David's Diary: Friday, April 5, 2002

Exploring Mallorca, Spain

As cruisers we tend to see the world as one kilometer wide. By renting a car we get a chance to explore the interior of where we are and perhaps see some places that we'll never get to on Dragonsinger. As Bobbie is leaving tomorrow, we put formal school on hold, got a car for the day, and headed out to explore.

Palma, with more than three hundred thousand people, is the largest city on Palma. As we worked our way through town we passed numerous apartment buildings and then traveled the ring road before heading northeast. We traveled on secondary roads past fields and small villages until we arrived at the interior town of Inca. While often ignored by guidebooks, Inca has a reputation for well-priced leather goods. While Bobbie, Jocelyn, and Karalee shopped, Kevin, Allen, and I wandered around. We found a pedestrian mall that ran through the center of town and ended up at the Church of Santa Maria la Mayor. The church looked interesting, set in a nice plaza, but it was not open when we were there so we headed back to pick up the ladies.

Port de Pollença

Back on the road we headed to Alcudia, but took a left-hand turn when we got there. We skirted the Bay of Pollença until we came to the Port de Pollença. We drove past the yacht basin and through the town where we parked on the outskirts. We started walking back towards town, but everyone was hungry so we stopped at a beautiful little hotel with a seaside terrace. With nothing in front of us except a walkway and sand, we enjoyed a Spanish lunch in the sunshine.

Port de Pollença is popular with English tourists and the center of town is crowed with hotels and restaurants. Like many Spanish resorts that we have seen a major road separates the beach from the restaurants and stores of the resort. We are not certain why tourists would want to eat right next to a road crowded with cars -- we were much happier watching pedestrians and swimmers.

Mirador d'es Colomer

The boys played on the beach, I enjoyed Friday's paper, and the ladies explored the town before we headed back to the car. Our next stop was Cap de Formentor, the most northerly point on Mallorca. We climbed into the hills above Port de Pollença and before we knew it we were at the Mirador d'es Colomer. This lookout drops more than six hundred feet (two hundred meters) straight into the sea. The sunlight made sharp edges where the rock met the blue of the sea and the sky.

Cap de Formentor

After the viewpoint we continued on the tiny two-lane road that led to the Cape. We stopped at Formentor, location of one of Mallorca's most famous hotels, then continued on to the top of the point where a lighthouse warns mariners that there is land ahead. It was clear enough that we could see Menorca, the second largest Balearic Island, off in the distance. Tired after a long day, we all got back in the car for the one and a half hour ride back to Palma. As we finished our journey the sun set over the mountains in the distance welcoming us back to the boat as darkness fell over the harbour.