Mallorca, with its charming villages and farmyard terraces
I wanted to explore Mallorca. See the cultural landscape of the Serra de Tramuntana, and visit the museum dedicated to Frédéric Chopin and George Sand in Valldemossa. But also discover the older part of Palma de Mallorca.
Palma de Mallorca
Palma is a welcoming city, and it is not difficult to understand why the tourists have come here since the 1960s. The old, very prominent Cathedral La Seu is the city’s most famous landmark. It lights up at night by the harbor, surrounded by the Castel and old town.
Llotja de Palma
Llotja de Palma was finished around 1450 and built for merchandise. It is the most important example of a secular building in the late Gothic style and one of the most notable structures of this kind in Europe. The building proved Palma’s rich trading past in the 15th century.
Serra de Tramuntana
The cultural landscape of the Serra de Tramuntana constitutes an excellent example of the Mediterranean agricultural landscape. Several villages, churches, sanctuaries, towers, lighthouses, and small dry-stone structures punctuate the terraced landscape and contribute to its actual character. This culture led to coming on the UNESCO world heritage list in 2011.
Valldemossa
I had been thinking of renting a scooter and traveling the mountains, all the way to Port de Sóller. However, I found out there were good bus connections several times daily. On these narrow winding roads, it is just as well to sit relaxed on a bus and enjoy the landscape. The ride up to Valdemossa was fantastic; this village blended beautifully into nature.
Frédéric Chopins and George Sand’s love nest
The Polish composer and the French author had a ten years long romance. Sand was divorced and used the name George to be taken seriously as an author. She also used to dress up in trousers and smoked cigars. Besides, she did not attend church, so in Mallorca, this was not popular. When it was known that they were not married, they were thrown out of their first dwelling on the island. Therefore, they ended up in a cell in a convent in Valldemossa. Today, this cell is a museum; we can see their private belongings, like Chopin’s piano and a lovely roof terrace. Despite their struggles, they were both very productive with their work while staying in Mallorca. A fascinating place to visit.
The bus journey continues.
After Valldemossa, the bus continued to Deiá, another charming mountain village. I stopped here for lunch and had a walk down the winding road to a small rocky beach and through the terraced farmland on the way up again. My last stop for the day was at Port de Sollér.
The morning after, I took the old street tram that runs between the twin cities Port de Sollér and Sollér. From here, I took the bus back to Palma. I had one more day in Palma and visited Fundació Miró Mallorca, where Mirò had his studio. The view from Castell de Bellver was also magnificent.
Conclusion
It is not fair to say I know an island I just visited for a few days. And a short blog can not give it justice either. However, I went there with a predigest against Mallorca, a little bit as I have awards the Cannery islands that I visited while I was young. I had heard about it as a typical Spanish tourist machine, thinking of a town built of high hotels and restaurant malls. It pleased me that this was not the case in Mallorca. Thanks to UNESCO, I wanted to see this for myself and was so happily convinced that I don’t mind returning to some of the quiet mountain villages in the future.
