Mallorca - Day 1
As it has become tradition now, every year I try to organise a surprise for Adrian's birthday. It is normally a short holiday away and usually I manage to keep the destination secret until the very last moment.
I had told Adrian that we were going camping in Skegness (although I said it was more 'glamping' than camping), but the weather forecast I provided a few days before gave me away (not that Adrian really believed we would go camping/glamping: I know he would hate it). He realised that we were probably going abroad because the temperatures were higher than in the UK, but he only discovered the destination once we were at the boarding gate at Gatwick!
He was thrilled as he had always wanted to go to Mallorca but never been. It was my first time too.
He really loved the trip (we have now been back a week) and I enjoyed it too, although I had some health issues with my Ménière's disease.
It was an early flight (8:30 am) which means that when we got to Palma and picked up the car, we still had time for a stop on the way to our destination.
We visited the
Apparently the name mean 'Jar of olives' in Arabic. The gardens were created by a local Muslim governor who, when the Christian army retook Mallorca in 1229, supported the soon-to-be King Jaume I and was given that estate to compensate for the loss of power.
The gardens are really lovely and we enjoyed them very much.
A button activates hidden jets of water along the arcade
The house is beautiful too. I think Adrian would have loved to move in straight-away!
(A mudéjar ceiling)
I had chosen Sóller in the north of the island, in the Sierra de Tramuntana region, as our base and booked one of the 2 terrace rooms at a small hotel, Can Isabel (it has only 6 rooms).
According to one website, the hotel used to be the house of the mistress of the stationmaster, and there is a secret stairway that he used to get to his lover.
Adrian loved the hotel (and I did too).
(View from the terrace)
He described it as a boutique hotel and, I guess, it was.
It was all very relaxed and we had breakfast in the garden every morning, which was lovely.
After we checked in, we decided to catch the old tram that links the town to its port, 3 km away.
Adrian loves old trams and trains, and he was very happy indeed as you can see!
Port de Sóller:
Sóller has some interesting buildings in the Modernista style.
That night we had a fantastic meal at a restaurant called Luna 36, which I had spotted online.
(Tagliatelle with fresh truffle)
I had told Adrian that we were going camping in Skegness (although I said it was more 'glamping' than camping), but the weather forecast I provided a few days before gave me away (not that Adrian really believed we would go camping/glamping: I know he would hate it). He realised that we were probably going abroad because the temperatures were higher than in the UK, but he only discovered the destination once we were at the boarding gate at Gatwick!
He was thrilled as he had always wanted to go to Mallorca but never been. It was my first time too.
He really loved the trip (we have now been back a week) and I enjoyed it too, although I had some health issues with my Ménière's disease.
It was an early flight (8:30 am) which means that when we got to Palma and picked up the car, we still had time for a stop on the way to our destination.
We visited the
Apparently the name mean 'Jar of olives' in Arabic. The gardens were created by a local Muslim governor who, when the Christian army retook Mallorca in 1229, supported the soon-to-be King Jaume I and was given that estate to compensate for the loss of power.
The gardens are really lovely and we enjoyed them very much.
A button activates hidden jets of water along the arcade
The house is beautiful too. I think Adrian would have loved to move in straight-away!
(A mudéjar ceiling)
I had chosen Sóller in the north of the island, in the Sierra de Tramuntana region, as our base and booked one of the 2 terrace rooms at a small hotel, Can Isabel (it has only 6 rooms).
According to one website, the hotel used to be the house of the mistress of the stationmaster, and there is a secret stairway that he used to get to his lover.
Adrian loved the hotel (and I did too).
(View from the terrace)
He described it as a boutique hotel and, I guess, it was.
It was all very relaxed and we had breakfast in the garden every morning, which was lovely.
After we checked in, we decided to catch the old tram that links the town to its port, 3 km away.
Adrian loves old trams and trains, and he was very happy indeed as you can see!
Port de Sóller:
Sóller has some interesting buildings in the Modernista style.
That night we had a fantastic meal at a restaurant called Luna 36, which I had spotted online.
(Tagliatelle with fresh truffle)