Le Seu..

..and Le Parc do la Mar. (Also the building furthest to the left is the Almundaina Palace)

With some long strides along the promenade we managed to get the 9.30 am bus into Palma this morning and we arrived in the huge bus station under the Plaza Espana by 10.20.
(Getting into the lift to leave the hotel we were greeted by a cyclist in full regalia with his bike propped up on end. Chris asked if he slept with it and he responded  ‘Yes it’s too expensive to put in the bike room’ !)

We made our way down through the town stopping at the Hotel Cort opposite the town hall for a coffee. Two things of interest were the Cartier shop next to the hotel ( nothing in the windows) and a massive and very ancient Olive tree in the centre of the square.

Then on down to the cathedral area. We picked up the signs for the Banys Arabs and followed those stopping first at the Episcopal Palace gardens. We’ve been to both before but they are delightful little places and a bit off the main tourist radar.
You can see the baths in the extra, they originate from the 10th century when the moors were in charge on the island.
The extra also shows the Episcopal Gardens. Both can be found in the twisty old streets behind the cathedral.
We walked back through the Parc do la Mar below the cathedral, the sea used to come right up to the walls here.
There was of course a huge queue to get into the cathedral, we’ve been in twice before so decided to give it a miss this time. The first time in 1975 it was Easter and unbelievably Franco was still in power. They were decorating the cathedral ready for Easter but during Franco’s reign they were only allowed to play solemn music on Good Friday. This applied everywhere even on TV.  The second time we visited was 10 years ago and as we were staying in Palma we probably got in ahead of the large queues. I blipped Gaudi’s interior work then taken exactly 10 years ago today..

Familiar now with where we were we went up the lovely Passeig des Born with its Egyptian style lions and soon found the Hotel Born where we stayed just off the main square up a narrow street.  A lovely  old building, I’d happily stay there again.

A bit tentative about directions when we arrived memory kicked in and from here I found my way back to Plaza Espana without any problems. We stopped off at the Mercat l’Olivar. This is a fabulous food market, another must visit. There are tables and stools around the stalls where you can get such goodies as champagne and oysters! Obviously very popular with the locals as it was packed with people eating. We bought an empanada each, Chris had fish and I had vegetable and we ate them in the square outside in the sun.

No wait for the bus back and we were soon enjoying the sun back in Port de Soller. Lots of people on the beach today. See extra 2
Time for a drink on the promenade and we shared some olives and Gambas (Prawns with garlic). I’m gradually working my way through the tapas dishes I like. We wanted tapas last night but the place we fancied was fully booked so we had to look elsewhere. ( It is remarkably busy here for early season). We got a table at a restaurant near our hotel where we were greeted by a Robot! I had the fish of the day which was sea bass, which I love, but wasn’t really anticipating a whole one!

That will do us for today, another good one and no rain!