ICEBERGS AND WINDMILLS IN THE MED!

ALLAN ROGERS PLAYS IT COOL AS HE RENTS A CAR AND VISITS THE “ OTHER MALLORCA"

I thought I saw icebergs on a Mediterranean island.

If you think that’s a claim that should be taken with a large pinch of salt then you would be right. I was mistaken; blame it on the heat of the Mallorcan sun. They turned out to be hills of salt from the nearby salt pans.

I was on my way to a picnic on a special beach when I saw them rising above the red clay fields
It was not the easiest of journeys, many pot holes proved the popularity of the winding road to the long bay at Es Trenc.

I parked the car and made the trek through the pine trees. When I emerged from them it was as though I had been transported to the Caribbean.

A girl sat on the powdery sand gazing out to a white yacht that sat upon the bluest of seas.

A couple of bars provided the necessities of life, a beer and a table to sit at while you eat your squid and chips watch the beautiful people.

Later you can skip over the powdery sand and join them.

Frequent cooling off is necessary and investing in a sun brolly is a good idea.

If you are on a package holiday taking a rental car from the airport makes a lot of sense.

What a couple can save by not having to pay the coach transfer to the hotel can cover a good bit of a week’s car hire. (They can save even more if they do without the in-flight meal.)

The car of course is key to getting away from resorts filled with Brits and Germans and getting the flavor of the real Mallorca.

 

Leaving the main roads I set about exploring the rural landscape.

East of Campos the winds that drift over the flat fields power a large number of windmills.

These are quite distinctive with the vane shaped like an arrow’s tail and pointing into a brightly painted circle of rotating blades. Colourful, like a child’s fairground prize, they spin amid the farms.

You can see many of them by following The Campos Wind Mill Route.

In an extremely warm evening in May (27c at 7pm) I followed a tractor along a narrow lane bounded by honey coloured dry stone walls. Bright red poppies added a further splash of colour to the golden corn.

I stopped every now and then to take pictures oh the ancient farm houses and listen to the silence. There was no traffic apart from a Senorita gliding gracefully towards me on roller blades and later, a farmers wife exercising, somewhat incongruously, a designer dog.

She scooped the little creature up into her arms as I drove slowly past. A few yards further on three enormous pigs snuffled contentedly amid some ancient olive trees. It was all very peaceful and seemed a lifetime away from the bustle of Palma and he tourist towns.

This was a world where you touched pulse of local life, where the little towns had narrow streets and your wing mirrors caressed the parked vehicles as you edged by.
Of course there are places where tourists travel (in groups, in herds and troupes,) some you will want to visit. The great advantage is that with the car you can avoid the crowds.

The little town of Valldemossa with its monastery clings to the mountains in north of the island.

Try to get there before 9.30 or after 3pm and the coaches will be absent.

The composer Chopin, George Sands and spent a winter in Mallorca, and stayed at the Monestary. In spite of describing the cold winter weather and the unfriendly local peasants in her book, their celebretary status was capitalised on.

They did for Valldermosa what James Herriot did for Yorkshire and Wordsworth for the Lake District.

The Carthusian monks were gone by the time they stayed there but visitors now explore one of the cells occupied by Chopin and Gorge Sands.

They mull over the memorabilia and contemplate the monastic life and maybe puzzle over the skull in the Prior’s alcove.

The visit costs eight Euros and is good value.

There is a view from the terrace where the chirping of cicadas joins the clicking camera shutters.

Not that is the only sound. Some of the monk’s cells have been turned into shops and you might hear a music box churning out the tinkling of Chopin's Moonlight Sonata.

A more pleasing rendition of his work can be enjoyed in an excellent concert that is part of the tour.

For an better understanding of the enchantment of the North Coast's pine-clad headlands and medieval hill towns visit “Costa Nord” an Audio Visual show narrated by Michael Douglas. (He helped finance centre and has had a holiday home on the island for many years.)

If you want to take a day off from driving then take a ride up through the mountains on the Sóller Railway.
This railway has connected the city of Palma de Mallorca with the small town of Sóller since 1912.

The train travels 27 km along its narrow-gauge track through beautiful landscapes, and has wooden coaches. When you get to the station you can still retain the feel of travel in a bygone age by taking a wooden tram down into Port Sóller.

I would suggest using a taxi instead, that way you will be at the Port in time to get a table for lunch before the tram passengers arrive (and also in time to take a picture of it as it stops at the beach.)

You can also enjoy a holiday without a car. Base yourself in Palma city. It has cinemas, theatres, operas, concerts. It also has many bars and excellent restaurants.

The old town has great charm and you can peer into the magnificent courtyards of old mansions and wander a maze of narrow streets, the common place and the grand.

Places like the Street of the Fishers, or the Street of the Bakers have now become desirable places to live.

There are plenty of quite little squares and parks where you can stop off for tapas and drinks.

You can listen to guitar music as you explore the bastions or gaze up at the Cathedral. My best sight of it was while immersed in a rooftop hotel pool with an infinity view while swallows darted over head.

Yes, even in the city you can feel far from the madding crowd.

Contacts:

Reis de Mallorca, features hotels with fewer than 100 rooms. http://www.reisdemallorca.com/

In Palma
Hotel Tres has rooftop pool http://www.hoteltres.com/

Dalt Murada restored Manor House,
http://www.daltmurada.com/

Oh and don’t forget local events. Pick up the English language' daily paper, The Majorca Daily Bulletin. It has a useful ‘what’s on' section.

report by Allan Rogers

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