So it begins

Let there be sun!

Published Date : April 10, 2004

Santa Ponsa from the water

It was another late start today after a long sleep.  I woke up to find some actual sunshine today so I was down to the pool lickity-split to soak up some rays.  Out of the wind it was really warm and quite nice, but the breeze still had a very wintery bite to it.  The clouds rolled back in after about an hour or so, quickly putting an end to that plan.

On our way out for some food, we passed a man selling boat cruises around our cove and some neighboring ones on catamarans with glass bottoms.  Two hours for only €12.50 I was immediately keen to go.  Once again the girls showed absolutely no interest and wanted to shop instead.  We’ve gone beyond being on different pages; we’re now reading completely different books!  I ended up going out by myself while the girls explored the shops.

The tour was quite good, but unfortunately the visibility wasn’t great what with the overcast skies.  About halfway through the trip, the skies let loose with a torrential downpour to top things off.  Despite the weather, it was still great to be out on the water seeing some other parts of the island.

Back at the apartment, I discovered that Cynthia had organised a car for tomorrow.  We’re sharing it with an English couple they met.  The minimum rental time is two days and the couple only wanted it for one, so we’re picking up the second day.  We headed down to check out the car and discovered that it was a manual transmission.  I’ve only driven one once for about half an hour. Cynthia was about the same. Emma and Olivia are perfectly fine with driving a manual, but aren’t keen on trying it on the right-hand side of the road.  We spent the evening all having a go trying out the car.  There was no decision made on who will be driving tomorrow.  Cynthia seems to want to drive, but isn’t really comfortable with the manual. Emma refuses to consider it and Olivia isn’t really comfortable being on the “wrong” side of the road.

We finished off the night with 2-4-1 cocktails at the club next to the apartment.  It was actually quite a fun night in the end, but I was pretty early to bed again.  I didn’t come here to get drunk and being the only sober one in a group of drunks is never fun.

Road trip

Published Date : April 11, 2004

Catedral y Castello Palma de Mallorca

Today should have been a fun day exploring the island.  The plan was to be up by about 9am so that we had the full day to enjoy.  Due to their late night of drinking the others weren’t ready to go until after midday.

I offered to drive for the day, but Cynthia was determined to do it so with her behind the wheel, our first stop was the major city on the island, Palma de Mallorca.  Driving in, our first sight was of the port, the city walls, and a massive cathedral and castle, Catedral y Castello Palma de Mallorca.  The city would have been spectacular in its prime.  We spent about 3 hours wandering the city and exploring the back alleys.  Clarification: we spent an hour and a half sightseeing and an hour and a half trying to find our way back to the car.  Tempers were frayed and I considered ditching the girls and making my own way back to Santa Ponsa more than once.  In the end I decided to stick it out so that I could see the Caves of Drach.

After finally making it back to the car, it was a scenic hour-long drive across the island to the east coast.  My only requirement for the day was that we make it to see the Caves of Drach.  I told the others that I didn’t care what else we did as long as we made it to see that one thing.  Did we make it?  Of course not!

We made it to Porto Cristo, which was about a half hour away from the caves.  The others wanted to stop to stretch their legs and grab some food.  By the time everyone made it back to the car, it was decided that we didn’t have enough time to make it to the caves and back to Santa Ponsa in time to drop off the car.  I looked into public transit options to continue the journey on my own, but being a Sunday, the already sparse transit options were practically non-existent.  Thwarted again!

The trip back should have been uneventful, but we missed the bypass in Palma and ended up going through the city and getting completely lost in the process – again!  Cynthia started getting stressed and as a result started stalling the car every time we stopped at a traffic light.  Feeling petulant over missing out on the caves, I refused to take over the driving when they asked.  Olivia ended up taking the wheel and finally got us safely back to Santa Ponsa with 5 minutes to spare before the car was due back.

The girls finished off the night back at The Dubliner, but I just chilled at the resort instead.

Last day

Published Date : April 12, 2004

Lo and behold, our last day on the island and the sun comes out.  Figures!  Having already explored the area thoroughly, there was nothing left for us to do but lay on the beach.  Check out was at noon, but the transport back to the airport wasn’t until 6pm.  That’s a lot of time to kill when you have no euros left and don’t want to bake in the sun all afternoon.  I did a bit of wandering around, finished off my last roll of film, and hung out in the hotel bar watching TV and chatting with the other guests.

Eventually catching our shuttle, we arrived at the airport to find that the luggage belts weren’t working.  They wouldn’t check us in until it was up and running again, so we stood around waiting for over an hour.  We finally got our luggage checked and made it onto the uneventful flight back to London.  They parked the plane in the back-end of nowhere at Gatwick airport and had to bus us into the arrivals terminal.  After making it through the enormous lines at passport control, we finally collected out luggage and hopped on the train back to Victoria Station.  Olivia left us there, and it was onto the tube for the rest of us.  I parted ways with Emma and Cynthia at Earl’s Court Station and arrived home just after midnight.  I stayed up late talking with Gray, very thankful I took tomorrow off work.

Final thoughts on the trip:  I’m very glad I went and I enjoyed the break from London, but it would’ve been soooooo much better if I had gone alone or with different people.  Lesson learned: in future, choose your travel companions wisely.