Springtime in Mallorca

Another week has flown by. Our Mallorcan Easter holidays have had three main themes: many trips to the beach (mostly ours, but also an afternoon stop off at one of Palmanova's three beaches); Jemima befriending any small child she could find, wherever we were (from a German 18 month old boy on the beach to an 8 year old English girl in Heroes, and everywhere in between); and, continuing our Mallorcan theme, lunch. Sunday lunch in Portals Kitchen (the fourth and final Sunday lunch offering in the area - great veg and sides, appalling beef); delicious prawns and calamari in a very nice beach-side place in Palmanova (with 45 different types of gin! Who needs 45 different types of gin...?); and, of course, lunches on the beach and in the wonderful Chameli's. 

We've also had a couple of outings: another trip to the excellent soft play Kids Republik (where I discovered they have a whole extra floor of dressing up, role play and an indoor football pitch - plus very tasty food - avocado and tuna salad, yum); plus a fun afternoon at the Port Adriano Spring Fair (a massive paella for 100 people, a kids' obstacle course, party games, and family Zumba, which Jemima and I enjoyed, and some clowns - all in Spanish - which she wasn't so keen on. Jemima and I also had a fun shopping trip to Porto Pi (the big indoor mall) to get her some more beach stuff (our trips inside actual shops leavened by having a go on the various 1 Euro rides). And we've even been out for dinner, to one of the remaining Portals Nous restaurants we haven't tried yet: Port Blanc, all white as the name suggests, with a very friendly welcome and excellent steak.

It's all been lovely. But the biggest news of the week: on Saturday morning, Kevin and I ran 5k, the culmination of our Couch to 5k training programme! Jemima made us flags to cheer us on - mine had hearts on it, Kevin's was more of an action montage showing Daddy running, then finishing, then sitting down and having an ice-cream. And it was great! We both had a real sense of achievement - and then we did go and have an ice-cream to celebrate. Next challenge: keeping going...

We go home a week today. In my usual way, I've started feeling nostalgic for our trip before it's even finished. We talk about going home, and we are all looking forward to seeing family and friends, and our house; but we are all also very sad to be leaving. As Jemima says, "we love Mallorca!". One week left to enjoy it...

Jemima braving the freezing sea

Palmanova

Porto Pi





Daddy, Jemima and the flags at the finish of his 5k!

Fun at Port Adriano

Jemima showing off her Frozen clip-on earrings (bought with her pocket money)...





Sunday lunch 

Jemima flying her own home-made kite from our balcony

The beach!

Sun, sand, and Pirates

Thursday morning started early for me - 3.30am to be precise. The funeral had been lovely - a really wonderful celebration of Aunty Cicely's life, and it was great to see my parents and all the Siddalls, particularly my godfather Stuart. Then I'd had a quiet night in a Manchester Airport hotel before my early start. I had very much enjoyed my hotel alone time to start with, but by 8pm on Wednesday night I have to admit I was looking forward to getting home. And thanks to the crack of dawn flight, I was home by 9.30am.

First stop was, of course, Chameli's for breakfast. Then after a little potter in the flat, we decided to hit the beach. It was a glorious day: sunny, warm, no wind; and it was a Spanish bank holiday, so the beach was busy - but in a fun, full of life rather than a manic way. We got some sunbeds and an umbrella and settled in.

It was great. Jemima played in the sand, I had a snooze, Kevin sunbathed - grey, rainy Manchester was a dim memory. We had lunch at the friendly (Council-run) beach bar and whiled away the day. Then I disappeared to get my photos taken for my new coaching website (a slightly strange but fun experience, trying to smile encouragingly in a Mallorcan field), while Kevin and Jemima carried on the beach fun until the early evening.

The sun had been surprisingly hot, and when we reconvened at the flat, Kevin and I realised our slightly blasé attitude had been punished: I had burned shins, and Kevin had a burned chest (Jemima, of course, had been Factor 50'd). Clearly summer is on its way. Lots of after sun needed, then we wandered into the village for dinner. The top-rated restaurant  locally is one of those "cook your own steak on a hot rock" places, but it had been closed up to now. It turned out tonight was its season opening! And we were first through the door. Lovely staff (a Scottish husband and wife run it), and a good steak - although Kevin finds the hot stone thing a bit of a gimmick. Followed by a final drink and a dance with a still-enthusiastic Jemima in the bar of the hotel across the road. A jolly home-coming.

