Destination: Mallorca aka Majorca, Spain
Date: January 2012
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Trent and I posing at the Bellver Castle in Mallorca
January 2013 |
As you can probably tell from my title of this post I was not overly impressed by Mallorca! After our last stop in Malta I was ready for another beautiful island with lots of beautiful architecture, instead I felt like we landed in Miami Beach circa 1980. Everything was run down but not the beautiful run down with old buildings and history. There are massive amounts of apartments that look like they were built in the 70’s and 80’s and everything is dirty. Worst of all the streets are totally ransacked with dog poop! Not the jet set island described in the travel flyers!
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Some of the area near the waterfront that we walked through trying to find a taxi
Not so desirable, January 2013 |
When we landed at the Palma Port we were ready for another day of adventure. We had a few ideas of what we’d like to see but we were open to whatever came our way. As always Trent started the negotiating with taxi drivers and we were unimpressed by the steep fees they were trying to charge us. So we set off to walk into town and find cheaper taxis.
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The day started off cold when we landed at the port in Mallorca
January 2013 |
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Kids playing a clapping game while we wait for Dad to negotiate some taxi rides
Colton is such a good sport
January 2013 |
About two miles into our walk the kids were growing tired of the dirty streets and the dog poop hopping. Seriously, no one picks up after their dogs and it was absolutely gross hoping over the massive amounts of poop in the streets. We had no choice and had to keep moving until we found taxis, a cathedral, a palace or something. So far we were unimpressed. Finally we found two taxis at the same time and jumped in with our directions to take us to the Cathedral.
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Spotted these two cuties as we rode in separate taxis around town
Mallorca, Spain January 2013 |
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We finally made it to the Cathedral of Mallorca!
January 2013 |
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Inside of the Cathedral, all decorated for the holidays
January 2013 |
The Calthedral of Mallorca is huge, www.catedraldemallorca.info. It cost us 6E each to get in, but 10-years and younger are free. Our lucky day. The kids were not very excited to be in yet another church so they sat while Trent and I made our rounds. It is a huge cathedral built over a 200 year time span from 1300-1500’s. It was massive and as all buildings this size, it is hard to imagine building this without modern technology. We made our rounds in the cathedral and our real excitement didn’t start until we found the water closet and Bella needed to use it.
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On the floor of the cathedral. I thought this was an interesting mural
inside of a cathedral
Mallorca, January 2013 |
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The bathroom signs on the doors were a little confusing for some at the Mallorca Cathedral
January 2013 |
She walked in the bathroom and I waited outside with the boys. I could see straight into the stall door since the door to the bathroom was open. While we were waiting we noticed the door to the mens room was closed, and for some reason this confused the men trying to use the bathroom and they began going into the womens bathroom. Colton wanted to solve this problem and decided to shut the women’s room so everyone could see the signs. For some reason a Spanish woman working the water closets was not happy with his closing of the womens bathroom door and murmured something to Colon. A little humiliated, we continued to wait on Bella. We didn’t have to wait long for her crying to draw me into the restroom to find out she couldn’t get the bathroom door unlocked. Of course this drew a crowd and because the bathroom door went to about 6” off the ground I didn’t see any hope of her crawling under, nor did I really want her head pressed against the floor of this foreign bathroom. Five minutes of crying, more and more people trying to help and with Clay finally willing to go into the womens room to see if he could fit his head under the door to help his sister she finally got the door unlatched. Our goal was to get out of there as quick as possible.
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Leah points the way to the Arab Baths
Mallorca, January 2013 |
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Navigating one of the tiny streets in this city and trying to keep the kids safe was
a little crazy
Mallorca, January 2013 |
From the Mallorca Cathedral we moved onto our next site to see and that was the Arab Baths more info can be found at www.mallorcaweb.com. The baths date back to the tenth century. With a few signs we were finally able to find our destination, not far from the cathedral but down some very windy streets. The Arab baths were basically steam saunas back in the day with a beautiful garden court yard. Since this sight was off the beaten path we had it pretty much to ourselves so Trent and I took some photos and then took a seat to rest a little. By now we had walked about four miles with all six kiddos. The kids began a fun little game of tag in the courtyard around the greenery and it was all fun and games until Leah took a front face plant into a puddle of mud. We were soon off again with looks of distain from our Spanish friends.
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Arab Baths in Mallorca
January 2013 |
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In the gardens of the Arab Baths
Mallorca, January 2013 |
Since she didn’t get too dirty we were able to keep on going and were thrilled that our back alley walking, where we almost were hit by several cars, street cleaners, and dump trucks, finally came out to a main shopping district. This made us all a little happier especially when we found a candy store called, La Cure Gourmande, www.la-cure-gourmande.es. Then of course just two doors down we came across a crepe place and the kids had to make a second stop for crepes. Of course more food equals more drinking and more drink in small bladders means we’ve got to find another restroom. Ahhh Bella, sometimes traveling with a five-year-old can be so much fun. Thankfully children needing to use a restroom is a universal problem that crosses all culture boundaries and so many store owners, and restaurants were very kind and let us use their restrooms where ever we went.
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Finding a great candy store in downtown Mallorca made our day!
