We had three legs of our trip from Toronto to Palma de Mallorca ("Palma"). We left Toronto at 7:50 p.m. and flew Air France to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris arriving 45 minutes early on Tuesday March 15 at around 7:30 a.m. I saw two movies on the plane: West Side Story- (lots of wonderful songs) and King Richard about Serena and Venus Williams' father and their early tennis years. It was pouring rain in Paris. We had around a four hour layover and then flew to Barcelona. A quick 90 minute flight. Then only a 45 minute wait for our final leg to Palma, which was a quick 30 minute flight. We got to our Airbnb around 5:00 p.m. Except for a short catnap during the Paris to Barcelona flight, we both had no sleep.
Mallorca is part of the Balearic Islands Archipelago and Palma is the Capital of Mallorca. The population is around 420,000.
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| Airport signage |
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| Lots of good design |
Our Airbnb is a bit out of the city centre, but is very large and well equipped. It even has a separate laundry room with a good clothes washer. The key was left for us in a hidden location. It is in a small three story apartment building. Will, our host, left us a bottle of wine.
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| Kitchen with full size fridge and a dishwasher |
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| Looking from the kitchen into the living room and dining area |
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| Good sized table for eating and doing the blog |
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| Separate bedroom with ensuite bathroom |
We wandered for a while in the 'hood, picking up some food. We managed to get a bit lost looking for S' Escorxador Cultural Centre which had a supermarket and a number of bars and food stores. Unfortunately, one of the highly recommended gourmet stores has been a victim of the pandemic.
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| Escorxador sign - interesting outdoor and indoor bars/food stores |
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| Cinema is located there too-- we had just seen The Worst Person in the World at TIFF (the middle poster) |
We headed back to the apartment for a light dinner as we were getting very tired. We had some chicken empanadas and Alano made a salad with "real" green beans, and strawberries. We both conked out at around 10:30 p.m.
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| Alano with dinner |
Wednesday was a cloudy day with a high of 19C. The wind makes it feel a bit cooler- definitely a spring-like day though.
We headed off for a 40 minute walk to the rendezvous spot for the Mallorca Free Tour. We are very near a main street that goes right through the middle of the Historic City and down to the harbour. It changes names three times and a large portion is a pedestrian-only street.
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| We passed this great named Empanadas store |
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| Cherry blossoms starting and greenery |
Our rendezvous spot was at the Parc de la Mar in front of a small Tourist Information kiosk. There were around 12 people on our tour. Most from Holland, Germany and England. There was one other person from Canada, who was from Winnipeg.
Our guide, Martina, gave us an overview of the history of Palma and Mallorca. There were three major periods of Mallorca history: the Roman period, the Muslim period and finally the Christian period. There was also a "dark ages" period between the Roman and Muslim period. During the Muslim period, Jews, Muslims and Christians co-existed. The Jews lived in Mallorca for nearly a millennium before the massacre of 1391, when about 300 were killed and the 1435 mass forced conversions. There are a number of people know as "Chuetas" who identify as Catholic but are the descendants of 12 Jewish families from the once thriving Jewish community.
We were a few minutes from the magnificent Palacio de la Almudaina and the Cathedral. The Palace was originally an Arab citadel, then became the residence of the ruling house during the Middle Ages. It's now a military headquarters and the King's official residence when he is in Mallorca.
In the early 20th century, Antoni Gaudi, famed Catalan Modernist, was invited to undertake interior renovations in his distinctive Art Nouveau style. He worked in Palma for 10 years (from 1904-14), but his work was abandoned after a difference of opinion between Gaudi and the contractor and the death of Bishop Campins, his great ally, who had brought Gaudi to the refurbishment project.
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| The Cathedral |
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| Entrance |
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| Detail from the entrance |
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| Beautiful Rose window |
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| Looking out to the harbour |
We walked into the Bishop's courtyard where there was an interesting sculpture by Jaume Falconer, 2013. It is a memorial to Mallorca Saints and Blesseds. The lower part shows the roots of the earth of Mallorca where the Saints were born. The wooden circles contain their names. There are blank circles for future saints. The blue glass tears symbolize Mallorca's 53 municipal districts.
