David's Diary: Saturday, April 20, 2002

The Rocky Coast

A car gives you the ability to see a lot in a day and so today we rented a car to explore more of Mallorca. We left Palma on the motorway -- it is hard to believe that this small island has a ring road around Palma and two main motorways. Our first stop was the port of Andratx which lies to the west of Palma. This popular yacht and tourist harbour is surrounded by hills. While most of the bay has been taken over by marinas there is still some space to anchor, although it looked quite full when we visited.

We walked by all of the seafood restaurants along the seafront to where a ship which had been washed up on the shore. Kevin and Allen were fascinated by this and had numerous questions for me. A fear of all boaters is hitting the bottom or having your ship broken up on a lee shore. We don't know how long the Merlin had been there, but we guessed that it was only a few months. On the side we could see there were large dents, but no holes in the hull. Kevin's active imagination had no trouble coming up with visions of what it must have been like to crash into shore. I did point out to him that in a crowed village like Port d'Andratx, there would have been numerous emergency services people to help anyone who had been aboard when it went aground get safely off the boat. I not certain my explanation satisfied Kevin's imagination.

Mirador de Ses Ánimes

We next followed the coastal road as we approached the northern coast of Mallorca. The road winds through the hills and you often look over the edge to long drop offs to the Mediterranean Sea. If we were to travel this part of the coast by boat, we would have almost fifty miles (eight kilometers) of rocky coast with only one safe anchorage. It somehow seemed safer to be doing it in a car, despite the lack of shoulders on the road and all of the buses before and after us.

The Rocky Coast

We stopped at the lookout of Mirador de Ses Ánimes. The narrow watch tower affords views up and down the rocky coast. We were ready for to stretch our legs after an hour in the car.

A Tight Fit

We approached the watchtower and entered the large doorway to only be confronted by a nearly vertical ladder that rose through a narrow opening to the floor above. It was so narrow that I wasn't certain if I could fit. I did make it through, but I had to take my camera and backpack off to do so. On busy summer days I don't know how the crowds manage to make it up and down the one-way ladder. On the other hand the floor above only has room for a dozen people.

Valldemossa Carthusian Monastery

After enjoying the coastal views we headed inland on another narrow two-lane road to the village of Valldemossa. After lunch we visited the Carthusian Monastery established in 1399 and occupied by the monks until their expulsion in 1835. The monastery is perhaps most famous because in the winter of 1838-1839 Fréderic Chopin, the classical pianist, and George Sand, the writer, stayed together at the monastery (George was female for those that were wondering). We got to visit parts of the monastery as they were used in the monk's time and other parts as they were used during Chopin's visit (including original scores by Chopin).

Port de Sóller

Our final stop for the day was the port of Sóller. This inlet in the mountains has room for a few boats to anchor and some marina space, mostly used by fishing boats. The entire area is geared towards mass tourism with tacky shops and a tiny beach. There is a small train that runs between Port de Sóller and Sóller bringing thousands to the tiny port during the peak of the tourist season. We were late enough in the day and there were few enough tourists that Kevin and Allen got to enjoy the beach and water, Karalee enjoyed the Saturday Times newspaper, and Jocelyn and I went exploring. We packed up and drove home via the Sóller tunnel. The three kilometer tunnel goes straight through a mountain and was recently closed due to rain working its way through the tunnel walls. We were through in no time and before we knew it we were back in Palma and settled back on Dragonsinger for dinner after an interesting day seeing and learning more about Mallorca.