Majorca for the first time

Overall, mightily impressed by Majorca - I can see why people return so frequently. Trailfinders yet again came up trumps with the two hotels we stayed in. The first was the Secrets Hotel Mallorca Villamil , a fairly standard type of upmarket hotel, in a town called Peguera, around half an hour's drive west of Palma, the capital of Majorca. We were initially a bit concerned that we were so far out of Palma - we had thought that we'd be nearer to the "action". However, this proved to be no problem, as the hotel was superb and the bus transport into Palma was cheap and relatively quick. Peguera itself is actually quite a good base from which to explore Palma and the western side of the island if you have a car. As a town, it's OK - touristy and full of tat, but pleasant enough with loads of cafes, restaurants, etc. Food and service in the main hotel restaurant was excellent, served buffet style. The service around the reception area and the other bars/cafes wa...

First day that we have awoken in the Finca Son Palou hotel to overcast skies. Fitting, then, as we were on our way home to Blighty! Last breakfast in this fabulous hotel, then the last remnants of packing. Settled the (largish) bill and loaded up the car. Off we set to Palma airport, which was remarkably uneventful. Even finding the place to drop the car off was a breeze, helped by a very jovial Spaniard who took the mick out of my English accent ("Splendid!" he said as we closed the contract on the car). The weather had improved markedly by now. I had at least prepaid our hold baggage for the journey back, so there was no repetition of the chaos at Gatwick on the way out. Checked our bags in with no trouble and through Security with no trouble. Am I finally getting better at this?? Bought some duty-free (gin, obviously, and my new found love, limoncello), found a bar and settled down for a longish wait. Eventually the call came and off we trooped - only to be kept wait...

Well, the plan got off to a splendid start! Stayed by the pool in glorious sunshine for most of the morning and early afternoon. Lovely lazy break after a fairly hectic day yesterday. Time came to deliver the next part of the plan. This was to drive up towards Alaro Castle, stopping on the way at a restaurant called Es Verger, which has a reputation for serving lamb shoulder to die for. Rick Stein, the well-known telly chef, has described it as the best lamb he has ever eaten. I was briefed in advance that this was a tricky drive. And how. Bucketloads of hairpin bends, really narrow road and a truly dreadful surface for most of it, plus trying to squeeze past traffic coming the other way. Very, very slow progress, but we eventually made it. Nice views, but a very unprepossessing looking establishment (I had been briefed about this also). To be honest, I've seen better school canteens. One can also walk up to the castle from here, which...

Oh, no! ANOTHER glorious cloudless warm day! :) Good night's sleep again, though Jean not quite firing on all cylinders. Drove to Soller, as was the plan, and took the extremely twisty road up over the Coll de Soller and down the other side rather than pay the toll. Take a gander at the car satnav image! Having done the recce earlier in the week, we knew exactly where to park for free before walking into town. Worked beautifully. Thence to the ticket office to buy our return tickets for the celebrated vintage Soller-Palma train - we knew we had to be there half an hour before the train was scheduled to leave (12:15). Only a handful of people preceded us in the queue and the ticket office opened at around 11:55. Spanish time operating, obviously. Parted with 50 € cash for two return tickets and was expecting a huge rush of people to board the train when it arrived at the platform. Didn't happen. We sat ourselves in the very front carriage and there were never more ...

As we knew we had some distance to drive, we had a relatively early breakfast and set off down the mountain in the car, in glorious sunshine once again. A decent night's sleep was had by both. Uneventful, and at times rather boring, drive along mostly main roads, until we started up towards Formentor on the peninsula at the north-eastern tip of the island. I have to say, Majorca is a lot bigger than I originally thought. The road became narrow and twisty once again, with coachloads and cars galore on the way down. Very slow progress and quite stressful. To my surprise, we were stopped about 11 km from the Cap itself, were told to park and then take a bus up to the Cap. I had had no inkling that this was to happen, but park we did and get the bus we did, paying 1.50 € each for the privilege. A fairly hairy bus ride ensued - very bendy with loads of cyclists making the journey more hazardous. Once again, this is one of the "iconic" cycle rides of Majorca and I do get ...