Kevin woke up on Friday morning with an inspired idea: it was Mallorca's famous Pirate Adventure's opening night. So we booked tickets! Jemima was beside herself with excitement. And then we had a whole day during which to keep her calm... 

Friday being run day, we thought we'd try a tag team approach. So we all went to the marina, Kevin and I kitted out; and while Jemima and I played Penguin Pairs in Diablito's, Kevin did his 28 minutes; then we swapped, and he and Jemima ate pizza while I ran. The marina was busy - the Easter holidays plus Spanish bank holiday meant lots of people. But, like the beach, it was fun busy rather than too much. It would be interesting to see it in high season...

After a little siesta (for me at least - I do love a nap), and some quiet time for Kevin and Jemima, it was time - off to Magaluf we went! It was very different from our first trip: it had been a ghost town when we first came in January, but today the streets were busy with strolling families. We joined the queue of hardy and optimistic holiday makers, with bare legs and summer sandals (needless to say, I was still in my coat and boots...), and after a little wait we were seated in a large auditorium with a stage full of tables for eight. Our table buddies were two sisters and their sons, probably aged about 8. It was a bit like one of the dinner shows we had been to in Puy du Fou (that brilliant theme park in France) crossed with the (excellent) Pirate Show in Great Yarmouth. What's not to like?! 

Each area of the auditorium had a nominated "captain" (I'm still not sure why), and after ours - Sir Francis Drake (played, with a lack of irony, by one of the Spanish members of the international cast) came over to introduce himself with much swashbuckling, Jemima was inspired to draw him a treasure map. We later tracked him down and gave it to him - he was slightly bemused at first but made all the right noises, which was kind. (She then later kept asking when her treasure map would appear in the show - this was, it turns out, her motivation - she wanted to get involved as much as possible).

After a reasonable dinner of roast chicken and chips - accompanied by free unlimited soft drinks, beer and (undrinkable) sangria, all included in the ticket price - it was the start of the show! And it was great. A slightly thin plot (a French baddie being taken on by a confederacy of English and Spanish pirates) framed some really great acrobatics - people swinging from the ceiling on ribbons, human towers, a fun "drunken sailor" section using a trampoline hidden in the pirate ship - plus the equivalent of a pantomime dame, and the "Pirettes", the ubiquitous scantily-clad dancers. It was all in English, and reminded me very strongly of pantomime, to the extent that at one point I found myself shouting, "he's behind you!". 

Jemima was entranced, shouting and cheering along. Although I think she actually enjoyed her sword fights with the boys on our table the most - they were very sweet and were being gentle with her, while she was attacking with gusto. But thankfully no-one was hurt... And she made it to the end of the show at 9.30pm without falling asleep. A great evening's entertainment.

Portals Nous beach in summer mode 



Sandcastles in the shade



Bottega Bay Hot Rocks - "not another photo!"

Dancing...

Friday: the marina, post-run

Pirates Adventure! Drawing the treasure map...

Jolly Jemima!

Sword-fight fun

A wet weekend

It was raining. Properly raining. So off to Palma Jump we went. (At least there's a fun indoor option nearby.) After a successful bounce for Jemima, we decided to visit FAN, a shopping mall everyone takes about. After we'd got there, we couldn't quite work out why - it seemed like any other shopping mall really. But it was as good a place as any on a miserable, cold wet day.

First stop was lunch. The options were fairly limited - a couple of tapas places, a sushi place, and an American burger place, Foster's Hollywood, so we thought we'd try that. It was quite early for lunch, Mallorcan-time, but the place was rammed. After a little wait, huddling in the doorway out of the freezing rain, we were finally given a table. And there followed one of the worst meals we've had in Mallorca - slow service (they were trying hard, but were completely overwhelmed); bad chips; rubbery pasta - just not great. And what was so bizarre was how popular it was - within 10 minutes of us being seated, there was a queue of twenty people lined up outside. We just didn't get it. But at least we were warm and dry, and had been fed.

