Tag: Palma de Mallorca

Architecture, ART, Attractions, DESTINATIONS, Gardens, International, Restaurants & Bars, Shore Excursions, TRAVEL

The Last Day of Cruising

Jane Sadek
Palma de Mallorca, Tapas Walking Tour, Beewi Tapas Bar
Spanish tortilla mushrooms in a sauce patatas bravas and a typical Mallorca sweet cake at Beewi in Palma de Mallorca

TRAVEL THERE: TAPAS TASTING IN PALMA DE MALLORCA

Confession, this is where my travel journal ended.  For some reason I happily journaled all through the trip and just quit after our day on the French Rivera. Another confession, while I blogged about most of this trip in the weeks right after the cruise, life got busy and I took a break that lasted longer than I anticipated.  So eleven months after the cruise, here I am finishing up the last few posts of this trip.  Glad you are still with me. 

Large Storm in a Small Teacup

While traveling is fun, it is also tiring and while traveling with your friends has a lot of benefits, after the trial by vacation we’d been on, it was time to go home.  Everyone needed some personal down time, but it was still a few days away.

One of the things that got my visit to Monaco off on the wrong foot was a scheduled meeting with the photographer.  Bill hadn’t wanted to have a photographer at the vow renewal ceremony in the first place, because he thinks the onboard photography thing is a racket – one that charges entirely too much.  However, the photographer was non-negotiable.  Since he didn’t want the photographer there, he really wasn’t interested in a meeting with them to look at the photos and when it conflicted with his desire to go visit Monaco, well, Monaco won.  I’m so ruled by the things that I am supposed to do, that I wasn’t able to blow off the appointment with as much aplomb as he was, especially since there was no way to contact her and let her know what was going on.  We just stood her up.  I felt bad for the photographer.  She was just trying to do her job.  

Eventually, she got in contact with us and I was able to apologize.  The appointment was reset for this day.  If we had gone in Monaco, then we would have gone on our own and quite possibly would have said thanks, but no thanks, except for perhaps a few as gifts to our friends.  As it was, we ended up with the whole crew of us in the very small space of the photo office and not everyone was on the same page.  It was also the very last moment.  If we didn’t make a decision right then, there would be no photos for anyone.

The photos were beautiful.  The price was astronomical.  Some folks thought that I should have every single one.  Bill was paralyzed with sticker shock.  I just wanted it to be over.  We arrived at a compromise that wasn’t quite what anyone wanted, but we moved on.

The Shore Excursion

Everyone went their separate ways after the photo storm.  We knew we’d be seeing each other at 2:15 for the Tapas Walking Tour.  The meeting place instructions changed and even after we started gathering on the pier, there seemed to be some sort of question about where we were supposed to be.  I think our crew was almost as ready for us to go home as we were.

The good news was our guide was somewhat better on this day.  She loaded us on a bus and delivered us to  Bellver Castle.  It was really just a photo op with a great view of the harbor.  From there, they parked the bus and we set out on foot.

Our first tapas stop was El Pesquero, a sea-side patio restaurant.  The food was delicious and the patio was amazing.  I personally could have just stayed there and been perfectly happy.

El Pesquero was in the shadow of the old cathedral, so our walking tour began there.  We passed lovely plazas and canals along the way and then we arrived at Beewi.  Beewi was just a small cafe with nothing much to recommend it, besides the food and what they served was delicious.  Deb and I agreed the view in the cafe was also quite nice, if you like to look at handsome Spanish men.

Next up was Es Rebost where we were able to order whatever we wanted.  I went for something with beef, since we hadn’t had any of that yet.  Then it was time to head back to the boat, where an absolute delight waited for us.  Come back next week and see what I mean.

Attractions, Cruising, DESTINATIONS, International, TRAVEL, Travel Planning

The Promise of Palma

Jane Sadek

Palma de Mallorca
Planning for Palma

TRAVEL THERE: PLANNING THE FINAL ACTIVITY

Palma de Mallorca – a soupcon of Spain before heading home.  The main thing I knew about Mallorca was that it had pearls.  Would I love some?  Of course!  Was I actually going to buy any?  Probably not!  So what do you do on Mallorca?

What I Wanted

Since I didn’t have any idea of what Mallorca was really all about, I was eager to find out what Celebrity Cruise Lines offered.  Then I read about a flamenco performance.  I adore flamenco.  The guitar, the castanets, the mournful voices, the gorgeous frilled dresses.  I’ve read all the books that tell me there is no way I will truly understand flamenco or bullfighting, but that’s OK, because even with my very limited knowledge of this art of dance, I find it fascinating.

There were a couple of other options that sounded interesting – a Tapas Walking Tasting Tour, a botanical garden tour and a castle tour.  The castle tour sounded amazing.  They would have costumed actors living out the castle’s days of glory.  There would be some sort of equestrian demonstration and a shopping opportunity for native crafts.  The excursion would be topped off with a feast.  Now that’s a shore excursion.

What I Considered

Though the castle tour sounded great, it was also pricey.  The Naples and Florence tours had already taken a chunk out of my budget – not to mention the vow renewal ceremony.  Another top tier shore excursion might get me in hot water.  Besides, it was a castle thing, which reeked of a historical, museum-type experience.  My friends might not be as excited about that as I would be and their pocketbooks might also be straining.

A garden was always a good thing in my book.  They rank very high in my interests.  With both Deb and Bill I’ve visited a whole bunch of them.  A little research told me that while it was a garden, I’d seen many, many gardens which were superior. In fact, we’d be visiting the Boboli on this trip and it would for sure put this garden to shame.  No, the garden wasn’t the right choice.

The Tapas Tour sounded pretty good, but this was a cruise and we’d have more food staring us down than we’d be able to consume. And walking?  Would everyone be totally walked out by this juncture in the trip.

What I Booked

When I reasoned out the Flamenco show was the very best thing, I realized just how happy that had made me.  There had really been no competition.  While I always want to do a little of everything, flamenco was much to be preferred over everything else – and besides, dance was one of Deb’s very favorite things and she would love to see it.

So we booked the Flamenco Show, but it didn’t stay booked.  Someone somewhere in Celebrity Cruise world decided to cancel this shore excursion.  I tried to find out why, thinking perhaps it might be worth booking our own excursion, but a little research told me the flamenco show had gone the way of all tourist traps and Celebrity was probably saving me from myself.

None of my reservations about the garden or the castle had changed, so that left the Tapas Tour.  Food, wine, walking…what could go wrong?  We booked the walking tour.

While booking, I went ahead and signed up for a tour/transfer in our Debarkation city, Barcelona – another city like Rome that I was dying to see – Las Ramblas, the Cathedral, so many wonderful memories to make.  However, like a tour of Rome it was a pipe dream.  We cancelled Rome because the schedule was just too tight and in the end we had to cancel the Barcelona tour also and for the same reason.  With an international flight leaving at two, we’d have to be to the airport before twelve and that was too soon to be on the tour.

Seven ports of call, seven shore excursions.  Two cancelled, two changed.  Now I was running out of things to plan.  come back next week and we’ll talk about the vow renewal ceremony.