Wednesday – Palma de Mallorca

The first thing that should be said about the place is just how big the port is; there were at least a half a dozen cruise ships already in, and our pilot was really earning his money today by performing an impressive three-point turn, followed by a nifty reverse into a parking berth, where we were sandwiched between a giant Costa ship (Magica), and an equally enormous MSC ship. I, along with everybody else lined up along the side, and watched in complete admiration for how a vessel the size of ours can be manouvered so easily; like slipping a Mini into a tight Asda parking space – tug-boat operators must be throwing up their hands in desperation at how these ships can be thrown about these days without any need for the pushing and pulling of tugs.

As I cast my eyes over the harbour at all the other ships currently berthed there, my gaze fell upon a familiar sight. It didn’t register at first; a bit like seeing someone you know, but can’t quite place where you know them from. Then, I had a sudden, inexplicable rush of affection and nostalgia as I realised I was looking across at none other than the Marco Polo!

We might have arrived late at the port, but we’re here until 11pm tonight, so there was plenty of time to take a walk into town. I had lunch in the poolside cafe, got my things together and headed for the gangplank. The literature said that the old town is approximately 45 minutes walk away from the cruise port. A shuttle bus had been laid on, but at £5, I figured I’d walk it; after all, I’d got all afternoon, and nowhere else to go.

If ever there was such a thing as a millionaire-playboy-yachts-r-us, I’m guessing Palma de Mallorca is pretty much what it would look like. The collection of boats and yachts on display, as I walked along the front, was, frankly gob-smacking. Here was a harbour simply stuffed to the gills with huge super-yachts and vessels that look like they’ve all been paid for in cash by people who have more off-shore accounts than I have T-shirts… simply awesome!

Almost everyone, I think, that I’ve ever met, seems to have been to Majorca at some time or other. I have to confess that this was my first time. I suppose, if I’m honest, I had a particular image in my mind’s eye of what to expect; huge apartment blocks built on top of apartment blocks, and bright bars pulsating to the sound of drunken Brits Abroad. It wasn’t like that at all, though. Oh, to be sure, there were lots of large apartment blocks, but the place was so much more than that. For starters; the mountainous backdrop was gorgeous, and the old town, when I finally got to it (it took me 40 minutes), was lovely. The Medieval Cathedral is quite something to behold, and the little side-streets, away from the main drag, were a pleasure to walk down. Musicians played spanish guitar on almost every street corner, and artists offered to do on-the-spot portraits. I wasn’t entirely convinced at the authenticity of all the art on show, however… on a couple of occasions, I even spotted some that were no more than digitially-watercolourised-photos… the worst offenders!!! You could have your photo taken with a giant Spongebob Squarepants, and women kept thrusting single white flowers at me, presumeably in the hope that I’d pay them some money for them…. unfortunately, the memory of the eagle-men is still very fresh, so…. not on your nelly! On the whole, though, I have to say, Palma de Mallorca charmed me.

On the return journey, I stopped off at a marina bar for a couple of drinks and to use their free wi-fi. I had an interesting chat with one of the port lecturers this morning who suggested I should look up a ‘High Gain Antenna’ (Buffalo was one make that he mentioned). Apparently, it’s a relatively inexpensive piece of equipment that can pick up, and log onto any unsecured wi-fi signal from up to half a mile away – he has one and he confirmed that they work…. guess what I’ll be googling as soon as I get home!……

A funny thing happened when I got got back to the Black Watch – or at least, I thought it was funny. I was walking with another couple who had also walked into town, when a young couple came running past us. They were looking for a way back onto the MSC ship. It is a bit of a maze of raised walkways and passages, and losing your bearing would be easy; the reason they were running, and panicking, though, was because they were late – and their ship was in the process of slipping their ropes, ready to sail. We watched as they frantically ran down one corridor, and then another, finally making it, we think, to the ship on time. Almost immediately after this, though, as we approached the Black Watch, a man came running towards us asking if we were on the Costa Magica. No, we said… we were from the Black Watch, and we’re here until 11pm tonight. It turned out that the Costa ship was also ready to go… in fact, it was getting on for 6pm, and they should have left at 5:30pm, but they were missing two people. The interesting thing was that he said the delay would cost them £3500…. Just before we reached the Black Watch, which was berthed on the opposite side of the same quay, the man spotted a young couple ambling along some way behind us; he called to them… Magica?! They were in no hurry… for whatever reason; maybe they just didn’t know that they were late, but the man got quite cross, yelling at them to hurry up because the ship was leaving now…. the funny thing was that all the other passengers were standing on the side of the ship, looking down, and they all gave out an enormous cheer at the couple as they raced across the gangplank – how embarrassing is that?

There was a certain amount of confusion this evening, over mealtimes. They’ve swapped the showtime and 2nd-sitting meal times around, so that second sitting people will see the show before the first-stting people, then eat afterwards (if any of that makes sense). The reason is because they’re putting on a BBQ at 10:30pm… after everyone has already eaten…. I’m not sure why they didn’t just do the BBQ at dinnertime, and let people choose whether they wanted to eat there, or in the restaurant, instead of expecting everyone to eat twice… I know I’m not going to be up for a burger at that time of night. It’s a smart/casual evening, with a Nautical theme, so many people are dressed as sailors, or pirates. I did think about looking for something when I was in town, but ultimately couldn’t be bothered. If I’m asked, I’ll say I’m dressed as a cruise liner passenger….

We’re back at sea tomorrow, and joy of joys… it’s another theme night in the Garden Cafe again (Spanish Supper), so that means I’m going to have to eat in the Glentanar Restaurant again… Noooooooooo!