OUR WINTER CRUISE: DAYS 4 and 5

At Sea

Sunday 4 November

Today we were at sea all day. It was an early rise again to go to the jogging deck for fresh air and our exercise. We did half an hour again with Moira still attempting to run, at least down one of the straight lengths. After showering it was breakfast in the buffet before spending most of the morning on the pool deck reading. It was a glorious day, blue sky and warm. There were crowds around the pool area with an aerobics class, then games followed by bingo. When the bingo started I had had enough and made for the gym. Moira also gave up with the noise of bingo numbers being called and went in search of quieter surroundings.

I had an hour's session with the weights then went looking for Moira. She had found a place at the end of each deck at the stern of the ship with loungers and plenty of sun and sheltered from the breeze. 

Also these areas weren't crowded. We lay there and relaxed until it was time to go for lunch. We returned after our meal and lay there until it cooled down. Then we found the disco up on the top deck. The music doesn't start there until late at night and during the day it is quiet and practically deserted. The seats and couches are very comfortable and we spent the rest of the afternoon there.

In the evening before dinner we went to a show in the theatre. It was loosely based on Italian popular music. It wasn't bad, there was one good singer but the others and the dancers were second rate. It only lasted 40 minutes and it was continuous, there weren't any breaks for announcers to tell us what was next and at the same time try to be a comedian.

I had pizza and chips from the buffet tonight. It wasn't very good it was all cold. Fortunately I wasn't very hungry having had a big lunch. We don't feel the food on this cruise is as good as on the one we took to the Norwegian fjords last year.

There was some music in the bars after dinner before we headed for the cabin and bed.

 Palma, Mallorca.

Monday 5 November

Today we were tying up at the port of Palma on the largest of the Balleiric Island, Mallorca. We were allowed ashore from 8am so that gave us time to have our exercising round the jogging track, shower, have breakfast and be ready to see Palma. We filled the flask with coffee and made sandwiches for lunch while at breakfast, we were all prepared.

It was dark this morning while we circled the track and could just see the lights of the island in the distance. The wind was a bit stronger and there was a touch of rain in the air. The ship was at the terminal when we finished breakfast and it was now light outside, the clear blue sky promised a lovely day.

The Marina

From the cruise terminal we followed the signs to the city centre and walked in that direction along a prom. There was a section for cyclists and also lots of runners and joggers making the most of the nice flat profile of the esplanade. On the waterside of the route there was a marina that went on and on, there were thousands of craft from small sailing dinghies to large yachts and luxury ocean cruisers. An office on the marina had photographs of vessels for sale, the minimum price seemed to be two million Euro.

As we got closer to the centre of Palma there was the old city walls and surprisingly a number of the old fashioned type of windmill. Also on the hill above the coast was the cathedral, it was very impressive and the design of the towers and steeples put me in mind of the architecture Gaudi, famous for the still unfinished cathedral in Barcelona. Instead of going into the town we continued along the prom. The marina had eventually finished after about an hour of walking and then gave way to sections of sandy beach. The beach wasn't particularly inviting and nobody was swimming though a few had ventured in surfing, the waves were of a reasonable size.

Old fashioned windmill

 We kept walking along the coast for another hour and there were more marinas, much smaller now but still with expensive looking boats. It showed us how the other half live. When people throughout Europe are suffering under the recession and austerity measures there are some who are apparently untouched by it all. Before turning back we had a rest on a bench and a cup of coffee from our flask.

We cut up from the front and into the old town with its narrow streets and winding lanes. It was difficult to see where we were going we couldn't even see the high spires of the cathedral. Fortunately all the main tourist attractions were well signposted and we found our way to the cathedral. It was E6 each to get in but it was money well spent. On our visit to the cathedral at Leon in north Spain we thought that the stained glass windows there were extraordinary but are nothing compared with the ones here. They were truly outstanding and magnificent. Above the altar were three large rose windows, the glass was modern in design with lots of small sections of different colours. The sun light coming through projected all these colours of the rainbow on to the walls and organ pipes. Also there were many windows with typical religious themes all down the sides of the church from head height up to the roof. There wasn't much in the way of statues but as usual with Spanish churches the many side chapels were a mass of sparkling gold. On the way out which led through the cloisters there was the tourist shop where we looked at the books. Many were on the works of Gaudi, it appeared that he did have an influence not on the original design but on the restoration of this cathedral in the late 19th century.

Cathedral

When we left the cathedral we headed for the town and in the large central square looked for a restaurant to have a drink. There were lots of them round the edges of the square with the seats and tables all outside. When we stopped to examine a menu we were immediately hassled by the waiter which is off-putting and we moved from one to one. When we eventually found oneand now it was the opposite having to sit for some time before being presented with the menu. The wine, Rioja, that we drink when walking the Camino and is given away practically free with a meal, was E15 a bottle here. We decided not to bother and found a supermarket where we bought a litre of the same wine for E0.69.

On our wanderings around the city centre we discovered the tourist info and managed to get a local map. This guided us down a long busy  road lined with large shops all the way to where we had left the coast to visit the cathedral. There we found a bench in a park below the old city walls to have lunch. We ignored our coffee and had the supermarket wine with our sandwiches for a change. While eating we examined the map and found there was an old castle on the hill above the terminal where the ship was moored. We decided to head back in that directions and make a detour to the castle.

Castell de Bellver

The map was good and we managed to navigate our way through the myriad of narrow back streets to the park where the castle stood. It was a winding steep road to the to top of the hill and as we approached the summit I though it was a cooling tower on top, it was actually the main keep of the Castell de Bellver. The castle didn't look that old or maybe it had been refurbished and the walls cleaned. We didn't go in as we were running short of time, but just admired the view of the marina and harbour with the MSC Opera waiting for us. We made our way down again, this time on a footpath and came out near the terminal. We decided to have another drink of our wine before boarding, they don't like you to bring wine etc back on board and it may be confiscated. But there was no problem with what was left when we went through security, leaving us wishing we had bought more. 

Accompaning Tall Ship

We sat in the lounge on the top of the ship and watched as we pulled away from Palma. There was a large modern type 'tall ship' with three masts and plenty of sails but also an engine that left before us, but was soon overtaken. The route passing the island was along the coast in the opposite direction from the way we had walked, but soon it was open water again. 

Before dinner there was a night at the opera in the theatre. It was arias from some popular operas and was an enjoyable half hour. We had another pleasant hour in one of the bars listening to music after our meal. Then it was off to bed.


THE PALMA CATHEDRAL'S STAIN-GLASSED WNDOWS AND REFLECTIONS