September 30 Palma de Mallorca

There were dark storm clouds in the sky as Celebrity Edge approached Palma de Mallorca, Spain as the sun rose. Today’s forecast calls for 55% chance of scattered morning showers. Just after we docked, there was a rainbow over the distant hills. Breakfast was up at the Oceanview Café buffet, since we needed to be collecting our Sóller train tour tickets at 9 a.m. in the theatre. We took photos from Deck 14 of the landmarks around Palma’s port and city. Fortaleza San Carlos, named after Carlos Coloma who was Viceroy of Mallorca from 1611 to 1617; 14th-century Bellver Castle; two towers and the Cathedral of Mallorca. The style of architecture of Cathedral of Mallorca is Levantine Gothic. It was built on the site of a former mosque. The tombs of some of Mallorca’s past Kings, James II and James III, are here.

A quick check on the stateroom’s TV for a weather report showed a temperature of 16°C on the navigation channel. However, trying to read headline banners on the BBC World Service or major American news channels was impossible because the channels kept breaking into pixels. By our return from our tour mid-afternoon the problem had been fixed.

As we waited for the sticker number to be called, Beth & Bill, Judy & Cliff and Tim & Terry who were on the tapas tour yesterday appeared also with Sóller train tour stickers. Everyone was advised that face masks, they did not need to be FFP2/KN95 masks as required in Italy, are mandatory on public transportation in Spain. The staff was handing out blue medical masks to almost everyone. Very few people on the ship wear masks except the crew, who all wear KN95 masks. The walk to the busses was quick, as there was a brief light drizzle. Hapag-Lloyd Europa was the only other cruise ships in the harbour.

Our bus driver was Benasio and the guide was Maribel, she lives in Palma. Mallorca is one of the Balearic Islands, which were named for the Roman general who conquered in the islands in 123 B.C. The islands were sacked by Vikings led by King Björn Ironside in the mid 9^th century. Mallorca switched between Arabic and Christian rulers after that. The city of Palma was established by the Romans on the remains of a bronze age settlement. The colony was known as Pollentia. After the Roman period, it was under the rule of the Byzantines and then the Moors. In 1229, James I of Aragon conquered the city and renamed it Palma.

The first stop was Bellver Castle for a quick look at the view of Palma and the exterior of the castle. The drizzle had ended. Bellver Castle is a completely round, 14th-century citadel built under King James II’s rule. It has four round towers. Its lower levels acted as a prison from 1717 to the Spanish Civil War, which ended in 1939. The road leading from Palma to the castle was built by early 20^th century prisoners.

Back in the bus, Maribel passed everyone a small compact combined receiver and earphone to wear for the tour. We could be some distance behind or in front of her and still hear what she was saying. These were for use when we arrived in Sóller (pronounced Sah-Yer, like Tom Sawyer). The drive was about one hour. We passed the military harbour, marina and the Riel Mallorca Football Club Olympic size stadium built in 1999 the University World Games. The marina is popular and has 3,400 berths for boats to moor. Mallorca has 550 km of coastline, many beaches and over 800 hotel or vacation apartments. The sky cleared a bit as we left Palma for the 29 km drive to Söller. We passed orchards of almond trees (with yellow autumn leaves), Carob trees and Olive trees. There are more than six million almond trees on the island. They replaced vineyards, which were more labour intensive, since the almonds are more profitable. The Söller area, in the Serra de Tramuntana (mountain range) produces 90% of the island’s olive oil. It is also known for its oranges and lemons. There were some tunnels through the hills, the longest was two km. The bus could not maneuver in the Söller’s narrow streets so the group had a seven minute walk to main square passing the local stone homes and the train station where we were to meet in 90 minutes.

