Deia

A sunny but slightly late start for us today. We decided to go to Deia on the bus to Palma, which takes the old route through Valdemossa, at 10.30 because we could.
Pros and cons of using the bus,
It’s quite a walk out of town.
You can miss it - we did, the bus went at 10.20!
You wonder if it will turn up and whether you will get on it - the mini bus to Fornalutx turned people away as it was full.

BUT 
You don’t  have to hire a car
It’s cheap
You don’t have to drive on these crazy roads

Beautiful scenery all the way up these twisty hairpin bend roads but you can’t stop, there would be nowhere to park anyway and there’s nowhere to park at your destination either!
The bus has to swing right onto the other side of the road to negotiate the bends meeting cars coming the other way. It can’t get passed lorries it meets easily and then there are the cyclists! In their hundreds, I’m not against cyclists my son in law is an avid one but on these roads in numbers it’s a different matter. Deia was full of them. We had coffee with many at this cafe where I took the view back to the village climbing up the hill. 
The extra shows a group of cyclists passing on the road along side and a plate hanging in the cafe.

We had a wander back up into the main part of the village dominated by the church on one side and the Hotel Residence on the other. This was originally Richard Branson’s Hotel, he now owns one in Bunyola between Soller and Palma. It is now part of the Belmont group who own Reid’s Palace in Funchal, Madeira. It has made this pretty and spectacularly situated little village rather exclusive. Extra 
After our wander we sat at the bus stop eating a banana from breakfast. We had a fun half hour watching completely bonkers traffic when a delivery van blocked the road, then a school bus and a dumper truck that was continually moving rubble from the creation of a new road to the hotel. A man who had just crossed the road with his newly purchased toilet rolls stopped to direct traffic, it was great fun. Three German ladies sat next to us were finding the ins and outs of the parking (or not able to) opposite, hilarious too. 
On the way back I took some pics of the scenery from the bus but the tinted windows have given them a funny hue.
The German ladies were having hysterics at the front of the bus as it negotiated the bends and met other traffic on the wrong side, a great outing!
Back in Port de Soller it had clouded a bit so we got some warming tea and cake. I had Mallorca Almond cake, a speciality. It was warm, nutty and delicious,
Back to the hotel to start to pack but the sun came out again so we went back out for a last sit by the sea and a drink. Lovely!