Kirsten catches a cold

The week has whistled by in a cloud of tissues. Yes, I came down with a horrible cold - hence the lack of blog updates. And yes, I felt very sorry for myself.

After our fun girls' weekend, Kevin landed at around school pick-up time on Monday. I had a lovely quiet day, as the germs had started kicking in - it was a sunny and breezy day again so I'd abandoned my work in the flat to spend a morning hour or two at a table in the sun outside Wellies - it was just too nice to stay inside. It was €5 for a cup of tea though, so there was a downside... Jemima had also had a fun day at school, so we set off happily for the airport, excited to have Daddy home. And it was lovely.

On Tuesday, after our run (getting back into the routine), Kevin and I tried the local healthy deli Coco's for lunch, for a change - a delicious chicken salad. I then disappeared (with multiple packs of tissues) to the hairdressers for three hours - Claire, who we rent the apartment from, always has different hair, so I asked her for a recommendation. And the lovely Andrea from The Salon in Puerto Portals lived up to her reputation. Afterwards, I met Jemima and Kevin for dinner at Diablito's in the marina, followed by an ice cream from our favourite place - the ice cream lady now greets us like old friends...

Then on Wednesday, as my cold had been getting steadily worse, and the weather was also pretty grey, I finally gave in and stayed in bed. Kevin went for a run, while I snuggled under the covers, snotty and sneezing, only emerging for lunch when I just about managed to drag myself down to Chameli's before school pick up and a return to bed.

And Thursday was more of the same: according to Kevin I snuffled and snored my way through the night, and the daytime saw me back in bed again - Jemima's this time, as I did some work reading while huddled under a duvet. Then Kevin took me on a little drive before another Chameli's lunch (roasted rice, yum) and another quiet convalescent evening - Jemima and I retired to bed while Kevin popped down to the marina to see the cars lining up for the annual Puerto Portals classic car rally (and then I stayed there, conked out, while Kevin put Jemima to bed).

Thankfully I woke up on Friday feeling much better, well enough to join Kevin on our training run. Because this was the big one, our longest so far: 20 minutes, no stopping! We were both a bit apprehensive - our longest run so far had been 8 minutes! But Jo Whiley (narrating our training app) told us we were ready, so we went for it. And we did it! 20 minutes meant we ran nearly the whole way around our route, which was very satisfying. We felt very proud of ourselves... And the sun was properly back, for what felt like the first time in a little while. So we celebrated both with lunch outside at Lila's, scene of my earlier overindulgent afternoon: a slightly overpriced restaurant but with a fabulous view overlooking Portals Nous beach. With the sun on my face, I could feel the cold finally receding. 

And thank goodness, because Jemima had another birthday party on Friday after school: Berta's this time, in a dedicated birthday party venue. Soft play, colouring, cake decorating, dinner, and then disco dancing - the fun never stopped, and she had a great time. We drove home eating party bag sweets, all of us looking forward to a sunny weekend.

A particularly good Chameli's menú (I'm on the water, I must be ill...)



The Puerto Portals classic car rally...

...while Jemima and I were in bed



Lila's

Berta's party

Rest and relaxation

Saturday started very slowly. No pancakes today - after a week of them every day, even Jemima had had enough. She didn't even want to get dressed, asking if she could wear her pyjamas all day. So I said she could keep her pyjama top on, which she thought was great fun. There was some TV cuddled up together in bed; some drawing; returning the hire car; and then the three of us headed out into the sunshine. 

Our destination: Santa Ponça for a coffee and a scoot, before collecting Ben at the airport. After a little drive around, we settled on a café on the corner of the main street, with a table in the sun. I finished my blog from the kids' visits while Jemima and Daddy experimented with taking close up photos of different things, to compare textures. Then it was back to the airport to meet our next visitor.

Jemima had a great time scooting around the empty airport before Ben emerged. Then after some warm hellos it was back to the flat, and down to the marina for a late lunch in the sunshine. And what sunshine it was: a proper welcome for Ben. We took him to Wellies, and had a lovely lunch, including (helpfully) a bespoke vegan dish for Ben, all enjoying a peaceful time in the sun. Then after an ice cream/ sorbet stop on the way home, it was back to the flat and an early night for everyone. 