Next stop: one of those wonderful Decathlons (that giant, good value, sell everything sports shop). Kevin sidled off to the running section while Jemima and I looked at the bikes; and he emerged later with a new pair of trainers, a new pair of shorts (his old ones are now too big), an arm strap for his phone, and some wireless earphones. It's official - he is now a Runner...

And that was it - home in the driving rain, hoping for better weather tomorrow...

Sunday dawned slightly better. Jemima and I had one of our lovely weekend mornings (pancakes, homework ("hooray!" she says - I wonder how long that will last...), TV and arts and crafts); then I fancied a little trip to Chameli's. No-one else was keen, so they sent me on my own! And it was GREAT - tea, pa amb oli (the traditional Mallorcan breakfast of bread with a puréed tomato and olive oil mixture, which I hadn't tried yet - delicious), and some alone time. Lovely.

I got back to the apartment to find Jemima and Kevin dressed, and heading out to the garden to play football. I had a clear up, then went to collect for lunch at the Chinese in the marina.

The food was pretty indifferent - I had read something about how Mallorcans don't generally do Indian or Asian food that well, and this was certainly true here: overly greasy prawn toast and spring rolls, flavourless chicken satay, very basic chicken chow mein, although the sizzling prawns with ginger and spring onion were great. The big draw here: the kids all playing together outside. And today was no exception: Jemima befriended two Spanish sisters who spoke good English, and the playing went on and on... Kevin went back to watch the Formula One in Heroes, and I sat reading on a wall while they played football, catch, took scooter rides, played in the fountain, made potions - Jemima had a whale of a time.

By this point it was getting pretty cold, so we went to collect Kevin from Heroes (they weren't showing the F1 after all), and went across the road to Chameli's together instead. Femi had been planning to watch the F1 too, so he joined us in Chameli's for a convivial dinner. Jemima was amazing: she played quietly with her toy (a very rubbish action man figure Kevin had won for her in a fairground-style grabber machine in Heroes - his first time ever apparently - I heard his whoop of joy from the next door room...); she joined in the chatting; and she tucked into her dinner (although it was pizza and ice cream, so not exactly challenging for her). Still, I was very proud.

Then, as it was getting late, I spirited her away and off to bed, to be joined later by Kevin. According to reports, this weekend was the last of the bad weather - from here on, it's a countdown to summer. We will see...

Ants in Your Pants at the Chinese restaurant

Games

Winding up, winding down...

The blog posts have now become fewer and further between. We are very aware now that our time here is coming to an end, so the urge to Explore is much reduced - we are doing quite a lot of local pottering instead. And preparations for the return are building: I'm spending more and more time sorting out the launch of my life coach business, which is scary but fun. So I'm afraid there is a lot less blog-worthy activity underway... But there are still four Mallorcan weeks left to record, so here goes!

Monday: as usual, run day. I am pleased to report that we are in the final stages of our Couch to 5k training programme. Our goal in the last week is three runs of 30 minutes each, and today we did our first 25 minute run! The whole way around our normal marina route including to the end of the sea wall and back, plus a bit more! The ability of the human body to go from running 1 minute to running 25 minutes in 6 weeks is pretty staggering. Anyway, we were pretty proud of ourselves...

As it was a sunny day, we decided to try out the Es Capdellà poolside restaurant we'd seen the other day. After another amazingly pretty drive through the green Mallorcan countryside (with all the almond trees now covered in fresh young leaves), we got back into the village and parked up. The swimming pool restaurant still looked pretty but already had three huge tables of 20 or more - two of cyclists, one of walkers - so we decided to visit another day. Instead, around the corner was Bar Nou, Es Capdellà's number 1 restaurant. After a little wait we got a seat on their enclosed, light-filled terrace (it felt very Chameli-esque) and ordered paella mixta. Very delicious it was too, especially the artichokes (my favourite). Then another lovely drive to school pick-up and the usual Monday-overtired Jemima.

On Tuesday, Kevin's new running enthusiasm saw him appear unexpectedly from the bedroom in the morning dressed in his running clothes! He had decided to catch up on the run we missed last week, with Jemima being off school. I declined - it was extremely rainy, and I am a fair-weather runner by choice. He was brave and headed out; then came back saying he'd done over 30 minutes, which was very impressive (but I was still pleased I didn't go). We then popped into Palma for Kevin to buy a new jacket, after his got broken on the boat over the weekend.

