Mallorca comes to an end… Madrid begins..

Our last few days in Mallorca we didn’t do too much. On Friday we went down to Palma and wandered around the town and had lunch. It was quite a nice day, however it was quite cool in the shade.

On Sunday we went to the pub for lunch with Maxine, Kath’s Grandpa and Bill. Kath and Maxine had the Sunday lunch, which was really good and I had the pork chops and mash potato, that was also good.

The weather has been really shocking lately and you don’t want to leave the house.

Our last night in Mallorca we went out for dinner with Maxine to an Indian place. The food was really good and we had some apple schnaps at the end of the meal.

Maxine took us to the airport today.. on the way we hit a snow blizzard!! Snow in Mallorca, crazy! Our flight was late boarding, but we managed to leave on time..

When we arrived in Madrid it was 3degrees and sunny! By the time we took 3 metros and walked to the hostel we were really warm. We got upgraded to a 4 bed dorm (instead of a 6) as we said we were not willing to share with boys (since we did book a female dorm).. Apparently some male booked a bed in the female dorm! We are the only 2 in our room so we hope there are another 2 girls coming (or noone at all). They have funny keys for the rooms, it is basically a watch, but instead of the time it has a chip in it.

After we checked in we went to have some lunch and then went to the train station to  buy our tickets to Lisbon. They have really funny sounds for the pedestrian crossings at traffic lights, it makes a funny bird chirp.. we laughed a while about it… Kinda scary really… We got our tickets then went for a walk around the area and through the streets back to our hostel.

We are here for 2 nights then off to Lisbon for 4 nights, then back here for 1 night then back to Barcelona (then France).

Tomorrow we are doing a free walking tour, hopefully that is good.

Love Cindy and Kath

Walking tour and our arrival in Mallorca

On Monday morning we got up early to head into the La Ramblas to try and find the walking tour again. This time we made sure we knew exactly where we were going. We found the place really easily and then went for a walk around the area as we were really early for the tour. The tour was of the Gothic Area in Barcelona. We saw some amazing architecture and were told some great stories about the people who lived in that area. There was a whole section that was surrounded by walls to keep the Jewish people in the one area. During the tour we went to a pub which sold beers for 1euro. Kath had a beer and I just had a sip. At the end of the tour we finished off where we started and the tour guide “shouted” everyone a beer. After that we went to look for somewhere to eat lunch. We went into a few pubs and they didn’t serve food til 7, so we gave up and had a light snack then decided to head back to the hostel. We chatted to a few of the people on the tour and they suggested a few airlines that fly really cheaply to Mallorca. So when we got back to the hostel we had a look at flights, and found one that was slightly cheaper then the ferry and only took 30 mins.