Sunday was similarly low key: more morning arts and crafts for Jemima, plus her half term

homework; Kevin and I restarted our running training after a week off, thanks to Ben's babysitting; followed by a late breakfast in Chameli's. Then Kevin and Ben went to watch Ipswich (Kevin's team) v Norwich (Ben's team) in Heroes Sports Bar, while Jemima and I - well, we went back to bed. (And I actually went to sleep.)

After a 1-1 draw, and 4pm by now, how Mallorcan are we becoming - it was lunch time. We looked at a few Portals Nous options

(Chameli's being completely full), and in the end opted for Babylon, a Persian restaurant we hadn't tried yet. And it was lovely: a very friendly welcome, and good food, including vegan-friendly options for Ben (Jemima particularly enjoyed the houmous and the "yellow" aka saffron rice). Then back to the flat for another early night. We are all feeling much more rested after a quiet weekend, and thankfully that has suited Ben too after a busy time at work. And that's it for half term - back to school tomorrow...

Experiments with photography

Airport scooting

Wellies

Ice cream!

Sunday: homework with Owlie (we haven't lost him...)

An afternoon in bed

Babylon lunch

Eating Chinese food like a Mallorcan

The first thing Jemima said when she woke up was, "when is Grandpa picking me up?". We'd agreed she would spend the morning with them at their hotel, and she was keen for this to start as soon as possible. So when Grandpa arrived at 8.30am, she was raring to go.

I left Kevin sleeping peacefully, and walked with them through the apartment complex to show dad the beach and marina - he loves sailing boats. The sun was out again, and it was all looking lovely. Jemima demonstrated her favourite scooting spots, then we walked back up the hill to their hotel to see Granny.

It was lucky it was a beautiful morning, because I had to do a bit more walking - I'd forgotten Jemima's swimming stuff (the hotel has an indoor pool). So back to the flat, collecting some freshly squeezed orange juice for a slightly hungover Kevin on my way, before returning to the hotel a second time.

Kevin wanted to stay in bed to recover, but the day was too beautiful; so he then suggested I go off to enjoy myself. So I did. Poached eggs and avocado in the sunshine at Wellies, followed by a browse in the Puerto Portals shops, which so far I've only walked past when with Kevin and Jemima, while looking longingly in the windows. (I did find a jacket I liked, but it was €1,400, even after a 40% discount, so decided against it...) Then back to the flat before we met up with the others for lunch.

On a previous Sunday afternoon visit to the marina, I'd noticed the Chinese restaurant was packed with Mallorcan families. So I'd booked us in for 2pm. When we got there, the place was still half-empty, but it soon started filling up, until it was jam-packed with large multi-generational tables all having fun. The grown-ups ate good food and chatted while Jemima flitted in and out - the square outside was full of kids on various types of wheeled contraption, racing up and down (including what looked like electric scooters, which must be cheating). She finally managed to make friends with a little boy on a bike, and did various circuits with him, giggling away. It felt like we were part of a fun Mallorcan family tradition.

Then it was back home for a quiet afternoon. Granny went for a nap (she'd had a busy morning of playing); Grandpa made use of our wifi to watch the rugby; and Jemima did arts and crafts, then played with Daddy, before an early night - she'd had an exciting weekend. (And we were pretty tired too.) Back to school tomorrow.

Swimming!

Resting 

Underground, overground

How to entertain kids in Mallorca on a rainy day? That was our Google search on Saturday morning: Jemima woke up sunny; the weather did not, with proper rain for the first time. So we decided to retreat underground, to the Caves of Drach.

For someone who isn't keen on confined spaces, weirdly I rather like a cave (as long as it's not a small one - no hardcore spelunking thank you very much). And Jemima also seemed keen - she enjoyed the one we visited in Australia. And as it turned out, this was a great cave.

