Palma de Mallorca, Spain

Our vacation was nearing its end when we arrived in Palma de Mallorca. Mallorca is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. Palma is the major city and port on the island.


We met our guide, Antonia, for our final excursion. Our excursion for the day took us about an hour from the port. We saw many windmills on our way to the town of Porto Cristo and the Caves of Drach.


We were not allowed to take pictures inside and were a bit disappointed in the Caves. I guess we've just been spoiled here in America! If you've ever been to Shasta Caverns in California or Mammoth Caves in Kentucky, you've probably walked with a guide (or at least had a map) who pointed out various stalactites (hanging from the ceiling) and stalagmites (growing up from the ground). The Caves of Drach were very large and VERY crowded, with no guides whatsoever. It seemed like we just rushed through and didn't see anything spectacular, which I'm sure wasn't the case.


There was one very cool thing ~ after walking the underground pathways for about 30 minutes, we came to a seating area near an underground lake. Once everyone was seated (I've read that there is seating for 1000) two boats appeared on the lake. There were musicians in the boats and we were treated to a concert of classical music.

(picture taken from Travel Tours Spain)

On our way back to Palma, we stopped at a pearl factory. The description on our excursion said, "a short stop will also be made at a pearl factory where you will have time to admire a variety of pearls." This short stop turned into about 45 minutes. Since we had no interest in pearls, we felt like our final vacation day was being wasted! We noticed some other shops in the distance and asked what they were. "Leather factory." Okay, that's a little more our speed! So we headed that way. It started sprinkling just as we made it to the door. That sprinkle quickly turned into a downpour! We weren't sure if we were going to need an ark to get back to our bus, but the rain stopped just in time.


We finally made it back to Palma at about 2:30 and I was starving. (This was probably due to the previous day's seasickness and the fact that I was a little afraid to eat much breakfast!) We found a deli that served pizza and tried two different kinds - bolognese and four seasons (artichoke, olives, ham and mushrooms.) We loved the European style of thin crust pizza.


With our pizza I ordered Diet Coke. Les frequently tells me that it's not good for me. He found confirmation on the Diet Coke can ~ sin calorias! So now whenever he sees me drinking Diet Coke he reminds me that I'm drinking sin calories!!


With just a little time left, we grabbed our last servings of gelato. I had stracciatella (again) and Les had caramel.


Still enjoying our gelato, we walked over to the Royal Palace of La Almudaina. We didn't have time to get a look inside, but just by the looks of the outside, I'm sure it was impressive. The castle visible today is the result of modifications to the Moorish fortress constructed from 1281. The building comprises a rectangular tower, home to the King’s Palace, Queen’s Palace, a hall known as Tinell, the Royal Chapel and patios. It is currently used by His Majesty the King of Spain as a residence for official summer ceremonies.


Next to the palace is the Cathedral of Santa Maria of Palma. It was begun by King James I of Aragon in 1229 but was not finished until 1601. It's a new building compared to so many others we saw! Once again, these buildings are just huge.


The island of Mallorca is known as a popular training place for professional cyclists. They even have places to park!


We watched one final sunset from our balcony and this one was spectacular! I couldn't help but think that one day, hopefully not in the too distant future, Jesus is going to come back on the clouds for His church.


After dinner and saying goodbye to our new friends, we made a final trip to our room to pack. Little did we know how much time we would have in the Barcelona airport the next day!