Thursday March 24 was a bit warmer and not as cloudy as the past few days. High of 17C. It is our last full day in Palma. On Friday, we take a 6 1/2 hour ferry to Barcelona.
We decided to visit Centro Cultural Can Balaguer, a historic Manor House that was renovated between 2009- 2016 and now hosts a permanent exhibit entitled: A Possible Home (Domestic Interiors in Palma (1600-1951). It has been owned by the City since since 1951.
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| The great door handle to the inner courtyard |
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| Sign in courtyard |
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| The exhibit is on the first floor up the stairway |
The exhibit recreates the upper floor of Can Balaguer (Can in Catalan is like Chez in French or Casa in Castilian Spanish). In the 17th century, it was owned by the Sanglada family. After his first owner's death, the house became the property of his grandson, Josep Amar de Montaner i Gaul Sanglada and later other members of that family. In 1872, it was sold to Antoni Blanes, a merchant who made a fortune doing business in the United States. In 1927, Josep Balaguer (1869-1951) bought the house from the Blanes family.
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| Commemorating Josep Balaguer, the last owner |
Josep Balaguer was a musician, businessman, collector and patron of the arts. He played a key role in promoting the city's cultural activities during the first half of the 20th century. He was the nephew of a famous opera singer and was the music director of the Balearic Regional Infantry Regiment from 1897-1920 and played a key role in the creation of the Balearic Symphony Orchestra in 1947.
Shortly after he bought the house, he had a chamber organ installed. On his death, the building was donated to the City.
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| The Entrance Room |
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| Collector's Gallery- paintings in the Balaguer Collection |
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| Painting by Antoni Gelabert, Josep Balaguer's favourite Mallorcan painter |
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| The bedchamber |
Next was the music room with an incredible organ.
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| Organ in the music room (very hard to take photos with the lighting in the rooms) |
The organ
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| The keyboard |
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| The Louis XV Room |
From the Middle Ages, Palma was the western Mediterranean's biggest distribution point for ceramic goods.
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| Local Ceramics |
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| The "fireplace" room |
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| Details from the room |
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| Lovely seating near the fireplace |
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| Heading down the stairway after our visit |
It was then time for lunch. El Camino was highly recommended and we had made reservations for a late lunch at 2:30 p.m. The place was busy when we arrived and just clearing out when we left at 3:30 p.m. The restaurant opened in 2018 and celebrates local Mallorcan ingredients.
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On a very small street near Passeig des Born
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| Fabulous long marble bar with open kitchen |
We shared a courgette stuffed with goat cheese, tomato bread and a plate of tellines (very small clams), one of their specials of the day. The food was excellent!
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| Courgette stuffed with goat cheese and drizzled with honey-- totally amazing flavour |
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| Our plate of tellines- very tiny clams (very labour intensive process to gather them) |
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| Looking back to the entrance |
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| Lots of folks cooking and serving |
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| Another photo from the back of the resto |
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| Area past the bar-- private room at the very back |
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| Leaving the resto |
We returned to a store we had briefly visited the other day and purchased some small pieces of Mallorcan pottery.
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| Estilo Sant Feliu |
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| Inside of the lovely store- everything made in Mallorca |
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Frederic Chopin and George Sand lived on this street when they were in Palma
between November 1838 and February 1839. |
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| We passed some painted wooden panels from a restaurant that were being thrown out |
We headed to Plaça Llotja to visit La Llotja, which was built between 1426-1447 as the seat of the Merchant's Guild. The architect was Guillem Sagrera. He was born in Felanitx (Mallorca) in 1380 and died in Naples in 1454. He was an important architect and sculptor. He apparently liked big and bright spaces and his buildings are functional and elegant. La Llotja is the most important example of a secular building in the late Gothic style on the Balearic Islands and is one of the most notable structures of this kind in Europe.
Outside of La Llotja
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| The merchant's guardian angel above the main portal |
The inside has been compared to a palm tree garden-- I would agree.
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| Spectacular ceiling with 12 rib vaults and lots of large windows to allow in a lot of sunlight |
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| Looking from the back of La Llotja to a government building (no public access on this side) |
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| Orange tree on side of La Llotja |
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| Great gargoyle |
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| Another attractive apartment building nearby |
We walked on the waterfront near La Llotja.
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| Jaime Ferrer- Navigator from the 14th century |
We found the Palma signs.
We walked back in front of the Government building that we had seen from one side of La Llotja.
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| The front of the government building |
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| Another beautiful apartment building across from La Llotja |
We stopped for our first sorbetto of the trip in the Plaça Llotja.
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| Rivareno Gelata- Laboratorio Italiano |
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| Excellent chocolate and pistachio sorbetto. |
Our final stop before heading back to the apartment was a coffee at Mistral.
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| Mistral Coffee House- next to the Caixa Forum museum |
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| One more photo of Can Corbella |
We came back to the apartment and started our packing. Alano made a salad with fresh green beans for a light dinner.
We have really enjoyed our time in Mallorca and would highly recommend a visit. The markets and food are wonderful. The biggest surprise was the Art Nouveau architecture and the many historic buildings.
The contemporary art museums were also well worth the visits.
Friday we head to Barcelona on the ferry. I may not do the next post until Saturday evening. Stay tuned for our return to Barcelona.
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