Susanne We parked our vehicle and started our walk through Pollença. After asking a few friendly locals we managed to find the tourism office where we obtained assistance in helping us find accommodation. We were originally planning to stay in the monastery on top of the Puig de Maria, but after experiencing the scary drive and the long hike to the top, we realized we needed a more convenient place to stay. I could not for the life of me imagine having to drive that road again, let alone at night, after dinner out in the town. That was simply too scary a thought.
The lady at the counter helped us with her local expertise and when we asked her for reasonable seaside accommodation, she suggested a few two-star hotels in Port de Pollença, a harbour town about six kilometres from where we were. She even made a phone call for us to check if the hotel had any availability. And sure enough, the Hotel Goleta in Port de Pollença had a room for us at the reasonable rate of 52 Euros.
View of the church of Pollença
With our accommodation choice confirmed, we continued our stroll through Pollença and came across the main square, Placa Major, which is anchored around a parish church from the 18th century. Pollença itself was founded in 1229 by King Jaume I who reconquered Mallorca from the Moors and brought back Christian rule. Several bars and restaurants surround the main square and the famed Hotel Juma stands at one of the corners.
Hungry from our adventure, we sat down and ordered some local delicacies: “pa amb oli”, which literally means bread with olive oil in the Mallorcan language, and some delicious Spanish tapas with potato croquettes, seafood salad, pickled mushrooms and a Spanish omelette. Sitting on this Spanish square we took in how the locals and the tourists alike were enjoying their late lunches.
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| Pa amb oli | Spanish tapas |
I took a short stroll past the parish church through some of the narrow streets before we headed off to our hotel in Port de Pollença. The drive took us along a flat country road into Port de Pollença, which has a very pleasant Mediterranean sea front fringed by palm trees, a wide sandy beach and low rise buildings. Many restaurants, bars, food stores and souvenir shops line the coastal road and it was very easy for us to find the Hotel Goleta.
We checked into our room on the 4th floor and although the hotel was basic, it was clean and had all the necessary amenities. The most important feature was the balcony overlooking the seafront promenade which gave us a great panoramic view over the entire Bay of Pollença and the action on the waterfront. We had picked up a few snacks in the supermarket and sat down on the balcony and enjoyed our seafront view.
Gorgeous view from our hotel room in Port de Pollença
Towards the evening we were ready for another excursion: the Formentor Peninsula which forms the northeastern end of the island. We drove into the bare craggy mountains and stopped at a spectacular lookout point called Mirador d’es Colomer from where I could see the jagged limestone cliffs dropping into the crystal blue waters of the Mediterranean. A monument to the Italian engineer Antonia Paretti graces the lookout point and reminds us of the amazing roadbuilding expertise required in this mountaineous terrain.
After inhaling this gorgeous panorama we continued our drive along the winding coastal road, drove through a narrow tunnel and a few kilometers away we stopped at the historic Hotel de Formentor, a luxury hotel, situated on a private bay, that was constructed in 1929. We walked through the impressive lobby through the Mediterranean gardens to take in the stunning views of this bay.
Lookout point over the gorgeous coastline of Cap Formentor
On we continued to our final destination of the day: the Cap de Formentor, the northeastern tip of Mallorca. One of Mallorca’s most well-known landmarks can be found here: the Lighthouse of Cap Formentor which sits in a spectacular location, several hundred metres above the sea. We parked our vehicle and walked all the way around it and took in the impressive views of the sea and the jagged peaks of the Formentor Peninsula.
The scenic beauty of this location captured us and on our way back we stopped a couple of more times to catch more glimpses of this phenomenal coastline. We were both amazed at how such a tiny place as the island of Mallorca could have such diverse landscapes and so many picturesque destinations.
The famous lighthouse of Cap Formentor
As the sun was setting we returned to Port de Pollença and sat down on our balcony to enjoy the sunset. Our first full day in Mallorca had filled us with so many impressions and we needed our rest to get ready for another day of explorations.
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