Palma de Mallorca; Saturday, 16 March, 2013

Having consumed quite so much it really wasn’t much of a surprise that I didn’t have a particularly great night’s sleep. Not helping was the knowledge that I wanted to be up relatively early.

After a rushed breakfast I headed out of the hotel to the bus stop and caught the normal bus into town, making it to the train station for the Tren Sóller with about 5 minutes to spare. I caught this amazing train out through the Majorcan countryside, up into the mountains and then down to the town of Sóller.

There I changed onto the connecting tram down to the beach and harbour at Port de Sóller. I had a long wander around the place, stopping for a mid-morning ice-cream and a coffee. At the time I thought I had probably made a mistake by coming straight down here, as I was too early for lunch at any of the countless restaurants all set with stunning views over the harbour and the snow-capped mountains.

I caught the tram back into Sóller and had a brief wander around town before hitting the beautiful main square and finding the countless restaurants there, all ready for lunch. I had an amazing platter of local specialities (local cheese, hams, bread, olives and peppers) washed down by some stunning fresh lemonade made with the local lemons that hang on every tree that isn’t an orange tree in the valley.

Stuffed, for not the first time on this trip, I continued having a wander around this stunning town, stopping at the station to take in the two excellent, and free, exhibitions of work from Picasso and Joan Miró. Then it was a longer wander through the town to the botanical gardens.

After looking round the gardens I was left with a decision to make. There was a bus back to Palma in 20 minutes time that would take a stunning route up along the coastline and then through the mountains, but I had no idea where it left from, or I could wait about an hour and catch the train back to Palma.

I decided to have a wander round the edge of town to head for the station, just in case I came across a bus stop. The wander worked slightly more spectacularly and quickly than I was expecting as I turned down a street and instantly came across the bus station.

The ride through the mountains was stunning with mountain top town and coastline hugging roads that were very reminiscent of the Amalfi coast. By the time I arrived back into Palma the light was just starting to fade, so I headed back to the hotel to freshen up.

As I still felt full from lunch (and probably the previous evening’s dinner) I went for an evening wander, but steered clear of the street with all the good restaurants in it, before heading back to the hotel for what I hoped would be a better night’s sleep.