Our first port of call was Palma de Mallorca. Palma is the largest city on the island of Mallorca which is the largest of the Balearic Islands which are an autonomous region of Spain east of the mainland. The island is a very popular vacation spot for British and German tourists.
This garden is just left of the cathedral in the picture above. It was formerly inside the royal palace.
Narrow winding streets are going to be a common theme in all the cities we visit on this trip.
Interesting statue in the garden above. The sculpture is by the Catalan artist Josep Maria Subirachs. The poem is an excerpt from Ionic by the eminent Greek poet, Konstantinos Kavafis (Constantine Petrou Cavafy). No idea why the poem is on the base of the sculpture. No one on the internet seems to know why, either. Kavafis apparently never set foot on the island.
Any guesses on what type of tree this is?
Highlight the red bar with your mouse or finger to find out.
Olive
The tree is over 1000 years old.
These date palms were heavy with golden fruit. So heavy the fruit was falling to the sidewalk and making a bit of a mess.
Perhaps the most interesting sight to me was the bull fighting ring or Plaza de Toros. We were told that bullfighting was not native to Mallorca but was imported to give the tourists from Spain something to do.
It isn't a particularly old stadium. It was built in 1922.
The bullfighting season in Mallorca is fairly short - just a few weeks in July or August I believe.
The mezzanine corridor has a pleasing contrast between the arches and the tile floor.
Here is a look at the inside.
Here is a view of the harbor and city. I think the white tenting is placed over some of the ships undergoing refitting to keep the weather off of them. I may be intended to frustrate prying eyes, also.
There were a lot of mega-yachts in the harbor.
Did I mention that the Allure of the Seas is a BIG ship. I heard various numbers but I think there were about 5500 guests and 2300 crew on board.
This picture is about half the ship.
The is back portion of the ship from deck 15 or 16. Our cabin was on the right side about half way up. Below the courtyard is an enclosed deck or mall with shops, restaurants, etc.
The area under the anchor symbol at the back is where the water show "Oceanaria" was staged.
This picture is from the front looking back. Not sure what Sue and Bob are contemplating in this picture.
I mentioned the Oceanaria show above. We took in an afternoon show. It is a combination of diving, gymnastics and trampoline acts.
Even the stage and production coordination were impressive. People and stage elements appear from and disappear into the water and then reappear somewhere else in the production.
These guys were amazing. Follow the sequence below.
After the guy on top does a handstand the guy on the bottom rolls over.
I was impressed.
They follow that up with this handstand.
After the hand/head stand the stage they are standing on disappeared into the water and next thing you know someone is diving into the pool where the platform was located.
I should have taken some video. The still pictures don't do it justice.
Here is a look at the "mall" after dinner.
Click to enlarge any of the pictures.
This evening was the "formal" night. I still don't understand why this is such a cruise fixture.
Here Sue and Bob pose in front of the mall.
Greg and Theresa.
Margot and me (or is it I).
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