Historic Mallorca

Mallorca, Spain

Mallorca is the largest island in the Balearics, often likened to a continent, rather than simply an island, due to the variety found there. We went to Mallorca to meet up with our friends Mike and Linda on Aquila and spent more than a week traveling, on land and by sea, to visit some of the island’s highlights.

Palma, Mallorca’s capital, has a cultural richness not found in most contemporary cities. You can find any modern convenience that you want or need in Palma, just around the corner from historic treasures that have changed little in centuries.

Taking the old train to Soller was fun, but after a hot day exploring this lovely town, we preferred the air-conditioned express bus to back to Palma.

Our road trip included quaint villages like Valldemosa, seaside towns like Portocristo, the Mallorcan pearl factory and wineries.

Yes, they even have wineries in Mallorca and they make some pretty good wine.

Eleven miles from Palma is the island of Cabrera, a national park in Mallorca, where anchoring is not permitted and visiting boats must obtain a permit to stay on one of the fifty moorings for only one night during high season. The permit process was quite grueling, mostly because of our limited language skills. While we can understand some Spanish, Catalan, a language used often in the Balearics, is a complete mystery to us. After much confusion, we were able to visit the island, which was well worth the effort.

Also while in Mallorca, we were able to meet up with fellow ARC rallier, Michael on Splendido, and fellow Caribbean 1500 ralliers John and Cindi on Glass Slipper. It’s fun to run into people you know so far away from home. Who said there were no American-flagged boats in the Mediterranean?