back to Sóller. This time I had a large window that opened, so I could take pictures.
Lemons and mountains
And oranges..
We got back to Sóller before 2:30 p.m. and went back to the street where the jewellery store was located. Almost everything was shut as shops close early on Saturdays. We wandered past Can Prunera, a museum of modern art that was also closed at the present time. The building itself is an example of modernist style. It was originally a family home built in the early 20th century.
Outside of Can Prunera
The tram passing us in Sóller
We stopped for a coffee and a glass of fresh orange juice (one has to have freshly squeezed orange juice in Sóller made from the local oranges).
Forn de Can Frau (since 1923)
With my orange juice and oat milk cortado
Alano's cat bag...
Looking back at the side of the Church
Plaça de la Constitució (the main square)
A picture in the sun of Sant Bartomeu Church
The former Bank of Sóller building- another modernist gem built by Joan Rubió i Bellver. In 1910-1912, the building facade was renovated in order to give it the same exterior as the Church.
Pretty street
Sóller City Hall
Then it was time to catch the 4:30 p.m. train back to Palma. This was the last train of the day.
The train
We saw these "summer" cars at the station, with no windows -great for viewing the scenery.
 | | Say farewell to Sóller Railway Station |
Another view of the mountains heading back to Palma
Mural near the train station in Palma
End of our journey- back in Palma
We got into town at about 5:30 p.m. and walked back to the apartment. We had a late chicken dinner, with a vegetable medley and a salad made by Chef Alano. We are very glad we got to explore another part of Mallorca--- oranges, mountains, and harbours all done by vintage train and tram.
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