On Tuesday morning we got up and packed our things and got ready to leave. We checked the weather and it claimed it was meant to rain so we put on our big jackets. When we arrived at the airport we were really early, so we thought we would try and check in. The lines were huge, so we decided to try the self serve machine. They were really easy to use, we then got to go in the express que to check in our bags which was great. When we were checking in it claimed that our flight was 35 mins late. Apparently my bag now weighs 17.8kgs. We went through security. Kath beeped on the way through, so she got patted down. We then looked through some of the shops and Kath found a really cool squishy bull, so we got that. We then found a spot to sit and have something to eat. We managed to get a bit of free internet so we checked our emails. 20Mins before we were meant to depart (our original time) we headed to the gate to see what was going on. When we walked past the departures board we saw that our flight no longer had the delay next to it. We walked really fast to the gate, there was only 2 people there and no one on the counter. We were a bot worried that the plane had already boarded. Then over the loud speaker came a voice saying that our flight had been moved to another gate (on the other side of our terminal). So Kath and I walked really really fast (we beat everyone there), and we were then the front of the que. After about 10mins of waiting someone finally turned up and was on the counter. After further waiting we were finally allowed to board the plane. The plane was pretty nice, reasonably small though. The flight was a bit rough and pretty quick. When we arrived in Mallorca we picked up our bags and then headed to the bus. It was boiling hot there. We caught the bus into Palma then from Palma we go the bus up to Port Pollenca. It was a really nice trip, plants are much more alive now then when we first arrived. When we bought the tickets the driver kept saying to Kath “there is nothing in Club Del Sol”, finally Kath just said we are staying in an apartment there and he sold us tickets. All the way through Port Pollenca he kept stopping at stops as if to say you should get off here. Finally when we arrived to Club Del Sol we got off and wandered down the driveway to the apartments… we thought it was quite funny. When we got into the apartment we left our bags and then headed over to Kaths Aunt Maxine’s place. When we arrived Maxine, Kaths Grandpa and his friend were in the car going to take them home. We didn’t think they would see us, then finally when Maxine was about to pull away Kath’s Grandpa spotted us. We had a quick chat to them then Maxine took them home and we went into her house and watched some tv. Apparently they had been watching our flight all morning and it was still saying that it was delayed in Barcelona and was over 275mins late. Maxine had no idea what time we would arrive as it kept saying we were delayed. When Maxine arrived back we had a chat and her and Kath had a drink. We stayed at Maxine’s for dinner that night.

On Wednesday Maxine took us out to the supermarket and we did some grocery shopping. We had a really good burger for lunch. On the way home we went to Kath’s Grandpa’s house and had a drink there. Then we came home and watched some movies.

On Thursday we didn’t do a lot, we went out for a walk to the water and Kath found some sticks and threw rocks into the water. And I picked up some shells. We then spent the afternoon relaxing.

Friday was pretty much the same thing, except we didn’t go our for a walk and we had dinner with Maxine.

Saturday was a lovely day so we decided we would go for a walk to the port and then visit Kath’s grandpa. It was a really nice walk, the sun was shining and the weather was great. Kath wore shorts and a shirt, and I wore jeans and a shirt. On the way we stopped at a really good Kebab place and had lunch. It was really good and very filling. We got a free drink as the guy had to warm up his bread machine and it took a little while. We spent an hour or two with Kath’s grandpa, Bill (his mate) was there so we had to chat to them about our journey. On the way back home we dropped into the supermarket. The weather wasn’t so great after the supermarket. It got really cool, Kath was freezing. When we got home we unpacked our groceries and then relaxed. We walked about 6km (I think).

We had lunch on Sunday in the Nag’s Head, a pub in Port Pollenca. We met Kath’s Grandpa and Bill there. The Rangers Vs Celtic game was on. The game was pretty tense, but Rangers won, Maxine was thrilled! The pub was really nice, I had a new Cider (I am still yet to update the page). After lunch Kath and I went back to Maxine’s to hang out. We watched the Manchester United Vs someone game. Man U one. They played a really good game.

Monday was a fiesta so there was nothing open. Kath and I hung out and watched some movies, I did some more washing, nearly done!

On Tuesday Maxine, Kath’s grandpa, Bill and Kath and I went out for lunch to a buffet. The food was great and the ice cream was fantastic.

Today we helped Maxine seed her field. I had fun.. throwing seed over the field… my sort of work haha. We are hoping for rain so the seeds go into the ground rather then just blow away.

Chat to everyone soon.

Love Cindy and Kath

Milan in a nut shell, to Barcelona…

We went out for dinner the first night in Milan to a pizza place that was recommended in our lets go book. We ordered a pepperoni pizza… when the pizza arrived it was actually a capsicum pizza! So we ate that then left, we got charged a fortune. Kath enjoyed the pizza! The next day we thought we would see the one sight Milan has to offer. We caught the metro to the Duomo, a giant church. We walked around the outside, it was very detailed. We then wandered the streets for a while then went back to the hostel and we had a new roommate, he was Mexican. We chatted to him most the arvo/night. We had a horrible salad for dinner. We shouldn’t try and be healthy, it never turns out nicely lol…

The guy had a cold and snored really loudly most the night, so we didn’t get a great deal of sleep. The next morning we hung around the hostel until check out time then went to the train station. We waited around and had some lunch/dinner in a near by family restaurant. When our train arrived we were the first to jump on, we put our bags in the rack and got ready to set off. They gave you a kids find a word on the back of a brochure, It was in Italian so we had no idea what words we were meant to find, so Kath created words then I found them. Then we played boggle with it. We are very creative!