It's amazing, popping into Palma. Ten minutes away, we have an amazingly beautiful medieval city of 400,000 people, with all your 21st century conveniences, including brilliant parking, and Spanish fun and fiestas. It is all so easy. Apparently it's not like that in the summer - local people we've spoken to don't go near Palma at all in July and August. But right now, it's great.

Mission accomplished, it was back to Chameli's where we were having lunch with Kevin's new friend from his night out in Heroes. He is from England but been here for two years (mostly house-hunting it seems); and is a former investment banker who likes supercars and personal development. A great combination! And we had a jolly time - lots to talk about. Kevin and he stayed talking while I went to get Jemima, and then it was home again, still raining (really grim weather today).

Wednesday is always Run Two of the week - or run three, for Kevin. The weather was better, but it was windy, which makes the sea wall section harder work. But we did it, and our pace improved (Kevin has now started taking his phone so he can use Map My Run, and even I've got interested in our stats...). It is getting busier in the marina as we get closer to Easter: more people strolling about; obvious security guards; and most exciting of all, they have started putting out the umbrellas on the beach! We watched for a while as the tractor towed them around the sand - it's all beginning to look like holiday season is warming up alongside the weather. It's quite exciting.

Then it was a pottering in Portals Nous day - a few errands, lunch in Chameli's. The time just slipped by, very happily. But there's no run tomorrow so I have plans for an Outing...

Bar Nou

St Patrick in Ponsa

Kevin was off early again, but Jemima and I took it rather slower this morning - in fact we only just made it to Chameli's during breakfast hours. We were given a table inside, by the bar, with a view of the TV; so our fried eggs were accompanied, rather unexpectedly, by discussion about a La Liga football match between Seville and someone in blue (who kept scoring the goals). Eventually, Jemima decided that she wanted to be a referee when she grew up, because I described them as the boss on the pitch.

My intention was just to pop back to collect the car keys, but Jemima was enjoying the slower pace, so in the end we didn't leave the flat again until about 3pm. Eventually we made it to Santa Ponça (or just "Ponsa" to aficionados), and after a bit of driving around, found a parking place at the far end of the main drag. After a nice scoot to the other end, we could see all the excitement: a St Patrick's Day fiesta, with stalls all along the road behind the beach. (Not satisfied by the plethora of home-grown festivities, the Mallorcans have imported this one.)

It didn't look particularly St. Patrick-y to be honest: the odd stall had a bit of green, and the odd person a giant Guinness hat; but apart from that, it looked like any other jolly fiesta, with food stalls, jewellery stalls and tat stalls (inspired by our conversation this morning, I bought Jemima a sign for her birthday saying "The Boss" - I made her close her eyes while I was buying it, the stall holder thought it was very funny). And of course, it had the kids' entertainment: trampolines, bouncy castles, and a big dinosaur vs gorilla slide. I'd stopped at the bank to get cash out, but I'd forgotten - this is Mallorca, so it was all free.

Jemima got thoroughly into the spirit - trying candy floss (great to start with, then she went off it), and throwing herself into all the entertainments.  Then she had a run about on the beach, before we stopped for a crêpe on the way home. This was a mistake: it had been a lovely sunny day, but the wind by the beach was bitter; and the queue for the crêpes was deceptively slow. I got steadily more grumpy, while Jemima whiled away the time perfectly happily, digging with driftwood in the sand. But the crêpes were delicious when they finally arrived.

Due to the crêpe palaver, we got home slightly later than planned: Kevin was already back, trying to warm up again after another chilly day on the water. He'd passed his course though, so can now officially hire and safely captain a powerboat up to 10m! Bring it on. I made a proper dinner (for the first time in a long while) - scallops and prawns with mashed potato with peas and mint, and we swapped stories about our respective days. And that was it for another weekend! 

Determined to get there...

Fun at the fiesta

Candy floss!

Not so sure now...

