After a brief stop in the village at the just re-opened healthy deli (juices/ smoothies/ energy balls etc, just my kind of place), we drove a short way down the coast past Magaluf to El Toro, our first trip outside the Bay of Palma, and into the marina.
The Christmas decorations were still up (the Spanish don't seem in any rush to get them down), but even they did not have more bling than the very shiny boats. This was a marina where most of the boats started in the Large category, and then went upwards. Some were more tasteful than others: the prize for awfulness went to Anastasia from Kingstown, which was actually metallic silver in colour - completely hideous. And the most beautiful was a gorgeous 100 foot yacht (for sale at €2.8m...).
But the biggest was Titan, one of Abramovitch's five (five!) mega yachts: actually quite understated-looking (compared to metallic silver anyway), but ginormous - 78m/ 260 ft long. Amazingly, we could just wander about - there were no billionaires in evidence, just a lot of people doing a lot of cleaning, plus the sounds of hammering and the smell of paint indicated winter maintenance in hand.
After a lovely meander, we carried on our journey of discovery by car, winding around the residential roads next to the sea in Santa Ponça (what views from the frontline villas); then on to Fornells in search of lunch. Although there were plenty of shops and restaurants, it turned out to be more of a holiday-makers place, so most things were closed. So we drove back for lunch at our lovely marina: the sun was out; we had a table outside, in a sheltered spot; and I actually even took my coat off. Wonderful.
Our final stop of the day: Kevin and I both went to collect Jemima, as we had a parent consultation with the teacher. She said how amazingly well Jemima had settled in, which was great to hear; and we finally got to grips with what exactly was her timetable (she does have Spanish every day, even if she doesn't think so sometimes). The school seems lovely: Miss Oliver and the other teachers have been very helpful, other parents have been friendly, and it just has a really nice feel, so it's all a great relief. Then after that positive end to our first full week, it was off home round the corner en familia to start our weekend.
From the sublime...
...to the ridiculous...
...to the simply massive
View from Santa Ponça:
Lunch outside!
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