Settling in

A quiet couple of days getting back into the Mallorcan swing of things. For Kevin and I, a return to running around the marina; for Jemima, a return to school. 

Both (thankfully!) have been a success. Jemima was disappointed to find out that her best friend from last time, Guy, is no longer in the class. But the others were all very pleased to see her, and she is being kept busy: not only  the usual English, Maths and daily Spanish lessons, but weekly Catalan and French too! Plus ICT (she told me last night, “Mummy, do you know, things on the internet can be WRONG!”). 

Kevin left on Monday afternoon to fly back to England to collect his car. Before then, we took Jemima to school, went for a coffee in the marina, had our lovely run, had lunch in the English café (“back to Mallorca: coffee and a beer” says Kevin)... Apart from the fact Chameli’s is still closed for Christmas, things are very much back to normal.

And since then I have been working while Jemima’s been at school, alternating between the balcony (warmer outside in the sun than in our unheated flat!) and the English café. And she and I have had lovely, cosy evenings in.

And that’s it: all very easy. It’s like we never left.

First day back!

Morning on the beach 

Coffee

Run!

Coffee and a beer

Off to school (sports uniform on a Tuesday...)

Working Mallorca-style

Sunrise and sunset from the balcony

Mallorca Mark II: El Regresso

“You don’t need a coat Mummy, it’s not England!”. And glory be Jemima, that’s true. We woke up on our first full day in Mallorca to that amazing golden light filtering through the curtains. Outside the sky and sea were both shining blue. It’s just as wonderful as we remember.

We’d had a fairly serious false start to this trip - we’d planned to be here a week ago, but the expiry of Jemima’s passport put paid to that.  But the replacement arrived on Thursday, in plenty of time for our re-booked flights on Saturday, and then it was all systems go! 

I have to confess (at the risk of sounding ungrateful), I do find the preparation and packing phase very stressful. I now find some of the things we’ve done astonishing (eg setting off for a two month European road trip in a motorhome we’ve literally never slept one night in). Maybe it’s a product of age, but I seem to be making more of a meal of it these days. But we arrived at the airport on time with only one bag overweight (and Ryanair didn’t notice) - from that point on, I began to relax.

Jemima enjoyed her trip through the airport - she was much more aware of the different stages than previously, and even got a solo trip through the scanner, which she looked very chuffed about. (It was hilarious seeing her queuing up in a line of adults, holding her shoes.) And the flight was very easy - Kevin was next to Jemima, so I indulged myself with a Jilly Cooper (the unbeatable ‘Rivals’). Then after a couple of hours, we saw the sun shining on a green mountainous island below us - it was Mallorca!

And even from that high up, we could already see the glorious golden light. That was the moment when I thought all the stress in the build-up was worth it.

A painless trip through the airport, and a swift taxi ride through the glowing dusk to Portals Nous. The contrast with last year: instead of the uncertain excitement of an entirely new adventure, it was the joyful excitement of discovering old friends in all the familiar landmarks. At the apartment building, Jemima didn’t even wait for us but ran off through the gardens to the entrance to our block. And then we were back in our home away from home!  Some slight differences (new dining chairs, a new TV), but mainly, wonderfully familiar, and just as great as we remembered.

As soon as we could, we headed through the apartment complex down to the marina, for the festive arrival by boat of the Three Kings (the Spanish equivalent of Father Christmas). We missed the disembarkation by five minutes, but no matter, we’d seen it last year, and we caught a glimpse of the Kings themselves. Then as the wonderful Puerto Portals Christmas market was thronged, we retired to our favourite spot for wine and jamón - and despite the crowds, “our” table was free! Kevin and I have regularly reminisced about returning to Flanagan’s, and it was just as good as we remembered. And Jemima loved running around outside as usual. We wandered back to the flat feeling very happy, and very at home.

This morning was similarly lovely: a lie-in, some unpacking, some pottering - all with the sun streaming through the windows. Then off we headed back to the marina - it’s the last day of the Christmas market, so we needed to make the most of it.

After a free craft workshop (Jemima made a plasticine penguin), we stopped at our favourite tapas stall from last year. And it was as good as we remembered - we’d been disappointed by the Basque style of tapas on our motorhome trip around Spain (various stuff on slices of baguette-style bread). But these were the way they should be: delicious, varied, attractive little morsels. Yum. 

A fabulous walk/ scoot along the sea wall in the warm sun (Jemima got so hot she stripped down to her vest); then it was back to the flat for Kevin and Jemima, and a quick supermarket stop for me. More unpacking, then at 4pm we went back to the marina for the Christmas Market goodbye party. 

This was something we’d learned last time: at most events, the Mallorcans lay on specific kids’ entertainment. And today we had two youngsters organising games, and (fake) snowball throwing competitions. At first Jemima was a bit reluctant to join in (“I don’t know what she’s SAYING!”), but musical statues crosses all language barriers, and she was off! The next thing she was speaking confidently into the microphone (in response to being asked in Spanish what her name was): “Hemima!” Our Mallorcan girl is back.

Where else could the day end but dinner in Cappuccino, the granddaddy of all the marina Cafés, dominating the corner that gets all the late afternoon sun. By this time (5pm) it was getting a bit chilly - but the sun was still out, and there we were, sitting al fresco, coatless, in January. No Jemima, it’s definitely not England. It’s good to be back.