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| Santa Eulàlia |
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At bottom of picture- sign of Sephardic Spain-
indicating the smaller of the two historic Jewish areas in Palma |
We stopped to admire the wonderful art nouveau buildings at Plaça del Marquès del Palmer. Can Forteza Rey is the building on the left and was designed or influenced by its developer- the goldsmith José Forteza-Rey. It was built sometime between 1902-11. It was originally intended as a residential building for the Forteza-Rey family. The 2nd floor housed the dental clinic of one of Forteza-Rey's sons. The façade of the building was influenced by Gaudi. The building on the right was built by Gaspar Bennàssar i Moner, one of the most influential architects in Palma, who was the city's chief architect from 1901-1933.
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| The two Catalan modernist art nouveau buildings |
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| Dental clinic on 2nd floor |
Our guide walked us quickly through the Mercat de l'Olivar which is the best market in Palma. We had already planned to go there after the tour.
Walking through Plaza Mayor--- very similar to the layout of other Plaza Mayor's in a number of Spanish cities, including Madrid. Until 1838, this was the local headquarters of the inquisition.
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| Similar look to Plaza Mayor in Madrid, though smaller |
Our final stop was Plaza España.
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| Still looking for the missing... |
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| The conqueror |
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| Marina showing us a map of the walled city in the 17th century which she had started the tour with and a map of the city today. Avenues have taken the place of the old walls, but the old city is still a defined area. |
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| At the end of the tour |
After the tour, we stopped for coffee at Marabans, recommended by Marina. They roast their own coffee. It was excellent.
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| A bit windy---- oat milk Cortada for me. |
It was then time to visit the Mercat de l'Olivar, the biggest and best market in the city. It has been there since 1953 and is open from 7:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. every day except Sunday. The produce was incredibly fresh. There is a separate section for the fish vendors and the meat and vegetable/fruit sections are also excellent.
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| One view of the market |
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| Stalls and stalls of beautiful fresh vegetables |
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| We bought some treats for appetizers |
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| Alano in the market |
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More vegetables, including some lovely gem lettuces and fennel
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We stopped to get a few pieces of fish for our dinners. We got a beautifully filleted sea bream (Orato) and a piece of salmon. Pescados Marilén, where we bought the fish, has been in business since 1952.
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| Our sea bream being filleted. They know what they are doing. |
Time for a late lunch at Bar del Piex where we had noticed a lot of people eating earlier, when Marina walked us through the market.
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| Great fish bar |
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| Lots of choice |
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Alano with the bacalao (cod)
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| We had another fish dish- we're not sure what it was, but we ordered what the people sitting beside us had. Very nicely spiced. |
We then started our walk back to the apartment.
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| Toronto in Palma?? Loved the sign. |
We stopped at a wonderful pastry shop beneath the Art Nouveau building on the pedestrian street. We bought an ensaïmada - a pastry from Mallorca which dates back to the 17th century, and a baguette to take back to the apartment.
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| Horno Santo Cristo |
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| Alano outside the bakery |
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| They specialise in ensaïmadas |
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| View through the side window |
We continued our walk--- always peering through doors where there are courtyards.
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| A large courtyard |
We walked up a different street near the apartment and found La Molienda, a coffee shop I had read about.
It was time for an espresso.
Outside of La Molienda
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| Lovely inside with coffee roaster |
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| Alano's cortada |
Then it was back to the apartment. Time for me to work on the blog and Alano to take a nap. We're still a bit jet-lagged. Alano prepared a lovely charcuterie plate and a gem salad with a number of treats we had bought in the market.
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| Wonderful dinner-- charcuterie plate, gem salad, wine |
A very busy first full day in Palma.
Great photos. Pics of the market made me want to cook.
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