A week in Mallorca

Summer in the middle of the year is still a confusing thing coming from Australia, adding to that we had never been in Europe during summer. But you wouldnt even know summer had arrived living in Dublin. Sure we have had a few warmer days, my office building is naturally ventilated and unless it goes over 22 degrees outside then the air conditioning kicks in, and that has only happened twice so far this Summer!

So we had to go somewhere guaranteed to get some sunshine and warmth, we had a great choice but you have to get in early as flights everywhere sell out fast and independent travel is difficult because the tour companies book everything up early. After much consideration we decided on Mallorca, and we are sure glad we did. Right in the middle of the Mediterranean

We went the complete independent route, we booked a rural house (casita) and a nifty car to get around

This is me with our wheels for the week in the village car park

It was a great car for getting around the island, especially the narrow village streets

We actually arrived on a late flight due to land at about 9:30pm but it was then delayed by about 1 hour so by the time we drove across the island through the 3k tunnel under the mountain we got to the house at about 12pm luckily it was easy to find. This is the view up to our village Fornalutx

This was the front door to our place

We where right on a little square with about 3 bars\cafes to choose from and a little local store, we spent at least a few hours per day drinking and eating on the square

The town is still mostly locals with a few expats moving in and renovating the old buildings. It was amazing to explore the old lanes

Our town Fornalutx was a great base for the less touristed part of the island on the western coast, we spent most of our time exploring the old towns, beaches and doing quite a few walks into the mountains.

This was a town we ventured to on the northern end of the island Pollenca, it is famous for its 365 steps up to a historic cathedral on the hill. Pilgrims are known to climb all 365 steps on there hands and knees, walking was enough

The view on the north road out of our village was amazing back down to our village and beyond

On another trip across the island we went to a cove named Cala Pi, it was certainly popular with locals and tourists alike, we found a great spot on the boat ramps with a little bit of shade for the acclimatised white skinned Ireland inhabitants

Above the cove there where plenty of trails to explore to more remote coves, we walk for about 30 minutes and found this secluded spot for a dip

With quite a bit of time in the sun we were happy to find this top seafood restaurant serving one of the best seafood stews I have ever had. They served it up on the table with dried breadcrumbs soaked in butter as the base and they went all out with the seafood, including some great monkfish

Another day out we went for a hike up to Castel Alaro

The view from half way up was spectacular

And to make an even better day, there is a walkers hostel at the top with a Bar, cold drinks!

While we were out in the middle of Mallorca, we had to stop in at ReCamper, were we picked up some bargain Camper shoes nearly 75% the original price

The selection was great

After a rewarding walk its great to come back to your own place

Another walk right from our village was up through a neighbouring village Biniaraix and into the mountains, it was a spectacular walk through the still working orange fields at the base and into the olive groves built on handmade terraces in the mountains. They still work these olive terraces with mules and donkeys as its the only way up and down the old walking trails

We initially planned to walk to a huge resivoir right up in the plains of the mountain range, but after walking for over 2 and half hours we had only made it about half way, we worked out in the end that we walked around 20k return. It was a great day though!

Getting back to the beaches, we had heard bad things about Formentor as the roads are winding and narrow with just about every tour bus on the island heading there

It was a beautiful but slow drive up, but the first lookout alone was worth the effort

We then made it to one of the more remote coves after a 25 minute scramble down the steep hill. There where still quite a few people there but it was a beautiful spot to take a dip

Our flight out of Mallorca wasn't until 10pm so we had a full last day and even had a chance to have one last meal in our casita, and a quick drink at the bar downstairs.

It was a fabulous trip, and we are now already dreaming of when we can return next summer!