Airport fun

Welcome back sunset

Watching the Three Kings from afar

Jamón!

Morning view from bed

Off to the marina

El pinguino! 

Tapas!

Sunny scooting on the sea wall

Back to the marina

Cappuccino 

Another sunset

The End - update

For some reason, the photos on yesterday’s post “The End” didn’t publish. So I’ve put them all on again! They should be there now. Hasta luego y gracias...

The End

It’s been a little while since the last post, but I still have the end of our adventure to tell. So here goes...

Thursday 12th April was party day! Lots of preparation first: Jemima and I went to the butcher to collect the Scotch eggs I'd ordered, then the English supermarket for the Pimms, then the normal supermarket for the food... And after a brief Chameli's lunch, I made the sandwiches and cooked the sausage rolls and cocktail sausages (I've realised English picnics are heavy on sausage meat). Then Jemima, Kevin and I took the food, drink and beach towels through our building complex and set up camp on the beach, ready for the 4pm post-school arrivals (Jemima's class had already gone back for the summer term).

The usual slightly tense pre-party wait followed, exacerbated by a few "sorry we can't make it after all" messages. Finally, our first guests arrived! Alicia and Juliana, plus their mums - the only two that don't really speak English... But they said yes to the Pimms (which I described as "English sangria"), and things were soon relaxing. And then streams of adults and children arrived: the Pimms was flowing; the various sausage snacks were a hit, even the Scotch eggs, although the most popular were the cocktail sausages, in Jackie's (Kevin's ex-wife's) special marinade - I had requests for the recipe; and before long there were eight naked children splashing in the sea. Jemima's three main teachers even turned up: the wonderful Miss Oliver, her form teacher; Miss Kingerley, Miss Oliver's assistant and the PE teacher; and Miss Rodriguez, her Spanish teacher. 

It was a lovely afternoon: Jemima couldn't have had more fun, and all the adults and kids enjoyed it. Every drop was drunk, every scrap was eaten, and we finally packed up past 7pm when it started to get a bit chilly and the last revellers went home. Jemima's farewell English picnic was a success! Kevin put Jemima to bed while I unpacked the bags, then we both got into bed and went straight to sleep...

Friday morning started slowly, after the excitement of the day before. It was also pretty grim weather - cold and rainy (after a cold and windy Wednesday, and terrible weather again on Friday, we had been so lucky that our beach picnic day was warm and sunny). We put our coats back on, and went to use up our last pass at Katmandu: the crazy golf.

This was a fun way to pass an hour or so: it was an elaborate course, with lots of water features and fake rocks, and gave Kevin lots of scope to show his superior putting skills. I was pretty rubbish, but Jemima enjoyed being taught by Daddy and did some good putts by herself by the end.

Final plan for the day: I needed to return a library book to school, so Jemima had been invited to come along for the last half an hour of the day. Kevin, waiting in the car on the road, could hear the shouts of "Jemima!!!" as we went in the classroom; she was nearly knocked over by an avalanche of children. I have a lovely image of Jemima looking back at me with a surprised and happy smile from the centre of a massive multi-child hug. It's so wonderful to know that she's made good friends over the last few months (and the parents were all even more friendly too, after our picnic efforts the day before). After school we went with a few of the mums and kids to the playground down the road (which we'd only recently discovered), and Jemima had a final play with Quico, Sara, Juliana and Nicole.  Then back home for beans on toast before bed.

And then it was the final weekend. I started packing on Saturday morning, before a final breakfast in Chameli's (a lot of "finals" now...). Then the packing continued, while Jemima was playing at her friend Lili's house (Lili's mum Olga had offered to have her so I could get on, which was very kind of her, and Jemima had a lot of fun). I finished a few (final) jobs, while Kevin had a rainy run; then I collected Jemima, and made a special (final) meal - steak, chips, mushrooms, salad, and peppercorn sauce. Two sleeps to go...

The Last Day started with (final) pancakes, then more packing. While a Kevin watched the Grand Prix, Jemima and I went for a (final) scoot/ run in the marina - I ran while she scooted for 10 mins, then I pushed her a bit as a rest, then we repeated it - there was some complaining, but it worked reasonably well. And the reward: a (final) marina ice cream. At 2pm, we went down to meet Femi for a goodbye lunch in Chameli's: pimientos de padrón, jamón, and lobster paella for Kevin and I; and carbonara for Jemima. We played a lot of games and chatted; then it was back home for the last push on the packing: four hold suitcases plus one cabin suitcase, plus my rucksack - it's a lot of stuff. Thankfully though, because we're coming back in May, there wasn't that panicky "will it all fit?!" fear. And, true to form, I did bring too much stuff - there are clothes going home that I didn't wear once...

A fairly early night, and then a 6am start to get ready for our taxi. And then that was it - it really was all over. Muchas gracias Mallorca - it's been AMAZING. And hasta luego - see you soon...

PS thank you to anyone who has accompanied us on our journey via this blog.  I hope you've enjoyed it too...

PPS Aaaarrrgh the photos didn’t publish! I’ll have to put them all on again. Watch this space...

Party preparations...



And in full swing!

Miss Rodriguez



Miss Oliver



Miss Oliver and Miss Kingerley

Class playtime on the beach

Katmandu Crazy Golf

End of day guitar playing with Mr Miguera 

Adiós Mallorca!

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