Spain 2024-Day 7-Palma de Mallorca
We collapsed into bed as soon as we got into the room.
After a good rest, we got up and decided to wander around. We had a walking tour, in English, scheduled for 6 p.m., so our time was free until then.
It was a gorgeous day, perfect weather, and we were ready to explore.
https://www.abc-mallorca.com/la-rambla-palma/aww
The cathedral is directly in front of us in this picture.
We had a light, beautiful lunch, then worked for a couple hours before our tour.
Our tour was led by Wibo, a fellow from Holland who has lived in Palma for 30 years. The other couple was from Sweden, heading home the next day.
We had a funny exchange with them when they asked where we were from. We said, "The United States," and they responded with, "Of course, but where." I said we were from New York, but we knew Americans often just said their state, expecting everyone around the world to know where that was.
The wife laughed and said, "That's so funny you say that because my friend from uni always said he was from California and the rest of us always said our country. He just expected people to know."
Yeah. I know. I didn't want to be that American. 😉
Wibo was a good guide, showing us many places of interest and spots to visit the next day. Palma has exploded with money and tourists in the last 30 years, and it shows in many ways. The buildings look well cared for or new, but there were also many comments from Wibo about, "The city walls were here, but they were torn down. This area was from the time of the Arabs, but that is all gone now."
A story he shared was about King Jaume I in 1229 and a bat waking up his army when a surprise attack was incoming from the Moors. The king decided bats should abound on city/state seals and coats of arms going forward.
We saw buildings inspired by Gaudì and heard tales of an escaped crocodile that terrorized the city before its capture.
There were weird puppets that get worn through the city streets at celebrations.
The tour ended around 8:30 and after waving off the rest of the group, we tried out some pintxos around the corner from our hotel.
It was a great first full day in Palma.
