Palma de Mallorca

Palma de Mallorca feels like a second home to me. This has been my 17th visit to the island of Mallorca and my 10th visit to Palma, the islands' capital city. You may wonder why I've been so often and why I return year after year, so in this short report I'll aim to explain. This latest trip to Palma came about just by chance really - I'd been looking at a short northern European type city break for the end of January after visiting Berlin and Gothenburg last year, but upon searching I found a great deal to Mallorca which I couldn't resist. After arriving from the U.K. following a short flight, the first thing to do was check-in to our hotel on the Paseo Maritimo in the heart of Palma, quickly unpack and head out for a nice lunch. That's one of the things I like best about Palma - having a nice long lunch at one of the many eateries located on the Paseo Maritimo right next to the yacht marina. You can pass a couple of hours people watching and seeing the local yacht owners making repairs and tending to their lovely boats. If you've already read my La Rochelle report, you'll realise how much I like food and people watching! From the Paseo Maritimo, it's just a short 10-15 minute walk into the city centre of Palma where you'll find all sorts of shops, boutiques and department stores as well as a wealth of museums and galleries. My particular favourite galleries are the Museum of Contemporary Spanish Art just next to the Plaza de Espana which houses works by Miró and Gordillo to name but a few and the Museum Es Baluard which is located just back from the Paseo Maritimo near La Llonja. I try to visit both on each trip as they have some great temporary exhibits as well as their permanent collections. This trip, I decided to pay a visit to the nearby holiday resort of Palma Nova. It had been years since I'd seen it last and we were curious to find out how accessible it is from the city. After only 15 minutes on the fantastic local bus service from Palma, we found ourselves strolling along the beachfront in Palma Nova. Although it's off season in many of the tourist type resorts of Mallorca, Palma Nova was still busy with pavement cafes open and full of visitors. I was very pleasantly surprised by Palma Nova and will think about basing myself there on a future trip as you have the convenience of the city close by, but have the lovely beaches there to relax on during hot weather. Evenings in Palma were mainly taken up with having dinner in one of the multitude of restaurants on offer. In the old town, there is a great choice of Spanish tapas eateries to choose from as well as some nice bars. Also just about 15 minutes walk from the old town is the district of Santa Catalina. This area has transformed itself over the last 5-10 years and now has some great modern and trendy places to eat and drink and is brimming with local people socialising and having a great time - A brilliant way to see local life and to sample some of it for yourself. After 5 days of relaxing, gallery visiting, shopping and eating it was time to head home. I'm always sad when leaving Mallorca, but at only 2 and a bit hours flight away and with such easy access from all over the U.K., I know that it won't be that long before I'm back again.