Friends in Spain!

Just a few pictures from our adventures with our friends Jen and Tyler!

More to come soon!!

What Just Happened?!?! - Kate's Here!! Pt. IV

Beautiful picture that Kelly, Kate, and I are definitely not in.

As we were driving our rental car along the eastern coastal road in Mallorca, we stopped at a small turn-off overlooking this view.  As were were heading back to the car a small car pulled into the turn-off and two couples in their 60's(ish) got out.  At the car we decided that we should get them to take a picture of the three of us since 3 person selfies can be difficult.

I walked over to the two ladies who were standing at the guardrail and asked if they could take our picture, but the one lady continued talking to her friend.  I realized they were Spanish and so as I ask again in Spanish, while standing there with the universal sign of 'can you take a picture' (holding the camera out with the front facing you and ready to show where the shoot button is).  

As I'm asking, this woman starts talking to her friend again and gives me a slight 'turn away' shoulder.  Her friend glances up with her eyes, quickly looks back down, but never moves her head. Then talking woman akwardly turns into her friend so that she never has to face me and starts walking back to the car, with me just standing there holding a camera out.  I look over to the car where I make eye contact with one of the men in the group, and he does the most sheepish break-eye-contact-and-duck-back-into-the-car that has ever occurred while I am still standing there holding out the camera (now to just the empty space where people used to be).  They then all climb in the car with talking lady obviously forcing conversation and everyone else in silence, trying to look anywhere but where we are.

I turn and walk back to the car where Kelly and Kate are where we all look at each other and in silence climb back into the car, where we look at each other again and begin to burst out laughing.

It was the weirdest feeling not being ignored, but having someone, who obviously knew you were there, act like you weren't.  We still can't decide if the funniest part of the whole thing was talking/ignoring lady, or the other three members of the group who saw what was happening and just took it in silence.

Fortunately, a nice Dutch couple (who lived in Germany and were on the island for a week for a choir competition, yeah, they actually talked to us) took our picture a little ways down the road.

Bizarre.

Kate's Here!! Pt. III

While Kate was here we rented a car for a few days and used it to explore parts of the island that are hard or impossible to get to with the train or bus.  Also, if you do the math, it had been over half a year since I had driven a car, and I was doing it in a rental, with a stick shift, kinda-sorta knowing the road signs, and, most terrifyingly, on roads filled with Spanish and tourist drivers.

And it was awesome!  Driving a car is the best thing ever!

One of the first towns we came to was Galilea, which is built along a ridge line at the top of a mountain pass.  Almost all of the houses are perched on a cliff like this one.

Our next stop as we headed to the road that runs along the mountainous western coast of Mallorca was the town of Andrax.  The old town is up in the hills, across the mountains from Palma.  The Port of Andrax is a big tourist destination but the old town was quiet when we were there.

This picture was taken in front of the cathedral that we stopped to see in Andrax.  You get no pictures of that, but look at the great view with the Port out in the distance.

Gratuitous cat pic.  Except this cat looks like Ridley.

 We arrived at this cafe just as it was opening, before all of the (German) tourists in vans, bikes, motorcycles, and cars showed up.

We were able to get prime outdoor seating on the terrace which looked over a 500ish foot drop down to the Mediterranean below.

The sun was out and the water was calm and crystal clear.  It was an excellent stop for a coffee.

 Next to the restaurant was this little overlook that used to have some sort of shrine in the building at the top.

We had a nice Dutch couple (who lived in Germany now) take our picture at the top.

We stopped several times to admire the view.  The Spanish idea of security fencing differs slightly from what you may see in the USofA.

A section of the road that follows the Western Coast of Mallorca.

Why Can't I Live Here?

Barthelona!

So, in February, flights to Barthelona (the proper way to say Barcelona in Spain) were uber cheap.  Like, 18 Euros each way.  So off we went to Barcelona for a fun weekend!  We've both been a couple times now so we were looking forward to going back.  Coming from Grand Junction and Palma, we were surprised by how many amazing restaurants were there.  In the past we've mainly eaten at local cafes and places near our hostel.  This time we looked more places up and went out of our way to find some good food that our taste buds were craving!  (e.g. HAMBURGERS!).  That being said, our trip to Barcelona definitely consisted more of food than anything else.  Sure we saw the main attractions (ones we hadn't seen on past trips) and rode the metro and visited our favorite areas. But really, we just ate.  A lot. 