Mallorca, January 2013 |
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Walking the narrow streets and dodging cars
Mallorca, January 2013 |
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So happy to find this place just when we needed some refreshment
Mallorca January 2013 |
It was now time to make a decision. It was getting close to 1:00 in the afternoon and we needed to decide if we wanted to eat lunch or find our next sight seeing destination. Granted the kids had just had candy at a candy store and crepes on the street but I voted for food since mom needed another rest. Our goal in finding food is that it looks good, the establishment looks clean but not too fancy, no one wants six kids sitting at tiny tables with wine glasses. Also just finding a place in Europe that can sit eight people, preferably inside, because the weather was on the cool side. We happened to find a taxi stand and a restaurant at the same time. Gino’s was clean, very large for European standards, and luckily was opening its doors at exactly 1:00 and we were the first customers of the day, more info can be found at www.ginos.es. At that point I didn’t care what they served I felt like this was providence.
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Lexi and Leah loved eating pizza for lunch almost everyday of the trip!
Mallorca, January 2013 |
Of course it was Italian food on a Spanish island but we didn’t care. Give us some more pizza we were ready. By now even Clay had grown to enjoy pizza if we served it with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. We ordered our standard five pizzas, a few appetizers, and everyone was able to rest and of course use the restroom.
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Colton took the extra pizza to go and ended up eating it twenty minutes later when we arrived at the Bellver Castle
Mallorca, January 2013 |
During our trip while we wait for our food to be prepared, we usually end up playing a lot of games to keep the kids busy. We start off with a simplified jeopardy in which I make up the questions and pick either the big kids or the little kids as able to answer the question. From there our game mutates to other versions of this game with kids asking questions, and then we have spelling bees or if all else fails we play telephone. It makes for some pretty crazy meals and the kids love having fun with one another. Though Trent and I just wish sometimes we could take another table close by and have a romantic meal on this island in the Mediterranean we try and stay focused on why we are here as a family and the camaraderie we are trying to cultivate.
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Posing outside of the Bellver Castle with our whole family!
Mallorca, January 2013 |
After paying our bill we headed out to find taxis. We had one more site to see before heading back to our boat and we were determined to see it, The Bellver Castle. More info can be found at www.mallorcatour.net This castle is located about a mile and a-half outside of town up on a hill. It gives a beautiful view of the city and the marina and again is amazing architecture from something built in the 1300’s. Though it’s been used for many purposes it is just a museum now.
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Taking some model shots while we wait for Dad and Clay to buy our entrance tickets
Mallorca, January 2013 |
After our taxi fare of about 5E each taxi to get up there, yes we have to take two taxi’s where ever we go, it was free to get in the castle. It wasn’t supposed to be a free admission into the castle but the ticket machine was broken and once Trent explained that to the ticket taker at the gate we were waved through at no charge. I’m not sure if I loved the castle so much because it was free or if it looked like castles in my dreams look but it was a beautiful castle. Just like any fairytale except it wasn’t a fairytale this was a real life castle. We took a lot of pictures, read about the history of this ancient place and enjoyed all the displays that were open to the public. The kids only got yelled at once for climbing on an old well in the center of the castle so I felt like it had been a successful visit.
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The beautiful views of Mallorca from the Bellver Castle
Mallorca, January 2013 |
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Bailey getting all snug into the castle walls
Mallorca, January 2013 |
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Bailey overlooking the harbor from the top of the Bellver Castle
Mallorca, January 2013 |
I should mention that my kids got yelled at a lot while we were on this European vacation. I’m not sure why that was since I don’t think they acted any worse than they do in the US. However, my theory is that Europeans look at children as being all of their responsibility and not just the parents, so they feel just fine reprimanding a child who isn’t theirs unlike in the US where most of us leave it to the parents to say something. I can’t say it ever hurt my feelings or embarrassed me. Maybe it is because I don’t speak any of their languages or maybe because they most seemed to give me a sly smile after their reprimand which made me feel like “I got this lady, no worries.” Either way, I was appreciative because after 13 days of reprimanding them I enjoyed hearing others do my job. Of course I don’t think Trent feels the same way... ;)
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Clay inside the castle peeking over the second floor balcony
Mallorca, January 2013 |
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Bailey trying to keep the statues modest at the castle
Believe it or not she's not even touching this statue
Mallorca, January 2013 |
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Leave it to Bella to find a nice little nook to crawl into and out of reach of Mom and Dad
Mallorca, January 2013 |
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Colton is acting out the part
Mallorca, January 2013 |
Lastly, after our kinda disappointing day in Mallorca, I think this is really meant to be a summer destination. We probably didn’t enjoy it like we could have because it is known for being a beach and water activity type island. If I could come back I’d like to come in the summer months when I could enjoy this island during its prime season. I’d also like to get outside of the city and visit some of the other smaller towns that are known for their big handicraft events or even go across the island and visit the caverns on the cliffside of Mallorca. Maybe next time Mallorca you will leave me in a better mood but until then, pass some laws on dog poop on the side walks, and do a little power washing on your apartment buildings and I’ll see you in the summer....
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Bailey inside the castle walls
Mallorca, January 2013 |
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All eight of us inside the Bellver Castle
Mallorca, January 2013 |
Safe and Happy Travels!!
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