Before I came to Spain, I was introduced by one of my Spanish professors to another girl (Bryanda) who would also be moving to Spain to teach English with the same program. We had been introduced through email. So throughout the summer, we spent a lot of time helping each other through the visa process, Facebook messaging, snapchatting, etc. Bryanda lives in Palma de Mallorca, a city in the Balearic Islands. Once we had both moved here and we were settled in, I talked with her and bought my plane ticket right away to Mallorca. I had seen all of her photos and knew that it was a spot that I did not want to miss in Spain.
My flight arrived to Palma very late and I had been given directions by Bryanda about where to get off of the airport shuttle to be able to walk to her apartment. Well, that didn’t work as planned because I found myself lost at midnight in the middle of Palma with no WiFi or way of contacting Bry. Luckily, after walking a small distance I was able to pick up some free WiFi so that I could tell Bryanda that I had arrived. She came to meet me and ya esta. After arriving at her piso, she introduced me to her roommates, whom are all very nice. She lives with a girl from Poland, a girl from the Czech Republic, and a guy from England. At first, I was nervous to go to Palma because we had only talked over facebook at that point so I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into but it turned out to be a great decision in the end and I gained a travel buddy.
Day 1- Port de Soller and Valldemossa
The first day in Mallorca, we took a bus to Port de Soller and a small, mountain village named Valldemossa. Port de Soller was absolutely beautiful! It is a port town that is located right on the Mediterranean Sea. The water was unbelievably clear and blue. I could not believe the views there. We walked up to an overlook point of the cliffs and the Mediterranean sea, which was breathtaking. Since I visited in the winter, Mallorca was pretty deserted. For that reason, we didn’t spend much time there because everything was closed.
From there, we hopped on a bus to Valldemossa, another recommended stop in Mallorca. It was a very beautiful little town. Again we only spent about an hour or two there as well just because it is very small and we walked the whole town in less than an hour. The streets are very beautiful in Valldemossa and are widely decorated with all kinds of flowers and flower pots of different colors. The town is so cute and old. The buildings are all made out of a light colored limestone.
It is also a great place to visit for hiking. There were many marked hiking trails around the area, unfortunately I did not have time to hike while I was there. This was probably my favorite day in Mallorca because the scenery was so beautiful and different from Galicia, where I live. It was bright, sunny and very tropical.
Day 2- Exploring Palma
Inside of the Palma Cathedral
Cathedral View at night
The next day we spent touring around the city of Palma. We went to the Palma Cathedral and the Palace of La Almudaina. They are right next to each other and close to the Bay of Mallorca as well. The cathedral was very beautiful and it had so many strange details, thanks to Gaudi. It is very colorful on the inside and really embodies the culture of Mallorca with decorations that represent the sea and nature. Across the way is the Palace of La Almudaina. The palace was originally designed by the Moors; therefore, it has a very Arabic decorative style on the inside. It was later taken over by the Christians which converted some parts to a more Gothic style, but you can still realize the Arabic history while walking through. It was a very beautiful place to see and with our student discount we were able to get in for 4 Euro.
After the palace and cathedral, we spent most of our time just walking around the city. I visited on the first weekend of December so everything was about Christmas. There were Christmas markets everywhere. There was a lot food stands, which was very dangerous. We attended the local Christmas lighting ceremony. We also had a chance to watch some performances of traditional Mallorquin dancing and singing for Christmas. Overall, the Christmas activities kept us occupied for most of my trip because it was so much fun and there was so much to do. We ended the second day by going to beach and watching the sunset there as well.
Palma itself is very interesting because it is a little melting pot. People from all over the world live there. It is actually called “Little Germany” because so many people from Germany have moved there or they own property and kind of take over the island during vacation seasons. So as you’re walking through the city you can also see many German customs. For example, in Germany during Christmas “Gluhwein” is very popular. This drink could be found at many stands being sold by the local German population in Palma. Gluhwein is also referred to as Mulled Wine and it’s basically a hot, wine drink almost like a hot sangria. I am not a huge fan, but it does depend on how it is made because I had some later on in Vigo that was made by a friend from Scotland and it was very good.
Day 3- Port de Pollenca and Palma
Port de Pollenca
On the third day, we went to explore Port de Pollenca. Bry had never been there before and we wanted to check it out. Unfortunately, the weather was pretty bad this day. It was cold and raining off and on. Port de Pollenca was very, very deserted. Way more deserted than Port de Soller, I mean there was nobody to be found anywhere. It felt like a ghost town. It had a very eerie feeling because of that. Because of the lack of activity, we only stayed for an hour or so. Most of the time in Pollenca was spent checking out the boats and sitting on a dock to take in the mountain/Mediterranean views.
I have a new love affair with churros
After arriving back to Palma, we did what we do best. We ate. We stopped at the christmas markets and got churros. We went to a bakery later on in the evening. In Mallorca, there is a famous dessert called Ensaimada. There are many different types of it. It was recommended to me by a co-worker as a must have when I was in Palma. I recommend it as well. It is a kind of sweet bread that can have cream, chocolate, vanilla, etc. in the middle. So good!
The third day was also my last day in Pama, which was sad because I was not ready to leave. My flight left very early the next morning so I decided to pull an all nighter. We ended up going to the party areas where you can find all kinds of bars and clubs. We ended up spending most of our night at a jazz bar, called Jazz Voyeur. They have live music every night and it is a great place to get a drink and enjoy with friends.
Overall, I wish I had more to add to this post as far as history or facts about Palma, but the weekend was so much fun that I didn’t even really take pictures of many historical places and most of them that I did take are pictures of Bry and I posing or taking selfies. However, it was a great weekend nonetheless because I did meet Bry ( in person) and we have now started traveling with each other and have become pretty close friends. It was a nice trip because we didn’t spend all of our time in super touristy places. We walked around Palma and made our own fun which I think is why Bry and I get along so well because we are able to just roll with whatever happens and we care more about seeing the life that locals live rather than spending our time in museums and on guided tours. I hope that you enjoyed this post and that my pictures make up for the lack of information on Palma! :)
Also, I heard this song on New Years and I thought it was perfect for this post! Enjoy.
El Puente-Los Mismos, 1968