First we had a rainy drive across the middle of Mallorca, through windmill-sprinkled fields, more almond blossom froth starting on the trees, and little lambs running about - all very spring-like, apart from the weather. I've (voluntarily) vacated my front seat for Jemima on the weekends - she loves giving directions (basically repeating the sat nav), and has started to "help" Daddy change gear (with her hand under his on the gear stick). They have a lovely time together; and, despite my relegation, it is actually quite peaceful in the back.

After an hour we arrived in Porto Cristo, a little town on the east coast with a small marina, a nice looking beach, and a front of touristy restaurants, all of which were closed, bar one. (It turns out off-season Mallorca looks a lot more desolate in the rain.) After a fruitless search for something more appealing, we resorted to that one open place, and had an indifferent, expensive lunch (twice the cost of Chameli's menú, to which everything is now compared). But then it was time for the caves.

The entrance was not far, just outside town. We lined up for our tour's entrance time with about 40 others, then went down the steps into the earth. The heat hit you first - it was noticeably warmer in there, and Kevin's glasses steamed up. And then we saw inside: a walkway through a cavern of beautifully lit stalactites and stalagmites, looking like frozen water with soft ripples and curves to them. Some were thick pillars; others clumped together to look like organ pipes; and the roof was completely covered with a fringing of baby stalactites, like a spiky ceiling.

The path led continuously down, and every bend took us into another open cavern with more to see, including gaps where icy blue water could be seen far below, as transparent and still as glass. And then the highlight for Jemima: we overtook a six year old German girl called Finilla, who was as keen on Jemima as she was on her. For the rest of the tour they travelled together, holding hands and commenting on what they saw around them (despite not really having a word in common). 

Our final destination was a big open chamber, with an expanse of underground lake winding through it - one of the largest in the world apparently, 115m long and up to 12m deep. We sat on benches in stepped rows (our 40 people filled up barely a quarter of the spaces - goodness knows what it must be like at peak season). And then from around the bend, three rowing boats appeared with lights along their edge reflecting ethereally in the water. As they got closer, musicians in the first boat (a violin, a viola and a cello, plus - slightly incongruously in a boat - a piano) started playing something classical and vaguely familiar. The three boats rowed to one end of the chamber and back, playing beautifully; then the musicians rowed away, and we all had a go on the boats.

Jemima and Finilla sat in the front with Kevin, while myself and Finilla's parents were in the row behind. To be honest, it was pretty short; but still very atmospheric to be floating on that amazing water so deep underground. After the boat ride, it was many steps back up to the surface; big hugs goodbye to Finilla; and then back home for fajitas before bed, and hopefully better weather tomorrow.

Sunday dawned much brighter, thankfully. Jemima and I had our usual Sunday morning of homework, phonics and games, plus FaceTime to say happy birthday to Granny; then Kevin led us out to find a children's playground for our day's diversion. There was a bit of driving around some rather less attractive bits of Palma before we discovered what we were looking for; then we found a space for the car, and headed into the park.

An English park this was not - there are very few places that can rival our city parks (although the one in Christchurch, NZ is pretty amazing). But there were people out enjoying their Sunday; it had a scooting surface for Jemima; and as we got further in, we found the playground - a huge castle-esque structure, full of kids, with a café nearby for Kevin and I. 

After a coffee and a play, it was time to eat. Kevin and I suffered a slight marital disagreement, so we went home for lunch and to re-group. Then, after a quiet interlude, with the sun still out, we all went down to the marina for an early dinner.

Back to Wellies, and a lovely table in the sun with a view of the boats - it really is hard to beat. Some games (Jemima is now playing our old favourite Ants in Your Pants in Spanish); some good food; a nice glass of wine; and lots of scooting up and down the marina in the early evening sun.  Then home, with Jemima not too exhausted and ready for another week at school. The time is going so quickly - next week it will be a month since we arrived. But thankfully, there's still a bit more time to come.

Porto Cristo in the rain

The Caves of Drach

I know it's blurry, but she looks so happy!



Friends!



A little relax



Parc de la Riera

Back at the marina