Mallorca or Majorca or Malorca

The port of Rome is actually Civitavecchia on the coast. It is about a half hour from Rome by train or bus. From Siena it was almost two hours by van. Bob’s brother had arranged for transportation for us to the port and the transfer from our hotel to the embarkation point for our cruise went smoothly.

Our reason for taking this cruise was to try out the new Holland America ship, Koningsdam. Once on board, we discovered it wasn’t the usual HAL ship. Its interior was a lot more modern looking. The old world flavor that I love so much on the other ships was missing. Gone too were some of the other things that we enjoy on other HAL ships but we would adjust. Like Bob always says, it’s hard to have a bad cruise.

One of the things that makes the Mediterranean Sea cruise so beautiful is the deep blue color of the water. Our first day was a day at sea and there was plenty of sunshine to enjoy the blue waters as we sailed for Mallorca or Majorca or Malorca. I saw it spelled several different ways over the next two days.

This was our first trip to Mallorca and I was eager to see what it was all about. We had not planned on any excursions through the ship but knew there were lots of other ways to explore Palma de Mallorca the port we entered.

The shuttle bus from our ship dropped us off right across from the huge cathedral and fortress that was now a museum. We strolled around the grounds of the cathedral and eventually found where they sold tickets to get in. When we saw the price, we opted out of going in and instead continued to explore the narrow streets of the city.

Next to the cathedral was a palace that was also a museum. Old fashioned carriage rides were available near here but this picture I snapped of one of them made me wonder if the texting rules applied to these drivers as well. Maybe the horses sense for the road is like our cars that have those lane sensors in them. 

Our goal was to find the market which is always a neat place to get a flavor of the local produce, meat, fish and bakery. This one did not disappoint and we walked up and down aisles of colorful produce (why can’t our markets look that pretty?). We looked at some unusual parts of animals (like heads) for sale as well as all sorts of fish and seafood some of which I didn’t know were consumable.

We had a little trouble finding our way back to the cathedral. Unfamiliar names on street signs and the maps we held which didn’t match where we thought we should be had us scratching our heads. Finally we spotted the department store that was on our ship’s map and discerned where that was on the Spanish map and eventually saw the spires of the cathedral. Along the way though, we passed the door of another church. Somehow Bob got confused and thought we'd found a back way into the cathedral. While this church was very large and ornate, I doubted it measured up to the cathedral.

Majorca is famous for its pearls and we stopped into a small shop where the proprietor spoke excellent English. It turns out she went to an international private school and had to learn English from the start. She explained that the pearls are man made by a special process. Layer upon layer of a unique paste made of oils and fish scales or mother of pearl for iridescence. They only take weeks to make as opposed to a pearl from an oyster that can take years to make and then is not necessarily gem quality. The Majorca pearls are said to be the closest thing to the natural pearl that is made. They were beautiful and made in many different colors.

How far we had walked I don’t know but we were ready to call it a day, head for the ship and find lunch. Rarely do we eat lunch on shore. After all we’ve already paid for our lunch on the ship and Bob wouldn’t want someone else eating it. *smile*