More fun

Taking a Panda to the Zoo

Kevin left early on Saturday to get to Port de Pollença for his power-boating course, so Jemima and I were up and out fairly early too. Our destination, after collecting the Fiat Panda I'd hired for the weekend: Natura Parc, an animal sanctuary/ zoo about half an hour away.

We had an easy drive through the agricultural centre, tomato poly-tunnels and all (a very common sight in much of Spain, but we hadn't seen any yet in Mallorca). And then we arrived, at the same time as about forty other people, at Natura Parc.

It turned out they were all together on mass outing, so Jemima and I took advantage of their group inertia to skip past and get into the Parc first. We scuttled down a pretty, shady, tree-lined pathway, and then took our bearings. 

It was all very charming. Lovely landscaping surrounded lots of waterfowl enclosures, each focussing on different parts of the world: a huge variety of ducks; flamingoes; and even enormous pelicans with three foot long (worrying sharp) beaks, who I swear were bigger than Jemima. There were also lots of very glossy-looking cockerels wandering free, looking as they owned the place.

Then as we kept wandering (it was a maze, I soon gave up on the map), we found more delights: porcupines all huddled in their hut looking like a spiky mound; an adorable armadillo; large bird cages with canaries, parrots and owls; a bat cave, where you could see them flying around in a dimly lit room the other side of glass; tortoises and turtles; little wallabies sunning themselves; a section with traditional Mallorcan farm buildings containing a horse, sheep and a cow; and a row of stalls with Pygmy goats, including one so newborn we watched it stand up for the first time; and more guinea pigs than I've ever seen (or perhaps want to see) in one place.

Jemima's favourite was the meerkats, who were extremely cute as always. And my favourite was the lemurs: we were allowed to go into their large enclosure, and got amazingly close to them, with more perched just overhead. "They look like they're meditating" Jemima said - and they did, sitting upright with their hands resting on their knees, eyes closed as they basked in the sun. It was adorable, and very human. (And one of them wee'd from above on the young, rather well-groomed keeper, which was very funny - he was not impressed...)

After this my phone battery ran out, which was actually a mercy. Because then we got to the bigger animals. I know they say they're a rescue centre, but I really did feel sorry for the lioness and tiger: their enclosures just didn't look big enough. Although the single ostrich and single zebra did fare better, with a large paddock for the two of them. You don't know the back-stories, maybe where they were rescued from was worse; but with huge, magnificent big cats like that, I did think they deserved something a bit better. 

By this time we were hungry, so with some false starts and going round in circles, I eventually led us to the café where we had a very nice panini each, sitting in a patch of sunshine on their verandah (it was fresh in the shade, but the sun felt warm, which was lovely). And then trip over, it was back via Palma for a bit of shopping.

I'd had a washing disaster that week: I'd unaccountably shrunk two of Kevin's very nice jumpers. So Jemima and I were off to Hugo Boss in Palma to replace them. It turned out the shop I'd googled was actually a section of El Corte Inglés, the big Spanish department store; so after some successful jumper purchasing in Menswear we had a little explore. As a result, Jemima decided to spend her pocket money on a toy on the Kids' floor rather than another trip to Claire's Accessories, and I bought her a new jumper too; and then we had a detour to the hat section. This was a lot of fun: we spent about fifteen minutes trying on various styles and laughing at ourselves in the mirror: Jemima in a fuschia pink wedding fascinator in the bizarre shape of a headband was quite a sight. I got myself something a little more discreet, and then it was back to the car and home to meet Daddy. (I was very proud of myself, I managed to find my way into Palma, park, and get home again, all without a sat nav - I'm finally learning my way around...)

Kevin had had a good day on his course, if pretty chilly on the water, and he was pleased with his new jumpers. So we celebrated with dinner in Chameli's. "I want pork knuckle" said Jemima, but that was from the menú del día, so she had to content herself with sharing our steaks. We walked back home in the dusk, all tired and full but happy.

Flamingoes

Squawk from Swashbuckle

One of the free-roaming cockerels, plus a beautiful escapee...

...who wanted to get back in his cage to see his mate, who was missing him

Huge Pelicans...

...with worrying beaks

Meerkats!

The newborn baby goat

Too many guinea pigs

Meditating lemurs

Lunchtime sunshine