Travel Day
After a breakfast of pastries and coffee, and a few last-minute jobs completed, we set off at 11am, the car fully loaded with three suitcases and cabin bags. How long were we going for?
We had a good journey down, with only a slight hold-up just before Luton, so we got to the long-stay parking right on time! Luckily the weather was lovely and sunny for the trek over to the bus stop, and soon we were joined by a whole throng of people waiting for the shuttle to the terminal.
I have never seen Luton airport so quiet... the place was almost deserted, and there were no queues at bag drop for our EasyJet flight to Palma. Before we could check the bags in, we were asked for our Spanish Health forms and Covid passes, which took us a bit by surprise, but I suppose there was no point letting us on the plane if we didn't have the right documents! Sophie and Zain took charge and then checked the suitcases in for us. We were told we couldn't wear our own re-usable masks on the plane so we had to go and buy medical masks from WH Smith... more rules we didn't know about!
To be honest, the whole process, which I was dreading, wasn't too bad. Security was as normal, and for once, I wasn't scanned, prodded and poked, but Keith was, poor thing. Once through, we headed for a restaurant called The Smithfield Pub and Kitchen and ordered chicken tenders, a basket of crispy fish, French fries and drinks. Outside we could see the planes landing and taking off so it began to feel very exciting!
We enjoyed a leisurely lunch and then made our way to the departure gate for the flight. It was half-full and Keith had a whole row of seats to himself, which was a bonus! Sophie and I enjoyed a drink (G&T and a whisky and lemonade) and very soon we were touching down at Palma airport.
The walk from the gate to baggage reclaim must be one of the longest walks of any airport. On the way, we were harangued by several people wanting to see our Spanish Health forms and at passport control, our passports were stamped! This caused me considerable excitement for some reason! That hasn't happened for decades and is a by-product of us no longer being in the EU. It certainly did feel strange going into the "Other Passports" queue instead of the EU line!
Although several people had asked us about the Health Form, things got serious towards the end of our marathon trek to baggage reclaim. Finally, the forms were scanned properly and everything was declared correct. We collected our cases and made our way out into the chilly (another novelty for us at Palma) night to get a taxi to the hotel.
Is it wise to go back?
The last time we had stayed at the Hotel Balear, we were entranced by the huge rooms we were given, and the overall quirkiness of the place. It was a typical Spanish hotel, with all brown tiles, wooden furniture and hard floors, but we really liked it and wanted to go back to explore more of the surrounding area - Ca'n Pastilla. We checked in and were given adjoining rooms on the third floor. Sophie and Zain went into the lift first as it's antique, and we had almost broken it before when all four of us got in with our luggage!
When Keith and I arrived at our room, we were met by Sophie who wasn't looking happy... their room was small, she said and smelt of cigarette smoke, which hadn't pleased Zain at all...
Our room was equally small but we had a balcony and a view over the church square below, where the trees were lit up with fairy lights. We could also faintly smell smoke, but to be honest, both Keith and I were happy to be back in Mallorca and the room was very clean.
We all unpacked and I stood on the balcony and watched the comings and goings of the people below. Keith and I told Sophie that we were going next door for a drink and that we would see them later. Neither Keith nor I were hungry but we were hoping for tapas with our drinks!
Again, our memories of the small bar next door were very happy ones. We had turned up late and had been given beer and tapas, and the food was something we weren't expecting. We walked in this evening to find a very rowdy and noisy bar with a group of men standing celebrating. Keith and I went to a table to sit down and we were shrieked at by the woman serving. She wrote something on the table - the Spanish equivalent of reserved - but how on earth were we to know? We sat down elsewhere and I was faced with a huge television screen showing a football match in progress. I felt very uncomfortable and the noise level was tremendous. Keith ordered beers for both of us, and the tiny Spanish barmaid plonked them down on the table with a dish of what looked like coleslaw and crusty bread.
We tried some (I thought it was tuna) and but think it was chicken coleslaw. Whatever it was, it was delicious and it soon disappeared, as did the beers! The noise level from the group of men rose and fell and we were soon joined by a chihuahua who took a liking to Keith...
Various people wandered in and out and another man with a dog joined the throng. He looked homeless, to be honest, and his dog was wearing a red padded jacket, so at least he was warm! The reason for not being able to sit at our original table soon became obvious when more bar staff started moving tables and chairs about, making the most incredible noise in the process. Why they couldn't have picked up the chairs to move them, I have no idea, but they scraped them about and changed the configuration at least twice. They were obviously expecting a big party to come in!
While this was going on, Sophie appeared to say that she and Zain were going to eat later and for us to do our own thing. We were a bit surprised but accepted that they probably wanted to be on their own. She went back to the hotel, and we left as it was pretty clear that our table was wanted for the large party coming in later.
Keith and I walked down to the end of the road and reached the beach. We could see the waves rolling in but it didn't like there was much open apart from a KFC and a Burger King. To our right, the road curved around and we could see a few lit-up places. but we decided to head back into the built-up area and try our luck down one of the side streets.
We came across three restaurants and chose Fins Tapas and Cocktails. It was a very pretty restaurant with lots of greenery and homemade Christmas decorations. Tinkly piano music was playing softly in the background and we took a table near to the bar.
I wasn't that hungry (all that tapas) so I chose Tempura battered prawns on skewers, while Keith opted for the grilled Sea Bass. I'd messaged Sophie to tell her about the three restaurants we'd found - a steakhouse on the corner, Fins, and another next door called Armonia - and she said they might see us later.
Gradually, the restaurant filled up and I was transfixed by a blind woman and her mother (I presumed). They sat and ate lots of lovely food, laughed and chatted a lot and drank red wine and she didn't seem to be put out by her blindness at all.
We enjoyed a lovely meal and just after we finished Sophie and Zain arrived and sat at the table next to us.
They shared starters and Sophie had a particularly lovely dish - slices of grilled pork on a bed of crispy potatoes! I wish I'd had that now!
Keith and I managed dessert, mango cheesecake and we said goodnight to Sophie and Zain who were still eating. We ambled back to the hotel and fell into bed... it had been a long day!
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