Mallorca

We were feeling the winter blues, so we decided we needed some fun in the sun and what better way than exploring an island!  We took a morning flight to the island of Mallorca (Majorca) which is off  the coast of Spain and part of the Balearic Islands.

 We arrived in Palma which is the capital city right before lunch. The weather was sunny, warm and beautiful and temperatures were low 60’s the whole trip! We were staying in the western part of the city, so we needed to take Bus 1 into city center towards Ciutat. It was about 15 minutes and costed 5 euros a person for tourists. We got off at Placa Espanya and walked about 30 minutes to our hotel taking in the views. We were able to check into our hotel early and scored a room on the 5th floor, the top floor. Our room was at the corner of the property so we had views all around. After resting a bit, we headed out to explore the area. We walked towards the Cathedral of Santa Maria or La Seu. The construction started in the early 14th century. In the early 20th century Antoni Gaudí directed some remodeling work, he is the same architect who worked on Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.

The next day we decided to explore the cities of Sóller and Port of Sóller by taking a train and tram there. We walked to Placa Espanya which is where we bought our tickets. The combo ticket included the train from Palma to Sóller and back and tram ticket from Sóller to Port of Sóller and back. By getting this combo ticket we saved lots of money since the ticket one way from Palma to Sóller is 25 euro, our combo ticket cost 32 euro. We boarded the train in Palma and enjoyed the site for the next hour as we headed to Sóller traveling through the Serra de Tramuntana mountains. The train has been running since 1912.  and was used to transport citrus fruit, lemon and oranges, to the coast. We stopped for a photo spot along the way. 

We arrive at Sóller and had 30 minutes until the tram arrived. From Sóller we boarded the wooden tram for a 30 minute ride to Port of Sóller. Boats loaded with citrus fruit (lemon and oranges) use to set off to France from the port.  Once we arrived we enjoyed the sites and the warm, sunny weather!  

Then we took the tram back to Sóller and had some time to explore Sóller. Then we took the train back to Palma. ​

​On the way back to the hotel we took detour to see the Cathedral of Santa Maria or La Seu lite up at dusk.

​Another sunny and warm day, so we decided to explore the Castell de Bellve. The 13th century castle is currently the city’s history museum and sits onto a hill offering wonderful views of the Palma. It was about a 25 min walk from our hotel. Since it was Sunday, the castle was free, instead of 4 euro a person. We got there a little after it opened and explored the castle and the views it provided. From there we walked back to the hotel. We had lunch at Hard Rock which is right on the harbor. Later that evening we walked along the harbor enjoying the views at sunset. 

We left the next afternoon arriving back in Germany around dinner time. It was a great weekend full of sun and memories. Another great trip in the books!