At a restaurant called Milk, we found real Bloody Marys!

And Brunch!!

Really, real brunch.  If you didn't know, brunch is significantly more American than apple pie.  People in Europe just don't do brunch.  Usually, if you ask them if they have brunch, they ask you if you're American.

This is the remnants of our Hamburger from the restaurant Bacoa.  

Look, its a bar, no, its a clothing store.  Wait, its both!  Its a bar in the back of a women's clothing store.  Best.  Thing.  Ever.

Happiness is an espresso followed by a martini.

Hanging down by the water, drinkin' some wine.

We went to the La Caixa forum, to see an exhibit on the architect Le Corbusier.  Along with most of his original architectural models, they also had several of his paintings.  Some of which Kelly took pictures of before she was asked to put the camera away because thats not at all allowed.

Ice Cream!!!

Everyone Knows You're American When...

Even after you dress up to go to the cafe on the ground floor of your apartment and buy a baguette while you're there and get a cafe con leche...

A) You got it para llevar (to go) &
B) You don't want at least two packs of sugar for it.

Remember, the key to a good cup of coffee is to add enough milk 

and sugar to drown out that coffee taste.

Ride Report - Palma-Soller-Valldemosa

I left Palma under sunny January skies with the temperature in the 50s, heading toward the 60s.  I was off to ride the old road to Soller, a small town on the other side of the Tramuntana Mountains.  The ride north, out of the city, is a nice false flat road that continuously climbs (just a little) as it heads toward the mountains.

Mountains ahead

The tunnel that now takes road traffic from Palma to Soller was completed in the late 90's and cuts 7 miles and many, many turns off the old road over the top.  Bicycles, however, are not allowed in the tunnel so cyclists get to (or have to) take the old road over the top.

 The climb itself is a beautiful with a consistent gradient and tons of switchbacks.  There is almost zero traffic since most people pay the toll and take the tunnel, and the way the climb is built give plenty of opportunity to look back from whence you came.

 Excellent signage

 Look at that road...  With a better camera, you would be able to

see Palma and the Med through the 'V' on the left.

The road on the backside of the climb has plenty of switchbacks as well, but it is in a tighter valley with less straights and steeper drops.  This leads to something you see frequently on the mountain roads here in Mallorca during the 'rainy season', moss.  Many of the roads are so tight, and have so much tree cover that moss grows on the roads, mostly on the edges, but occasionally in the middle too.  This makes descending switchbacks a slower, more cautious affair than it would usually be.

 moss

 Looking down at Soller over an orange grove.

After dropping into Soller, the road starts to climb again almost immediately heading south along the coast toward Deia.  The entire road runs immediately along the coast so that you have the Med on one side, and the island on the other.  There are many small 'towns' along the road that would be hard to find on map.

 Town, Village, Hamlet...?

Narrow roads

After plenty of time getting to know the coast, the road heads inland again at Valldemossa for a long fast downhill run back to Palma.  A beautiful and climb-y ride that makes for a great day.

Deiá

As I sit at a bus stop sipping wine from a plastic cup, waiting for my bus that will be here in three hours (because we read the bus schedule wrong on a holiday, once again) I have to say that Spain, minus a few usual setbacks, is just awesome.  Neither of us have to work on Fridays, so we took off yesterday afternoon to see a town in Mallorca called Deiá . I traveled by bus while Will rode the 20 miles/2000 ft of climbing on his bike. **as I’m typing this two pro cyclists… or what I assume were pros because they wore pro kits and had super clean bikes… just rode past my stop. Maybe I should have taken a picture instead of typing about it. Oh well. Still pretty cool** After 5 weeks of rainy weather, we were very excited to wake up to SUN yesterday morning. I caught the bus with both of our bags and traveled the whole 45 minutes on a tiny bus with loud Spaniards. I don’t know if Spaniards have bad hearing or something, but they all insist on shouting everything they say. Some may call it being passionate… I call it obnoxious and rude when sitting next to someone on a bus. But, the ride wasn’t long and there was lots to see!