At Plaça Constitusio, we saw the 1904 Ajuntment de Söller, city hall, with tis crest including two lions. At a corner was the Banco Söller built in 1889 and renovated in 1912 to a moderniste style. Mallorcans returned from America and France in the late 1800s, after they had immigrated to seek fortunes. Returning to Sóller with great fortunes, they wanted to keep their money locally. Also on the plaza is the parish church of Sant Bartomeu de Sóller. In the early 1700s, after the old church collapsed, a new baroque church was built and finished in 1733. A final renovation designed by Antoni Gaudí was done in two stages, 1904 to 1913 and 1946 to 1947, by a disciple of Gaudí’s, Joan Rubió Bellver. The design combines modernist Art Nouveau and Gothic historicism. With the square explained the group disbursed. We followed a narrow street and found a local indoor fresh market, Mercat Municipal Söller. It was much smaller than Mercat St. Josep in Barcelona. The sky was threatening rain which finally came for 20 minutes. We dug our rain jackets and an umbrella from Larry’s backpack. For ten minutes we walked along a street then decided to return a different way. Having no map, it was the long way back to the plaza. On one of the street for several blocks there were many large dreamcatchers dangling ten meters overhead. After asking a garbage truck driver for directions, he told us to just keep going and we would get to the train station. In five minutes, we were there. A gelanto store was close by and we ordered some gelanto as our lunch and walked over to the train station. We passed Pastisseria Vidal bakery with pastries displayed in its window. People were gathered in front of the train station waiting for the 12:15 train back to Palma. The temperature was 22°C. There is also a tram that takes passengers to the Port of Söller, a trip of 30 minutes each way. Maribel stressed that there was not enough time to ride the tram. Seated on a bench, on the train platform, was a red person-like sculpture. Our group members were on time to meet for the train trip. Maribel distributed cards as a way to ensure everyone had a “ticket”. The vintage 1912 wooden train arrived with its seven carriages. Our group had a carriage to ourselves. We were seated ready to go a few minutes, overlooking the back gardens of houses. As the train departed there were still low clouds hugging the mountains. Söller is located in a valley. There were a good views of the city and the rural fields as the train climbed higher. We passed more orchards including olive trees that are hundreds of years old. Many orchards are grown on terraces of dry stone walls. The train passed through 13 tunnels between Söller and Bunyola. In many places there is only sides of rock to view. At Bunyola the train stopped to let the other vintage train going to Söller pass. After Bunyola more fields were visible on either side of the railway tracks. As the train approached the Palma station where our bus was to meet us, we could see an IKEA store.

It was a 30 minute bus drive back to the ship. We passed the Cathedral of Mallorca; Almundania Palace, where the Spanish Royal Family stays during the summer and the last remains of the old city wall. They were known as the Alcudia City Walls which date back to the 14th century being completed in 1362. As we walked back to the ship a brief drizzle started. There was a fuel tanker truck beside the ship when we returned. Usually the ship is re-fueled from a bunker barge.

The captain’s 6 p.m. announcement said that it was 492 nautical miles from Palma to Civitavecchia. He also stated that the ship’s compasses needed to be recalibration (an annual procedure) as the ship left Palma. Passengers should not be confused when the ship turned different directions and back again just outside the port entrance. We watched from our dining room window as the ship seemed to slowly turn one way and then another. If you were not by a window you would not know anything different was happening.

Larry went to the casino this evening. During most cruises, the casino is a busy place when the ship is not in port. Today there were less than a dozen people at the slot machines or playing at a table at 9:30 p.m., although the evening theatre show was just beginning.

Tonight was another “Evening Chic” dress code for the main dining rooms. Lobster and Baked Alaska were on the menu. After dinner we went to The Club to dance to the pre-recorded ballroom dance music and were the only dancers again. We watched the end of the Barricade Boys quartet show in the theatre.

Today, there were pictures taken but the text from yesterday was not ready yet. Yesterday’s text will be posted, then today’s text will be written the photos, and explanations of the photos will get posted when we wait in Rome airport on October 2. The airport terminal’s Wi-Fi is faster and the photos will upload a lot faster than using ship Internet on a Sea Day.

Total steps 15,083 = 9 km

Aside: Russian President Putin annexed four more regions of Ukraine.

The home email changed its server as of September 30 and we have no access to Shaw Mail until we can switch to the new system.