I'm not going to be doing a day-by-day break down of Majorca, partially because its been so long I'm not sure I quite remember what happened each day, and partially because our day-to-day routine really didn't have that much variety to it.
Maya, Jordan, and myself flew down to Mallorca on Saturday, returning the following Sunday. We were flying on Ryanair, which I'm pretty sure is the cheapest of all European airlines, and thus has some pretty strict restrictions on what you can bring in term of luggage (aka pretty small) but luckily you don't really need to bring a lot when all you are planning on doing is lying on a beach for a week! There was a very... rambunctious hen party on the flight, but besides all the screaming, singing, and chanting, it was a pretty awesome flight - Jordan had been sat in the emergency exit row without anyone next to her, so she got the flight attendants' permission for Maya and I to move next to her - so much luxurious leg room!
Upon arriving in Mallorca, we wandered around the airport terminal for a bit until we located Jordan's friend, Chance, who had flew in from Germany, before grabbing a taxi to the hotel, all the way on the other side of the island (a trip that was a total of an hours drive - its not a very big island).
We arrived pretty late, so after wandering down to the beach and grabbing a small bite to eat at a restaurant called Mint (which we returned to quite a few more times) we just headed to bed. The beach was all of five minutes walk from our hotel, and our room, which was located in a small building off the hotel overlooking the pool, included a private balcony - rough stuff.
The loungers filled up pretty quick everyday, with people staking out their claim early in the morning with towels. As none of us had actually thought to bring a beach towel, and were too cheap/broke to buy one of the outrageously overpriced ones at the convenience stores/tourist traps along the beach, we never ended up having a day of lounging around the pool. However, we did spend quite a bit of time hanging out on our balconies - though Maya and myself and Jordan and Chance had booked our trips at different times, we still got adjacent rooms, and thus adjacent balconies, complete with chairs and bitty tables.
Above is the view from the balcony looking back towards town, away from the beach. Our first day there we went to a convenience store and picked up some very cheap wine to drink out on our balcony, which was ridiculously disgusting. After that terrible choice, we stuck to grabbing the occasional cocktail from one of the many restaurant along the beach.
Sunscreen was a definite must for all us pale people who had been huddled up in Scotland for the last couple of months getting whiter and whiter.
We landed on the west side of the island, but our resort was on the east side.
Our hotel included breakfast, so our daily routine was basically along the lines of eating a massive breakfast, heading down to the gelato shop for ice cream and free wifi, and then eating lunch/dinner around four. In between we oscillating between our time on the beach, our time on the balcony, taking siestas, and reading. A lot of reading.
Maya's Spanish was definitely a nice bonus, but the island is such a popular destination for German and English tourists that most of the people working in the town spoke at least some English.
The Mediterranean is absolutely gorgeous - its amazing how blue it is. Canadian oceans as a general rule are not quite as.... welcoming, but the ocean in Mallorca was beautiful, and not too cold (perhaps a bit nippy at first, but not too bad after that).
The weather was also absolutely gorgeous while we were there - though the Americans accompanying me were perhaps not quite as impressed with the highs of 25 celsius as I was (Maya was appalled when I told her how, when moving to Scotland, I left all my winter clothes in Canada as I was moving to a much warmer climate).
Maya got her hair done in braids by a lady at the beach the one day - like a true tourist!
Jordan, Chance, and I played ball on the beach while Maya was getting her hair did, which was a lot of fun, though the combination of super lightweight ball and strong winds did make it a bit of a challenge.
I definitely spent a lot of time reading on this trip - I finished a total of eight books, which was pretty awesome - I read Eleanor & Park and Rangirl by Rainbow Rowell, Let It Snow by John Green, Flash and Bones, Bones Are Forever, and Monday Mourning by Kathy Reichs (all from the Temperance Brennan series), Dead Witch Walking, and The Good, the Bad, and the Undead by Kim Harrison (all from The Hollows series).
It was awesome.
Mint was one of the most frequent places we visited, as they were fairly cheap but also pretty tasty.
I'm not going to have quite as many stories to share on my next post, but I do still have loads of gorgeous pictures to share, so just so you know :)
Kyra Jensine... WOW, I envy the braids!!!! especially now that I am almost bald - - :-(.... Anyway, How long did it take to braid the hair? and how long do they (the braids, I mean) last? The do look awesome. I LOVE YOU!!! ;-) ;-) ;-) "Good for Maya"
ReplyDeleteI'm not quite sure how long it took - we weren't very big on timekeeping this trip :P They lasted about a week - I believe Maya ended up taking them out mostly because she just really wanted to wash her hair.
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