 

 

When I arrived in Deiá I had a map that in no way helped me locate the hotel that Will had booked. Luckily after wandering around the windy and small streets for a bit, I found a sketchy yellow sign with an arrow that supposedly pointed to our hotel.

 

I took off up this tiny and steep hill in hopes of stumbling across our hotel… carrying both our bags, passing doors that looked straight out of the hobbit (or what I can only assume are from out of the hobbit because I have never actually seen the hobbit).

 Totally hobbit doors- right?

 

Hiking up this hill made me feel slightly less lazy than Will, even if he did have to ride up the same exact hill not too long after me. When I reached the top about 15 minutes later, huffing and puffing, I found a sign for our hotel… our hotel that most definitely looked closed… but Will had received a confirmation, and emailed them…. So it had to be open, right??

 

Totally doesn't look open

 

So I walked up to the front door and peered inside. I couldn’t see anyone but some friendly looking cats.  They ran up to me and started rubbing up against my legs. So I was pretty happy and content for awhile. Until I realized it was cold out and I still needed to check in. So I set our bags down and pulled on the door. But it wouldn’t open. I tried again, sometimes doors in Spain are just really hard to open, but nothing happened. So I stood there for a minute, petting an adorable cat and trying to figure out what to do, when I looked at the door and read, “push”. Whoops. The adorable kittens had distracted me from realizing that I was supposed to push the door. So I opened it. Success! And went inside.

 

This old Spanish woman came out of a side door **more pros just rode by…. I swear they look super proish. Next time I'll work on taking a picture** So this super Spanish woman looked exactly like my Great Aunt Ray! I haven’t seen her in several years but I swear she did. And Wills never met her so he can’t back me up on this, but just take my word for it. So I feel like I know her as she walks me up to our room.  As we walk, I fumble with our two awkward bags (why did we need TWO bags for one night away??) and she walked me into a room with two beds. Then she got all confused and asked for my name. I told her Will Gillette because he booked the room and then she got even more confused because Will had emailed them to change the name to mine and she thought we’re supposed to have two beds but I was the only person there. With two bags. And I could tell that we were seriously missing something in the Spanish translation but I had no clue what to do. And she kept asking to see my reservation, which I didn’t have because I didn’t think to print it out before I left and I couldn’t get any cell service to pull up the email. And she didn’t understand why I wouldn’t have a copy of my reservation on hand, I guess, because she kept looking at me like I was an idiot. And I kept trying to ask for uno cama (one bed) instead of dos camas but she just kept telling me, I think, that the other rooms weren’t prepared and would be too cold (most places in Spain lack central heating).  But then, luckily, two other women walked into the hotel. And they had reserved the room with two beds and they were wisely prepared with their confirmation printed and so then I was pushed into the hallway. Still carrying my bags, trying to pull up our confirmation, and feeling very confused. And she just checked them in and got them settled in. And then she looked back at me, shook her head, said “uno momento” and walked off. So I waited for a while… still super awkwardly... with two bags… looking around... until she came back, pointed at me, and said Kelly Fischer?? And I nodded quickly and responded “sí, sí, sí!!” and then she muttered something about Marido and bicicleta and I continued to repeat “sí, sí, sí!!” (you can never say sí or vale enough in Spanish). And then she pushed me around and walked me down the hall to another room. Which didn’t have a bathroom or shower, but did have one bed and a space heater! And there she left me. So I assumed she figured it out… because I wasn’t kicked out of the hotel. But the website didn’t say we’d be sharing our bathroom or shower with our hallmates. And before I could go clarify that this was our room, I caught the view out our window, dropped our bags, and decided we’d make it work. Because the view was spectacular and totally worth sharing a bathroom and shower with others.

See the ocean in between the mountains?!