After we left the station a ticket lady came and took our tickets and passports. We watched a movie and then I tried to get some sleep. The seats reclined so they were ok. Kath chatted to some American guys in front of us. They were really nice. They offered her some cake. At our first check point in France it was snowing. The police were in our carriage questioning some guy, after discussion over his passport he was escorted off the train, Phew it wasn’t me! The rest of the journey we both just rested and tried to get sleep.

Kath woke up pretty early and saw the sunrise, then she kindly woke me to see it as well. Nice sunrise over the coast of somewhere (in either France or Spain).

When we arrived in Barcelona we jumped off the train and headed to the Metro to go to the hostel. It was boiling! We had left 4-6degree coldness and arrived in 12degree heat! We found the hostel really easily as they gave you great directions. We checked in, but had to leave our bags in the storage room as we were early. We then headed back to the Metro to try and find the port. We found the port really easily and sat by the water and had some strawberries and juice in the beautiful sun. We saw some really huge fish in the water. People obviously come there all the time to feed the fish bread. After sitting there for a while we decided to go for a walk over the bridge to see what was on the other side. There was a shopping mall, an Imax and the Aquarium. We decided to go for a walk to find the ferry we are going to take to Mallorca. The ferry ticket place was closed, so we went to sit back near the fish feeding area. Apparently there are lots of people who come to get rid of their old bread there. There was one lady that had bags and bags of baguettes she was throwing in the water (whole). The fish were amazing they were really big, Kath wanted to sneak in a line (Look below for a video). We sat and watched them for ages then we decided to go back to the hostel and to the supermarket for dinner food. We were getting quite tired and hungry as we hadn’t really had breakfast or lunch. We cooked pasta for dinner. It was really good, we are so glad to have good facilities in this hostel. There is a big kitchen, big dining/common area, pool table, foosball table, punching bag, 2 exercise bikes, a cinema, and a terrace. We then went to bed and watched a movie.

We were woken up this morning by a rude girl who didn’t even sleep in her bed last night, she came in, turned the light on then left and didn’t turn the light off, so I got up and turned it off. We got up about an hour after that and got ready. We had our breakfast, it was packed in the dining area. Kath spoke to her parents on Skype then we headed out to do a free walking tour. When we arrived in the place we thought the walking tour was meant to start we couldn’t find anyone, so we just wandered around the street. We visited the Martime Museum and then kept walking around and came across a church, it was having massive renovations done to it. We kept walking and found a street parade that was going on. So we went to watch that. There were lots of Spanish dancers.. it was really entertaining. People in the parade were walking along drinking beer! We thought that was hilarious. Then one group came along and set firecrackers off in front of us, it was a bit scary. After the parade finished we walked along to the beach. There were lots of people doing beach sculpting. We walked along for a while, then turned back as the weather was starting to get bad and our feet were getting sore. We walked through some markets then headed back to the metro as it had started raining. The first train we caught was quite busy, 3 guys followed us off the train and through the metro. We were watching our bags and wallets. Then when we were on the escalator one of the guys stepped up onto the step Kath and I were on, so we stepped up a step then he stepped up onto that. As there were people in front of us we couldn’t move anymore. Kath had her hand on her wallet and I turned so my bag was against the escalator wall. Kath thought she felt one of the guys hand trying to get in her camera bag. When we reached the top of the escalator we walked away pretty quickly to the next train line. The guys followed us there as well, but we walked down the other end of the line, Kath checked she had everything. After we got off the next train we realised that the clip on her bag was undone. Nothing was taken, and the guy was pretty stupid to think that we would not realise if her bag was opened (it has a huge velcro strip which is hard to undo at the best of times). We are now back to the hostel and are making an itinerary for tomorrow. We are having pasta again tonight, so I am looking forward to that. Kath had a new beer called Saaz, I thought it tasted ok. I had a magners and now we are sharing a drink called a Damm Lemon (it is 6 parts beer, 4 parts lemon). Tastes pretty good.

