Dave, Victoria and Will have all been to Spain. Today I can say that I have too. It has always been on my list, but you know, already having six ‘S’ countries up my sleeve: Singapore, Solomon Islands, San Marino, Switzerland, South Korea and Slovenia, meant it was hard to convince Dave of the need to come here. But here we are!
Both today and tomorrow we are in Spain. Today we are on the island of Mallorca and tomorrow we will visit Barcelona.
When you think of Spain, what do you think of?
Spanish bull fighters? Spanish Armadas? The Barcelona soccer team?
Maybe siestas? Or Sangrias, flamenco dancers or even Ibiza, the famous party island? (Especially for my kids who loved it there!)
For me, when I think about Spain, I think about food, of course!
My top three things I think of are: Tapas, Paella and Iberian Jamon.
Breakfast this morning consisted of just a small amount of baked beans, one egg and half a toasted bagel. I was preparing for a big day.
We caught the 8€ shuttle bus the 5kms from the terminal into Palma, the capital of Mallorca. Then we walked, and then we walked some more, then after that, yep, we walked a little more. 17,500 steps in total.
We saw lots of things, the imposing Baroque Cathedral, lots and lots of shops, lots and lots of people and lots and lots of sunshine. It was the most beautiful day, high 20s and perfect sunshine. Great day for… walking 🙂
Not such a perfect day for eating. The biggest problem with cruising and only having a short time in each place is it’s hard to avoid the tourist traps. Especially today when we were on foot.
So we ended up at a inner city roadside café, and I ordered the tapas platter for one. Anchovies, braised squid, marinated chicken, Russian salad and patatas bravas. Sounds good?
Nope. Not good. Not even sort of good. Actually very not good. I did taste everything, so I hope I don’t get sick. Dave had an average hamburger, probably a safe option 😉 . Total cost nearly €30.
(Dave thought the notice on the menu was for him 😉 )
So we walked some more (burns calories you know) and found the most amazing deli and I bought a very delicious Jamon crusty roll (Jamon = Spanish ham). Nothing else but Jamon and bread. Simple. Ohhhh, so good.
It was followed by a shared single scoop of gelato (€2). Dulce de leche (caramel) flavoured. It too was very, very good. Smooth with the caramel swirled through. It’s ranked number one on this trip so far. Perhaps I could make a living writing a gelato travel blog; comparing flavours, textures, costs and locations?
We did see some amazing food in shops and cafes across the city.
Here are a few random pics. The supermarket had a whole isle for salamis. Note: The sweet and savoury pastries looked amazing, including the empanadas. The rabbit in the supermarket was well priced, with options for a myriad of cuts. And anyone want a bag of fresh snails?
This time there was no supermarket security guard telling me not to take photos, like there was in Bosnia.
Another ship berthed beside ours this morning, which isn’t unusual, most ports we have visited have had a couple of other ships also visiting.
But today’s ship was pretty impressive – The ‘Harmony of the Seas’ is the largest cruise ship in the world at more than 220,000 tonnes and able to carry 6000 passengers and crew. Apparently it cost over a billion dollars to build.
Another slightly unusual sight we saw today – ‘Mallorcan’ boomerangs. Hmmm.
