Mediterranean — 2010

Bellver Castle

Today we are on Mallorca, the largest of the 5 main Balearic islands that are part of Spain.  Top ranked tennis player Rafael Nadal was born here.  We are in port in the city of Palma, which has a population of about 400,000 (the entire island has approximately 900,000 people).  We went on a shore excursion this afternoon with Ward and Marylee.  We started at Bellver Castle, a round structure that is over 600 years old.  There were great views of Palma from the castle, which is up on a hill.  From the castle we went to see one of the bullrings in Palma, and that stop also included a pearl factory (a very small one) and a shop that sold the artificial Mallorca pearls.  Barbara bought some pretty earrings.  Our last stop was the Seo Cathedral, which was started in the 13th century and took 300 years to build.  Antonio Gaudi began working on a canopy in one of the chapels, but it was never completed, as the bishop died and the next wasn’t interested.  Tombs of Mallorcan kings are located around the chapel.  We weren’t back on the ship until almost 5:30, so we missed trivia and happy hour.  After dinner we went to see the comedian (pretty funny) and did a little gambling before turning in.  Jay won $50 on a machine, Barbara didn’t do as well.

© Jay 2020