World Cruise Day 73/152 - Palma de Mallorca, Spain - a pearl of a city

Cruise day: 73/152

Ports days: 24
Sea days: 49
Countries: 10
Continents: 4
Ports: 17

One tidbit I forgot to mention yesterday was our progress.  As of noon yesterday, we have traveled 23,838 statute miles since we departed from Ft. Lauderdale on December 24.  The circumference of the Earth is 24,901 miles, so in another few days, we will have traveled far enough to circle the globe.  How cool is that?

Today finds us docked in Palma, the capital city of Mallorca (or Majorca), the largest of the four inhabited Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean. The islands are part of Spain. 

Mallorca is home to the Majorica Pearl company - a company that since 1890 has manufactured the highest quality imitation pearls in the world. More on that later.

The weather did not seem to want to cooperate today with temperatures in the mid-50s and rain predicted all day.  It is what it is, and we headed out on our tour - Scenic Mallorca.

Our first stop was at Bellver Castle in Palma. Build between 1300-1309, this castle is unique because, unlike most castles, this one is round.  Designed as a showpiece, the central portion of the castle features a round wall.  We were unable to go inside, so we walked around the castle.

After walking around the castle, we got back on the bus and headed north from Palma into the more mountainous part of Mallorca to the town of Valldemossa.

Chopin spend time in Valldemossa in this Carthusian monastery

A central washbasin where washerwomen would bring their laundry

One of the better cups of hot chocolate we have had

Almond trees in bloom

Our bus returned to the ship.  Alternatively, you could hop off near the Palma city center, which we decided to do.

The bus dropped us off near the famous Cathedral of Santa Maria of Palma, or simply the Palma Cathedral.  Started in 1299 and completed in 1601, this cathedral is simply massive.

We started walking around Palma.  Many stores were closed since it was Sunday, but we did find one open, the Majorica Pearl store.  The last time we were here in July 2015, we visited the Majorica Pearl Factory and watched how they produce these beautiful pearls.  Arlona got a necklace and earring set but didn't find a matching ring.  Today, as soon as we walked in, she looked at a display and gasped, "They have the ring!"  Sure enough, a ring to match her set was on display.  The helpful clerk found one in Arlona's size and Arlona walked out a happy camper with a completed jewelry set.

We wandered around, gazing at the architecture, trees, and drooling over the beautiful gelato.

I'd feel guilty asking them to scoop something this beautiful

We worked our way back to the waterfront and then back over to the cathedral.

We arrived at the shuttle bus right on time and waited less than five minutes for the return ride to the ship.  For the entirety of the time we were off the ship, while the predicted rain did fall, it was never stronger than a very light drizzle and was mostly what I'd call drips.  We got weather-lucky once again.

We ate a light lunch, saving room for tonight's planned Balearic Buffet featuring foods of the region.  I worked on the blog, taking advantage of the (slightly) improved internet speeds from our still sucky internet because speeds improve when folks are off the ship.  Arlona sat down to read and promptly fell asleep.

Tonight's Balearic Buffet was fun with different types of bread and oil, cheeses, Sobrassada (a raw, cured sausage from the Balearic Islands made with ground pork, paprika, salt, and other spices), other tapas plus the usual choices.  Dinner once again turned into a multi-hour affair with lots of laughter and fun conversation.

Tomorrow is a sea day before our arrival in Sardinia (Cagliari), Italy on Tuesday.