After last night’s rain and thunder storm we thought for sure today would be a wash out – but not so!  We were up early for coffee and toast, and the stars were shining brightly!  Let’s hope this continues (and the weather forecast isn’t correct).

We are literally the first passengers off the ship at precisely 8am….deciding to get a head start on anyone else who may be looking for a car.  We are at the absolute last berth on this dock – so the walk to the port terminal is about 10 minutes. In the brisk weather, it is a great way to wake up this morning. 

The little kiosk we have rented from in the past is exactly where it should be…right in the middle of the parking lot outside the port entrance doors, but sadly, locked up tight. There is a little sign that says they’ll open at 9:30.  Pooh.  We might consider hanging out if it was 9, but we’re not wasting an hour just sitting around waiting, so off we go – hoofing it into town.

It is a long, but nice walk along the waterfront and onto the seaside promenade that wraps around the harbor.  We eventually have to get off the water side of the walk and cross to the busier landside in order to find the other rental car agency we booked with, as a back up to the kiosk.  It is easy to miss this little storefront, as it is unassumingly stuck in the middle of very similar looking glass-fronted outlets.   But find it we do, and in no time we are back out in the street, looking for our car which the sweet rental agent has told us is “across the street in a parking space somewhere.”  And when we return, we are to park the car “somewhere out there” in any available parking space.  Oooookaaaaay.

We do find the car and we easily make our way out of Palma and up the highway and into the mountains, passing signs for Soller (where we have also been before) and exiting the autostrada in the direction of Valdemossa.  Today are driving out to the other side of Palma, past Valderossa, to visit Son Marroig, the residence of the Archduke Luis Salvador and the site of the Sa Fordada rock formation.  It is supposed to be very picturesque with gardens and also a trail leading down to the rocks.  Some of the information we have seen says the gardens and outside areas of the residence are closed now that it is off season, but we’ll take our chances.

It is a gorgeous clear day, but a really cold puffy coat day – so our hiking may be curtailed, but we’ll see how it goes.  Exiting off the autostrada, the roads narrow and start to twist and turn their way up the mountains and along the coast.  We pass Valdemossa and keep going to our destination about 15 minutes further on.  As we continue to climb, we carefully navigate our way around a rockslide that has left most of the rock wall in the road.  Sheesh.  That’s a little scary. There have obviously been some heavy storms here – and the ground is soaked, lots of water running off the hills and, of course, the rockslide.

We arrive at Son Marroig a little before the house is supposed to open, find the parking area (after driving down toward the house, before realizing we weren’t allowed to be there), then walked down the steep drive to the viewpoint for Sa Fordada.  The views out to the rocks and beyond are stunning, and with the water and waves crashing in, Sa Fordada sounds almost as if it is groaning or talking to us. There is a little restaurant here as well, right by the viewpoint with stunning views.  Online, the menu looked good (expensive because of the location), but we aren’t certain it is open off season, and we’ll be too early to eat up here anyway, so we figure we will find something when we are back in Palma proper.

Continuing on down the lane to the house, we arrive at a stately courtyard with many doors, all of them seemingly locked up tight.  Hmmmmm.  All the information said that the house opened at 10am, and it is about 5 minutes after.  I’m wondering if the museum is open at all.  We wander around the exterior of the property for a while, looking for the trail to Sa Fordada – but it is definitely closed, the gate is locked and signs all over telling you to keep out.  Ok, so no hiking today.

We head back to the house, but it is still locked up, then climb up to the parking lot, as a car comes by us and parks next to the house.  Interesting.  Then more apparent visitors arrive.  They must be open!  Unless all of us are wrong – which easily could be.  We’ve come this far, we’re not going to just leave without a little more effort, so back down the steep driveway we go, this time trying the doors, one of which we find open.  Success!

Walking inside the entrance vestibule, we don’t readily see anyone – but there are noises and voices coming from the kitchen right off to the side.  Calling out, a lady comes out and tells us they are in fact open.  And we are the first visitors, because she has to turn on the lights for us!  Then she checks our vax cards, makes us clean our hands, and takes our entrance fee.  Gotta love it when people are serious about protecting all of us from the virus – I mean, she literally walked us to the hand sanitizer, pointed, and waited for us to clean our hands before we were admitted to the house!

And thus begins our tour of the Archduke’s residence.  Born in Austria, exiled to Czechoslovakia, he fell in love with Majorca after visiting while in the navy and made it his goal to come back. And come back he did – buying up farmland and this estate house, while collecting artifacts such as Mediterranean pottery and ceramics, old Majorcan furniture and paintings, all of which are on display for visitors. 

The house itself isn’t all that grand, but the rooms inside are quite interesting and decorated in the original 18^th and 19^th Century styles.  We pass through the little chapel, filled with photographs that chronicle the Archduke’s life.  Then up the narrow staircase with the gorgeous blue, yellow and white decorated tiles embedded in each riser, to simple bedroom and into the main museum area, a large room containing artwork from major painters of the time as well as display cases chock full of ship models, artifacts and old books. Finally, we enter the enormous dining hall with beautiful wood table and upholstered chairs – with a portrait of the Archduke himself – before traversing down the stairs and heading out into the garden area.

The house is interesting in and of itself, but the gardens are the real attraction – at least for us. The views over the Mediterranean are spectacular and the gardens themselves are lush, even in Fall/Winter season.  The Grecian type gazebo perched at the edge of the cliffs is a perfect place for photos (Sunny even gets into the mood), as are the little pond, the geese and ducks and the trellis turning colors in the cold temperatures.  Wandering through the gardens for 10, 20, 30 minutes is a lovely way to finish our visit to Son Marroig – a good substitute for hiking to Sa Fordada,

Reversing course, we wind our way back around the narrow cliff hugging roads, being stopped at the rock slide area by workers who are now cleaning it up with a little earth mover.  Wow! That’s fast!  Then on into Valdemossa, where we decide to stop for a cappuccino at the Bar S’Olivera, a little packed place on the corner.  We are able to snag an outdoor table, but inside, hoo boy.  It is slam packed with what appears to be an all local crowd.  We get our cappuccino, barely escaping without ordering one of those huge, delectable looking pastries, and sip contently on the patio trying to soak up as much sun as possible.  Finishing up, we wander through the streets a bit, but it is so touristy here – all souvenir and expensive shops – so we just head back to the car and make our way into Palma. 

The drive is an easy one, the two-lane road eventually turns right into the highway and takes us directly back to the city.  That’s when the real fun begins though!  We have to find a parking space for the car.  Remember the “park anywhere” comment.  Well, yeah, right!  There is not a parking space to be had – we go up and down the promenade road – nothing.  And all the spots in front of the storefronts are blocked off with huge jersey barriers for construction.  Yikes.  Adding insult to injury, we can’t find exactly where the rental place is located.  You can’t see signs from the street and we can’t get close enough to figure it out.

We end up circling again – and get stuck in really nerve wracking traffic – before finally pulling over next to a jersey barrier that we think is close to the office. As it turns out – it isn’t!  I run down the sidewalk until I locate the office, then run back to Ed in the car and direct him to the next jersey barrier pullout, where we stuff the car and go inside.  Phew. At least we managed to find this little illegal parking space – otherwise, we’d still be driving around the Palma waterfront!

Car drop complete, we wander back toward the ship, thinking about lunch. But everything here is so, well, English.  Because of course, that is who comes here – the Brits.  We want true Spanish food – but it is few and far between here.  Plus the prices! Nope.  We do what we normally never do – head back to the ship for a late lunch and time on the balcony until we sail away heading to Valencia.