Mallorca - Day 4
Day 4 was Adrian's birthday. I had planned a little boat trip for it.
The weather didn't look too promising while we were having breakfast at the hotel but we decided to press on with the trip.
We drove to Port de Sóller, parked the car and caught the boat to Sa Calobra and the Torrents de Pareis.
We enjoyed some nice views of the coast on the way to the small harbour of Sa Calobra
You can see from the boat the small opening where the small 'twin' rivers (Torrents de Pareis) that have cut the 'canyon' in the mountains flow into the sea (when there's been substantial rain).
From the small harbour a path takes you to the canyon floor
(The sun came out for birthday boy!)
The path includes a section in a rather small and claustrophic tunnel, cut in the rock
(Here I was chastised by an English father because I had put fingers in my ears as his small daughter whom he carried in his arms - they were just behind me - screamed all the way through the tunnel. As I was on my second day of constant tinnitus and on the second week of having problems with my right ear, I feel that my reaction was justified. In the old days, the parents would have apologised for their children's behaviour; now it seems that anything they do has to be gratefully accepted as gift from the gods to us mortals).
Anyway, the canyon is rather lovely, although it was quite crowded.
Apart from a couple of boats, there are lots of coaches coming down one of the most dangerous roads in Europe, which includes a 270 degree bend!
Have a look here!
http://www.dangerousroads.org/europe/spain/1554-sa-calobra-road-spain.html
I'm glad we went by boat! Just imagine finding coaches on that road...
Back in Port de Sóller we had a late lunch (toasted sarnies and chips - how very Spanish! LOL) and then decided to drive down to Palma to visit the Gothic Castell de Bellver on the outskirts of the city.
On the way we encountered a thunderstorm but it hadn't rained there.
The castle is positioned on a hill from where there are beautiful views of Palma:
Once back in Sóller, we decided to open the bottle of Cava in the mini-bar to toast Adrian's 63rd birthday:
and later we went for dinner at a restaurant in the square.
The weather didn't look too promising while we were having breakfast at the hotel but we decided to press on with the trip.
We drove to Port de Sóller, parked the car and caught the boat to Sa Calobra and the Torrents de Pareis.
We enjoyed some nice views of the coast on the way to the small harbour of Sa Calobra
You can see from the boat the small opening where the small 'twin' rivers (Torrents de Pareis) that have cut the 'canyon' in the mountains flow into the sea (when there's been substantial rain).
From the small harbour a path takes you to the canyon floor
(The sun came out for birthday boy!)
The path includes a section in a rather small and claustrophic tunnel, cut in the rock
(Here I was chastised by an English father because I had put fingers in my ears as his small daughter whom he carried in his arms - they were just behind me - screamed all the way through the tunnel. As I was on my second day of constant tinnitus and on the second week of having problems with my right ear, I feel that my reaction was justified. In the old days, the parents would have apologised for their children's behaviour; now it seems that anything they do has to be gratefully accepted as gift from the gods to us mortals).
Anyway, the canyon is rather lovely, although it was quite crowded.
Apart from a couple of boats, there are lots of coaches coming down one of the most dangerous roads in Europe, which includes a 270 degree bend!
Have a look here!
http://www.dangerousroads.org/europe/spain/1554-sa-calobra-road-spain.html
I'm glad we went by boat! Just imagine finding coaches on that road...
Back in Port de Sóller we had a late lunch (toasted sarnies and chips - how very Spanish! LOL) and then decided to drive down to Palma to visit the Gothic Castell de Bellver on the outskirts of the city.
On the way we encountered a thunderstorm but it hadn't rained there.
The castle is positioned on a hill from where there are beautiful views of Palma:
Once back in Sóller, we decided to open the bottle of Cava in the mini-bar to toast Adrian's 63rd birthday:
and later we went for dinner at a restaurant in the square.