Palma de Mallorca, Spain

Yesterday I forgot to mention that I just happened to find a duck just after we boarded the ship. Apparently, hiding ducks around the ship is “a thing,” but I had never looked for any. We’re supposed to register it on Facebook, then re-hide it.


Dinner last night in Coastal Kitchen was excellent, as usual. We both started with the lobster salad, which was delicious. I chose the filet mignon with mashed potatoes and asparagus, but failed to take a photo before diving in. Charlie opted for the duck with puréed celery root and broccolini. My steak was the best yet on the trip, and Charlie enjoyed his duck.

Lobster salad

Duck
We were up and out early this morning for an 8:20 excursion to the North Coast and a winery. This time, we were ushered to the bus almost immediately, so A+ for punctuality!  We drove about 30 minutes up steep mountain roads to get to a scenic overlook.



The last two photos above show Sa Foradada, or the pierced one, the hole through the rock. Then we walked a short way to visit the San Marrog estate, the home of Archduke Luis Salvador in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The house was huge, with lovely gardens. 



Our guide, Sofia, explained that the domed gazebo on the grounds was a favorite wedding venue for the wealthy. 





From there, we rode the bus down the mountain to another part of the island to the winery. I took this photo of an old village from the bus.

We gathered in a courtyard where they hold wine tastings for small groups. A guide took us through different areas and explained (in GREAT detail) how the wine is made and bottled. (video by Charlie) Finally, after we were all gasping for something to drink, we were ushered into a space hung with interesting art and a table set with tidbits and wine to taste.









We enjoyed trying four of the local wines, especially the first two (white) wines. We made it back to the ship about 2:30, starving, just after lunch venues had closed. The Windjammer was jammed (hence the name?) with a long line to enter, so we gave up, went to our cabin, and ordered room service. Tonight is “Formal Night,” so we will dress up a little for dinner. Tomorrow we visit Marseille, where we’d booked a food tour. But when we read a more detailed description, it said “strenuous,” so I think we’ll cancel it and just ride the shuttle into the town. 

Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 20, 2024 at 7:24 PM

    Loved your pics of the San Marog estate, especially the little domed area and of course the gardens! Beautiful!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ice Skating and Sushi

Image
Yesterday afternoon, we went to the ice-skating show, which was Tarot-themed. Costumed skaters portrayed the Lovers, the Empress, the Joker, etc.  We were as impressed with their skills as we were with the skaters’ on the Wonder in March. Lots of fancy spins, lifts, and jumps! Charlie told me that our ship (Voyager, launched in 1999) was the first in Royal Caribbean’s fleet to have an ice performance rink. There are servers who bring you drinks, so Prosecco it was!  We had reservations at Chops Grille for dinner, and we enjoyed our meal as the sun set. We both tried the appetizer crab cake (not as good as Charlie’s), the lobster bisque (okay), then petite filets with baked potatoes and asparagus. Once again, we failed to capture a pic of the excellent chocolate cake with ice cream.  As I mentioned yesterday, ship’s time moved ahead another hour, but so far we’re adjusting all right. We did have some loud noises overnight from the pool deck on the deck above ours. It sound...
Read more

Off to a Good Start!

Image
Yesterday we left home for our next adventure, back-to-back cruises out of Los Angeles.  We managed to pack lightly, so for the next two weeks I’m going to look like some slight variation of this: Waiting for the elevator Our driver was waiting when we went downstairs, and due to the 4:30 p.m. traffic, took us a VERY circuitous route to the airport. That took about an hour. We got through Security with zero line — although Charlie did get pulled for a “random” bag check.  We went to the Cadillac Mexican restaurant and enjoyed margaritas and snacks until it was almost time to board.  We were the first two to board — no people needing assistance, no Concierge members — so we got settled into our bulkhead seats and were soon sipping some sparkling wine while boarding continued.  We departed at 8 p.m.  I read most of the 3.5 hour trip, finishing a book shortly before landing.  Unfortunately, our plane landed at the remote terminal, which required a short wait f...
Read more

And We're Off Again!

Image
Our highly anticipated trip this time is a month long, as we're taking back-to-back cruises from Vancouver to Hawaii, then on to Sydney, Australia! Royal Caribbean is repositioning Anthem of the Seas for the summer season Down Under.  Yesterday morning at 6:15 a car picked us up to head to the airport.  An hour later, we were through Security and settled into the airport lounge.  We had worried a bit about the government shutdown's impact on TSA and/or the airport itself, but at that hour, at least, all was well.   We tried to pack lightly for this month-long trip, but we didn't attempt to carry on everything. Here's Charlie's luggage: And here's mine: In Charlie's defense, his shoes are bulkier -- I only packed a pair of sandals in addition to the shoes I was wearing -- and he packed a good bit of handy stuff for the cruise ship that we'll both use. The flight to Vancouver went smoothly, although we were a little late leaving. Consequently, our "br...
Read more