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| Balvenie at Palmanova's busy beach |
The wind is howling through so we are staying put here in Palma, the wind generator is whizzing away (noisily) but creating plenty of power for the laptop, Mark is ashore ensconced in a bar happily watching the final rounds of Golfs Ryder Cup, oh, and the sun is shining - what more could we ask for?
We left sleepy little Porto Petro and sailed in the seabreeze down to the bottom left tip of Mallorca and around into the bite of Ensenada de la Rapita. As expected the dreaded swell just kept on following us but eventually we managed to tuck behind most of it and anchored off the beautiful long white sand beach of Playa del Trench. There were just a handful of yachts, and although many sunloungers and umbrellas were onshore there was no accommodation or people and the immediate land looked like national park, it was beautiful. I had my first swim in Spain in gin clear water and could see the ripples of sand on the bottom, it was magic. For the first time since arriving in the Balearics we had not had any rain and at sunset we were treated to clear skies, long may it last! Next morning we took a long walk ashore along the sandy beach, unfortunately paradise can never be perfect - southerly winds were forecast and this did not have enough cover so we lifted anchor mid morning and had a great sail aft of the beam the 25 miles across to Palmanova in the Bay of Palma.
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| Leisurely lunch at Soller |
We have been out enjoying the sights. It's about 45 minutes by bus from here into Palma city. The first day we got all ready for a big day out and set off ashore, but there were strikes on protesting at the "austerity measures", no buses that day so it was back to boat chores instead. We tried again the next day, more successfully, we got a bus into Palma Station, then connected with the small narrow gauge tourist train through inland Mallorca's valleys to the beautiful town of Soller. This vintage train has been running through the scenic Serra de Tramuntansa since 1911. Soller is in a stunning setting with high peaks around it, just a small town but with some handsome buildings and a large plaza area with many trees splendid in their autumnal colours.
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| Narrow gauge train to Soller |
There is a tram that runs from the town down to the port area, it was very busy - sadly we had chosen a day with 6 cruise ships in Palma port (yes, VERY busy!!!), so we decided to walk down. Unless you really need to stretch your legs don't do this, we walk fast and it was over an hour, little shade and very hot, a bad idea but worth it when you are rewarded with such a beautiful harbour setting. If we had been here before leaving the northern coast we would have come down the west coast by boat and stayed a couple of nights.
After all our exercise we relaxed and had an excellent late lunch harbourside, the quality and selection of food we have experienced so far in Spain has been the best in Europe and it is the most affordable, we are enjoying Spain. We walked all around the harbour then caught the tram back up the hill, had a final stroll around town and headed for the bus station.
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| Inland Mallorca Olive grove |
On another day we caught the bus into Palma again and explored the city. What a lovely European city this is, fine old buildings, spacious tree lined streets, open plazas with sidewalk cafes, all very clean and with no traffic pollution, a really agreeable place. We stopped in a vibrant plaza and sat in a street cafe enjoying the best coffee we have had in Europe, life is good. Revitalized we hit the streets, exploring the side streets and little lanes, seeing all there was on offer. The Municipal Market at Placa del Olivar was a great stop with an abundance of fresh produce, seafood and meats. The hundreds of hung smoked legs of pork dominated one corner, while the endless varieties of olives left us drooling. There were a couple of great extremely busy tapas counters there too, getting close enough to order and choosing from all the delectable goodies was the hard part.
Then it was off to the Palma Cathedral, as the photo shows it is an outstanding looking building both inside and out. Religion may have, and still does, cause more tension and wars than anything else but the need to worship in holy surroundings has certainly, over the centuries left us with some fine religious buildings, and this is no exception. Construction started in 1306 and took around 300 years, it has had many restorations since, a major one being after severe earthquake damage in 1851. There are 61 stained glass windows and with the sun shining in the internal light was magnificent. Many great architects and artists have stamped their mark on parts of the cathedral, Antoni Gaudi being one. Most recently Miquel Barcelo reformed the Chapel of the Holy Sacrament, goodness me - what was he thinking? this is a cathedral not an underwater theme park. Still, maybe we do not have a fine enough appreciation of modern art - each to their own.
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| Palma's spectacular Cathedral |
Then it was off to the Palma Cathedral, as the photo shows it is an outstanding looking building both inside and out. Religion may have, and still does, cause more tension and wars than anything else but the need to worship in holy surroundings has certainly, over the centuries left us with some fine religious buildings, and this is no exception. Construction started in 1306 and took around 300 years, it has had many restorations since, a major one being after severe earthquake damage in 1851. There are 61 stained glass windows and with the sun shining in the internal light was magnificent. Many great architects and artists have stamped their mark on parts of the cathedral, Antoni Gaudi being one. Most recently Miquel Barcelo reformed the Chapel of the Holy Sacrament, goodness me - what was he thinking? this is a cathedral not an underwater theme park. Still, maybe we do not have a fine enough appreciation of modern art - each to their own.
Cruising notes for Isla Gabina/Playa del Trench and Palma Nova, Mallorca:-
Anchorages -
Isla Gabina - 39 20.183N 02 59.118E 4.9m clear sea, sandy bottom. We anchored further south first to get more shelter form the swell and thought we were on sand, but when the sun came out we could see we were on a flat stone bottom with small crevices. We moved further north to the sandy bottom, it was a little rollier but great holding
Palmanova - 39 30.931N 02 32.478E 4.0m hard sand/weed. Not great holding, several boats dragged in 20knots (some superyachts). Morning breeze came in from the east (for 4 days) until around 11am then dropped off, nothing forecast from east. Good shelter from NW to SSE, and can move to other end of bay for more N protection, or to little islands (2 miles away) for some E cover.
Communications - Phone signal excellent, no unlocked WIFI but dongle worked well
Ashore - Just a shacky beach bar at Isla Gabina which closed at sunset. Palmanova: we left the dinghy on the small concrete jetty on the eastern (seaward) side as shallow as possible, not many cleats, a small ferry uses this dock so stay well in. When full we left it on the tiny adjacent beach. There are hundreds of eateries, dozens of little minimarkets selling (holiday) basics, the Eroski Supermarket is right at the northern end of the bay (take dinghy to tiny harbour and it's right there or walk along seafront), its on the road that goes inland and about the 2nd building on the right. Good selection fruit, veg, meat at very reasonable prices. Plenty ATMs, English newspapers, didn't see fuel anywhere, bus stops on road inland parallel to beach.
Formalities - The large blue Spanish Customs (Aduana) Boat came into the bay most evenings. We were boarded by 3 officers who asked to see our passports, ships papers and boat insurance. They gave us a copy of their paperwork (which we showed to them the next night when they came again!!), they were polite and took just a few minutes.
Sightseeing - Buses 104, 105 and 106 run into Palma about every 20 minutes. 2.75E p/p o/w buy tickets on bus. We stayed on till the station then went up to street level, turned right and a couple of buildings along is the Ferrocarril de Soller where you catch the tourist train. 10.00E p/p o/w. Times Mar-Oct 0800, 1010, 1050, 1215, 1330, 1510. http://www.trendesoller.com/ Tourist office in Soller is by train station in Soller they can give you bus times for return, 210 is scenic and 211 express 2.45E p/p o/w (cheap). Tram down to Soller port is 4.00E o/w p/p. Palma Cathedral is 4.00E p/p. When you catch the bus back to Palmanova the stop at the Cathedral gets very busy, we were leaving people behind in October!
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