Another gorgeous day on a Spanish island – Palma de Mallorca, (or Majorca). Many of the names of street sand cities here can be spelled two different ways, depending on whether Spanish or Catalan is used. It is the largest of the Balearic islands. We began with breakfast on the back deck with a great first view of the city, Palma de Mallorca, its capital on the southern coast. This island also has beautiful beaches and mountains that rise up 5000 feet. From our deck we could see the city and the majestic famous Gothic cathedral.
Cool round castle with 4 towers way in the distance (very unusual to be round)
A little history: the city was founded by the Romans in 123 BC.and was used as a port for Roman vessels going to Africa and Spain. Over the years it was controlled by several different empires. Then it was under Islamic control from 902 – 1229 AD., when it was conquered by James I of Aragon, who returned the island to Christian control. Governance changed hands several more times before Phillip V of Spain took control in 1715. It became the capital of all the Balearic Islands in 1833.
We took a bus to the Cathedral area and proceed on Palau Real; it is easy to see why they call this town Palma.
We then proceeded to use good ol’ Google to find the Nano bicycle shop where we had booked a 3 hour bike tour. We have not used Google here in Europe that often, and last time it steered us wrong. Today it did the job. Touring the city on bike! I was a little apprehensive, even though I have biked many times in my life, I have only done it once since my foot surgery. Then, last night at dinner we met a lady from London who comes to this island often: she said that the drivers were crazy and it would be a real adventure to bike in the city. She said that it was good that I was athletic. HA! We found the shop and met an Aussie family with three boys who biked with us for three hours through the city. It turned out to be great day for me. There were some inclines and downhills, but the hardest for me was using the hand brakes. I only have ever used foot brakes. I very much enjoyed touring the city on bike. At times we went a little slow and that was also difficult. And of course, that was Jeff’s complaint, too slow and he didn’t get to see enough. We biked from the west side of the wall to the east side of the city.
We rode to the top of the city along the original Roman wall and aqueduct. The “river” was nonexistent due to the dry season but during the winter months would almost fill the aqueduct. The trees and flowering bushes lining the aqueduct were beautiful.
We continued through the winding streets up to the highest point of the city, giving us sweeping views of the old town, marina, and the Mediterranean.
On our way to the next stop we stopped to wait for a long line of motorcycles to pass – apparently there is a large motorcycle club on Mallorca and hundreds of them were on a semi-annual ride around the island.
We continued through the town onto La Rambla, a central promenade. Since it was Sunday almost of the shops were closed but we enjoyed the tree-lined street.
We stopped at 2 interesting old churches. One was the Church de Sant Francesca, a small church that was the home church of Junipero Serra who was a Franciscan monk who travelled from Mallorca to the west coast of the US in the 1700’s and, starting in the Baja California, worked his way up the coast doing exploring and doing missionary work. He was responsible for staring missions along the way which eventually became the cities that exist today, notably San Francisco, San Jose, San Diego, and Los Angeles.
This was the first time we saw Lantana here – a monstrous bush outside the church
The second church was the church and convent of Santa Magdelena. The “Poor Clares” were one of the first orders of nuns to establish a presence following the reconquest in 1229. The current church building is the 3rd building on that site and was fully renovated in 2007. Over the years they provided baked goods and eggs to couples being married in the church – as a sign of good fortune and fertility. The handful of nuns still cloistered there continue the tradition of baking sweets for sale. the shop was closed because it was Sunday.
After biking for about 2 hours, we stopped at a famous pastry shop, Orxateria i Xocolateria Ca’n Joan de S’Aigo (which has something to do with a chocolate milkshake – rough translation)that has been operating out of that building since the 1700’s. We ordered the local Mallorca specialty pastry – ensaimadas- and of course, ice cream.
Near the bike shop we saw a huge church-like building built in the gothic style in 1452. The inside was beautifully ornate, but it was used as a commercial building for the fisherman conducted their business.
We traveled a little farther along the waterway and then returned the bikes.
We biked with an Australian couple and their 3 boys
Ben, our fearless bike tour guide. He is Dutch, but has married a Mallorcan and lives here now
We quickly walked to the big cathedral, which would only be opened for a short time (from 1-2) today. The Cathedral of Santa Maria de Palma, also called La Seu is a massive, most beautiful structure. It is built on the former site of a Moorish mosque and took almost 400 years to build, from 1229-1601. It is designed in the Catalan Gothic style. The central nave is the highest of all Gothic cathedrals in the world, surpassing even Notre Dame. As impress as the exterior is, the inside is even more impressive. The stained glass windows were absolutely stunning. Jeff thinks that it is the most beautiful church he has seen anywhere; he enjoyed it more than the churches in Rome and Florence. An interesting fact: on the eastern side of the church is a huge round stained glass window measuring over 38 feet in diameter and containing 1,115 pieces of colored glass, called a rosette. The church and windows are aligned such that when the sun is in the proper position a phenomenon called “spectacle of the 8” occurs – the sun shining through the large colored window projects an image on the opposite wall directly under a smaller circular stained window, creating a figure 8. The alignment of the sun works perfectly only 2 days of the year, on February 2 and November 11. These are local festival days and thousands come into the cathedral to witness the phenomenon.
Again, the interior of the church was magnificent and pictures just do not do it justice.
Large rosette
Smaller rosette
We would love to hear this pipe organ
Then we only had a short time to find a place for a late lunch, the Guinness House, right on the lake in front of the cathedral. This was an area that the sea used to come into, but was made into a lake behind a seawall constructed to enable a road to be built along the waterfront. A most beautiful spot on a gorgeous day.
We finished just in time to get back to the ship prior to departure! Dinner again with the usual crew, then back to our cabin where we sat on the balcony and watched the waves go by.
Buenas Noches
