Friday had been sunny but extremely windy; today was still pretty windy, but also overcast. And we were driving towards the clouds that were hanging low over the Tramuntana mountains. When we got out of the car at the Jardines d'Alfabia (my plan - supposedly lovely gardens with animals for Jemima), it was grey and freezing cold. So we gave up on that idea and went back towards the sunshine instead. Another day, with better weather...
Port Adriano just down the coast from us was having an Easter street food festival, so we went there instead to have a look. The sun was out, but the wind was still cold, so we had a coffee on the sheltered first floor terrace overlooking the boats which were bobbing about fairly violently in the big winds. Jemima had a fun trip to the playground, Kevin went to look at the massive waves crashing over the sea wall, and then it was time for lunch.
I had been eyeing up a particular restaurant in the marina for a while: Lucy Wang, an expensive-looking Asian-fusion type place. So when Kevin asked me where I'd like to go for our anniversary lunch, that was my suggestion (I am hoping eventually to work our way around all the marina eating options, and this was not an everyday destination...). It was a lovely venue - it felt like a glamorous white tent, with billowing curtains, stylish wooden chairs and lots of carefully colour-toned cushions. But sadly the food didn't live up to expectations (or the price): my salmon tartare was drowned in a weird pink soup; and Kevin's miso cod was overcooked. Shame. But at least we've been - and it didn't dim my anniversary glow (love you Kevin). And we still had time to wander down to the beach to enjoy the rest of the afternoon sunshine - a happy day.
Easter Sunday obviously started with chocolate - lots of chocolate. Then after a coffee on the beach (it's hard to keep away now that it's so nice...) we met Femi in Heroes for Sunday lunch (great Yorkshire pudding and roast potatoes, slightly disappointing beef). The wind had gone, and the sun was out - it felt like a proper spring day. We sat in the beer garden and chatted, surrounded by the other English of the area (they all come out for a Sunday lunch). Then it was down to the beach to enjoy the rest of the day. And it was wonderful - we found a space on some empty sunbeds and enjoyed the lovely evening while Jemima played, literally happy as a sandman, doing her usual trick of befriending whoever was nearby (today, two little German boys). We were, sadly, far from friends and family on this festive day; but lunch outside in the sun then a trip to the beach does have its good points...
Then the final festive frenzy: Easter went out with a bang, in this case the Heroes' Easter Monday Egg Hunt. After our morning runs (final week - 30 mins now), we presented ourselves with a gaggle of mainly English kids at the doors of the bar. At 12pm they let us in; and then about ten minutes later they let the kids loose into the garden, in order of age (youngest first). It was mayhem, but in a brilliant way. And Jemima was thrilled to snaffle 12 treats! (The younger kids were actually so effective that we later shared some of her booty with a rather disconsolate and empty-bagged ten year old - not much was left by the time he was allowed out...)
We were lucky enough to find a table (some people hadn't turned up) as it was absolutely packed - there must have been fifty children there, plus their attendant families. And then after the egg hunt the fun continued: there was colouring, and egg painting, and they'd employed some brilliant kids entertainers - the woman sang and did face-painting, while the man did magic, made balloon swords and ran the games - in both Spanish and English. Jemima ended up taking a starring role, being used by the man as his foil for the amazing bendy wand trick (when he held it, it was straight; when he gave it to her, it kept going bendy - she LOVED it). Sadly there was a problem with our food order - after an hour and a half it still hadn't turned up, and in the end we managed to establish it had been given to someone else; so we eventually (once the entertainment had finished...) got our money back and left to eat elsewhere. But Jemima (and all the kids) could not have had more fun.
And actually this was another stroke of luck: we decided to try the popular new pizza place in the village, only open for a couple of weeks. And it was absolutely brilliant - possibly the best pizzas ever? Fantastic fresh, home-made tomato sauce; wonderful crispy-yet-chewy dough, and delicious creamy buffalo mozzarella. And that was just Jemima's Margharita. Kevin had some fabulous prawns cooked wrapped in thin slices of ham fat (sounds odd, tasted amazing); I had a fancy version of a caprese salad with a giant tomato stuffed with mozzarella; and then we shared a delicious pizza bianco with jamón iberico. A spectacular meal - so simple, but so, so good. We will be back.
And that was it - the end of the festivities. We all went to bed early that night after all the excitement. A suitably celebratory bank holiday weekend.
More sword (umbrella) fighting...
A sleepy pirate in Port Adriano
Lucy Wang
Beach afternoon
Easter Sunday beach fun - morning...
...and afternoon
Easter Monday - Egg Hunt!
So much fun!
