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.
jane sadek 