**another “pro” just rode by but I wasn’t fast enough to take a picture… I'll keep trying** I figured Will couldn’t be far away so I unpacked and then grabbed my book and went downstairs to read. I thought maybe I'd go find a market and pick up some wine or beer to enjoy while I waited, but the second I stepped outside, I was attacked by cats and forced, completely against my will, to sit down with one snuggled up in my lap. I absolutely did not chase it around and pick it up, several times, in order to pet it in my lap. So there I  remained, against my will, snuggling with a cat (please don’t tell Ridley) and reading until Will arrived. **he’ll post about his ride later. But I'll tell you that he made it and he made it in good time** And I remained hostage for another hour while he showered and got ready. And then maybe a few minutes longer…

 Totally being held against my will

 Struggling to get away

A look of complete suffering

After that, we decided to hit the town. Off we went in search of drinks and tapas. After wandering for about 30 minutes in every direction, it was obvious that Deiá on a Thursday in the winter does not have much to offer. So we wandered into a café. The only one/place that was open. And ran into the other two (and only other people) women staying at our hotel. And they had heard me speaking English earlier so they saw us, and introduced themselves as Australians! Hooray for English!  We ended up joining them for a few drinks… well one of them because the other didn’t drink and referred to herself as a teetotaler and Will had a revelation that the phrase teetotaler meant “totally tea” and I had to admit I’ve never heard of that before (And I just looked it up and it totally doesn't mean that. You can read all about it here if you're feeling so inclined.  It's actually fairly interesting.)… And before I knew it, it was dark outside and time to start looking for dinner. In hopes that more places were open now that it was darker and later, we said goodbye to our new friends and went off to find a restaurant. Right across the street was the only other place open. So in we went and it turned out to be absolutely okay because it was one of the best meals I have probably ever had. Will had duck and I had rack of lamb. YUM. There's no words to describe this meal, so I'll leave it at that. It was delish.

Leaving dinner we assumed that it had to be at least 10 at night, so when I check my phone and realized it was 8:00, we felt pretty lame.  Most people don't eat dinner until 9:00 in Spain so we were definitely not up to Spanish par.  Trying to be a little more "Spanish" we grabbed a bottle of wine to go and wandered around the deserted town.  Even though the town was quiet, it was well lit and absolutely beautiful.  I have only once seen stars brighter than the ones in Deia and that was in the middle of nowhere, Utah, where humidity is 0.  We could even see the milky way.  And we saw a shooting star.  "Magical" pretty much sums up the entire night.  And the entire trip. 

Our attempt to take a picture at night

**Okay, I finally got a picture of some of the "pros" riding by... thoughts??**

 

And so now I sit on a bench, typing away, waiting for the bus ride home.  The bus schedule normally has a stop in Deiá  at noon.  However, the schedule changes on Holidays.  You would think that Will and I would have remembered this because we ended up killing a lot of time last time we traveled due to a holiday bus schedule change... But we definitely didn't... and so at noon when the bus didn't come, we were confused.  Until we double checked and realized it would be here at 3:01.  So here I sit.  Will and I should be getting in around the same time.  I just received a fabulous text from him stating, "My dearest Kelly.  I have summited puig mayor and now I rest overlooking an alpine lake.  I look forward to seeing you again, perhaps in a train station in an exotic location in Europe.  Love, Your (slightly delusional) Husband."  And by exotic train station, he means Palma's train station, where he's meeting me to grab his bag.  But at least it sounds like he's surviving.  Even if he's partly insane :) 

Puig Major!

Well, now I've passed the good part of two hours (I type slowly) and it's nearly bus time.  I hope everyone is having a happy Spanish Constitution Day (the day that Spain signed their Constitution in the 70's- a 35 year old holiday). 

And I leave you with some other pictures of our awesome overnight.  Among our language confusion, culture shock, kitty cat mania, and travel mishaps, Spain definitely has its perks y'all...

There were kitty cats EVERYWHERE and they were ADORABLE

 Looking down into town

 

 We could hear this waterfall from our bedroom... LOOOVE

 

 

 The magical entrance to the street

 

Don't enter.  Unless you're going to our hotel.

 Kitty cats cleaning each other.  PRESH

 



Will enjoying his Tunel from Mallorca

XO, Kelly & Will