Hope everyone is well.
Hope to hear from you all soon (comments are welcome, we are a little sheltered from Aussie life over here).

Love Cindy and Kath

PS: new photos are up in Italy and Spain!

Mallorca, (Majorca) Spain

We arrived in sunny Mallorca on Saturday at a huge 22 degrees.. Kath and I immediately stripped off (well took our jackets off).. Kath’s aunt Maxine and Grandpa met us at the airport to pick us up. Surprisingly enough our flight was early, good old Ryanair.

From the airport we headed to Maxine’s flat which Kath and I are staying at. (Maxine and Tommy have a beautiful house behind the flat. We then headed out to lunch to an all-you-can-eat (and drink) buffet. We all stuffed ourselves full then headed into Port de Polenca to take Kath’s Grandpa home. He has an apartment right on the waters edge, beautiful location. We then went to Maxine and Tommy’s house and had watched some tv on the wide screen and had some wine.

On Sunday we had a pretty quiet day and headed out to a Medieval Fayre Markets which we walked around an old church courtyard that had a whole pig on the spit. Maxine bought us some slippers to keep our feet warm in the evenings. We went to a Kebab place for lunch. It was the biggest kebab ever!And Tasty!!

On Monday, Maxine was going to hire a car for us. So we drove into the town centre of Port Pollenca and tried to hire a car, however we were to young so we drove to Alcudia and Maxine hired us a little blue Ford Ka.  It’s a nice little 3 door car. In the afternoon we drove up to Formentor which is up narrow little roads up mountains and through tunnels to get some great views and to see a far which is a lighthouse. The views were absolutely amazing! Got to love the Mediterranean.

On Tuesday, we filled the car up at a petrol station in Alcudia – the guy came up and filled the car up for us and then you just go in and pay – it was great!! We then drove through Arta, then to Cap de Pera and went up to the lighthouse and had a nice little break – the views on this corner of Mallorca were just as beautiful if not better. We were having a snack of some cheese chip things and all these cats come out from nowhere – there was like 7 cats! We then drove around for awhile trying to find the coves de arta. We got 2 euros of our tickets which was good – the caves were great – the guide spoke spanish, some english and a little bit of french – Pretty impressive!

We then drove home and had a nice night in. On Wednesday – Kath started to feel a little better and we went in to Port Pollenca and had a quick walk around the markets and then came home- to go off for a nice drive up mountains to Port Solla. The roads were narrow – but the views were amazing. There was an odd car who we think were driving around the tourist stop points seeing if people left there cars open. We had parked our car at one photo spot, and we were taking some photos and just sitting in the sun when Kath see’s this car come from one direction and turns around and drives back the way they came and parked right behind our car, the passenger guy got out and started to look at “the view” and then when he saw us walking back to the car he got back in and had to REVERSE to drive off. The fact that he was that close when There WAS like at least 100 other places seemed odd… as we were driving along we saw the same car within like 3kms like 5 times. We think he was driving around the tourist photo stops. So we kept driving to Port Soller and had a nice walk around the water and tried to make sense of the menus etc…  We ended up getting ice cream.

We then headed through some towns and ended up in Palma (the capital of Mallorca).. The traffic was horrific through the town centre. We then headed back up to the flat. We’ve seen some fantastic views and are loving the sun and warm weather we are having.