Busy doing nothing...........

So, not much to report! We're making the most of this lazy holiday by doing not very much!

We've had a walk into muro the day before yesterday, an hour + stroll each way, in over 35degrees in mid-day sun..........just to visit a deluxe shopping centre, newly built on our last vist three years ago, but which has since closed down........however we did see a hugh deck chair on the way, so not a completely wasted journey.......

Yes, weve been back to Rancho chicos! Another lovely evening, and, we're off there again tonight!

Last night after dinner, Kevin wanted to walk to Puerto d'Alcudia.  A short stroll says he......1.15hrs later, in new heels, along the sandy promenade, I could have killed him!!  But it was lovely.  Alcudia has lots of canals and inlets rinning from the sea into little reservoirs and lakes.  So we took the scenic route, along one of the canals, then we walked along the sea front promenade where lots of people stroll every evening.  

It was a beautiful evening, and it was lovely to watch children and families enjoying the last of the evening sun right up to 9pm on the beach.  

Peurto d'Alcudia is a bustling marina of luxury yachts, surrounded by shops, cafes, restaurants and bars.  Most of it was closing by the time we got there though.....wonder if Kev planned it? Lol!  But we found a little sea front cafe where we revived ourselves with alcohol and the best dish of ice cream we'd had in ages! We shared, so it wasnt too naughty!!

We're by thepool today, its supposed to be 37degrees, so Im going to be under the parasol for much of the day, sipping mohitos.

My view for the day! Its 10am, Suns just coming over the hotel, and its gonna be a hot one!

Its a tough job, but someones got to do it!

Why Alcudia?......

This is our 8th time to Majorca, the 7th to Alcudia.  Why do we like it? Its one of those places that is opposite to all our other holidays destinations.  Its a very busy, family orientated resort.  Great if youre a family with children on a budget.  Beautiful beaches, bustling harbour and main strip filled with restaurants and bars offering meal deals and happy hour prices all day.  

Shopping, well in the main, its tourist souvenirs, theres some boutique shopping in old alcudia and down futher in muro - a new shopping complex, but for the rest, not anything you really need or want. 

So, not really the sort of resort that would suit an older childless couple?

However, Palma is just 1.5hrs from Gatwick, and my favourite restaurant in the world, just one hour away from Palma.  Rancho Chico's (the name doesnt nearly do the restaurant justice) is set on the edge of the hotel area of Alcudia.  You have to know its there, to find it.  Its popular with locals, ex pats, and tourists who have tracked it down via Trip Adviser - it has a very high rating.

Entrance to the restaurant is through an arch of green hedge, which opens out to a tiny courtyard, with a seating capacity of approx 10 tables.  Booking is advised as its very popular and gets filled quickly.  The little courtyard is surrounded by hedges and planting of roses and verbena, whilst overhead hang grapes and olives from the terrace pergolas.  Gently background music, sometimes jazz adds to the ambiance, but doesnt intrude.  Its the perfect setting to while away a couple of hours, talk, and relax.

The restaurants owner Jose, is welcoming, and greets us like long time friends.  When Im here, like EPM, I feel instantly at home, that I can relax and know Jose will take care of us.

The food.  The food is excellent quality and fresh.  Kevin experiments with some of the more adventurous dishes, like Lamb Frito - a sort of this stew made from lambs intestines (!) - I like the lamb chops.  Perfectly grilled on the outdoor swinging bbq, served for me with a simple salad or tomatoes and onion.  And being English, Jose knows I like my lamb with mint! Lol!  

Its the small touches, a basket of fresh warm crusty bread, served with the most garlicky aioli and the best olives Ive ever eaten to start.  Fresh cut iberico ham, shaved wafer thin mounded over perfectly ripe melon, delicious home made deserts, including the wonderful cheese pudding and the perfectly zingly refreshing lemon ice with vodka! Yum.

And the wines! Oh the wines.  Jose has picked wines for us over the years that we've loved.  Local Mallorcan reds, rich and deep.  Wines to be sipped and savoured.  Wines, that I remember from one three year vist to the next.  

We finish our meal with brandy, baileys and coffee, then leave sated till the next time.

So thats why we love alcudia.  Not the beaches, not the shopping, not the hotel, thats just a means to get to Rancho Chicos.  We love it because of this restaurant, and every couple of years, we feel the need to go see Jose.  😉

Sunday Stroll!!

Bright, clear, beautiful, hot Sunday here in Majorca!!  Our first day, so we set off to Alcudia old town for some shopping and a little tapas lunch.  We love this old walled town, beautiful cobbled streets with winding alleyways which show glimpses of shuttered windows, geranium pots and local life.  

Overhead, hundreds of paper garlands flutter, providing a moving canopy, shielding us from the worst of the sun.  Its quaint and pretty, but Sundays it throngs with both tourists shopping for souvenirs and locals who shop for locally produced produced foods.

The food market is wonderful, bright, colourful piles of fragrant fruit and vegetables.  The smells, of the smells.  Mouth-watering fresh fruit smells.  The peaches, so large that you'd need two hands to hold them! Heaps of cherries, and tiny tomatoes on the vine perfect for roasting.  Stalls selling cured meats and dried sausage, local cheeses and olives.  Perfect tapas ingredients.  Its hard not to feel jealous of all the sun ripened fruit that the locals buy that put our  anaesthetised packaged tasteless fruit to shame.  

This lady was making doughnuts by hand, literally 'pulling batter into her hand, making the hole with her thumb and dropping into hot oil!

However, I was a woman on a mission, I needed to buy some fans for friends back in the uk, so off to a few of my favourite boutiques, looking for some hand painted ones. Heres the ones Ive purchased so far.

 Ive got a number of fans, a collection started when I was about 8 and given my first fan by my grandmother, who travelled to spain, back in the 60's.  I rarely go anywhere without one, so its normal for Kevin to buy me a couple when we visit Spain.  This time it was a funky hand painted fun fan 

and a beautiful hand painted designer fan which Id looked at longingly, but would never have paid the asking price.  Kevin, just picked it up, and said to assistant 'we're having this one please!' Gobsmacked, and chuffed to bits. Im hoping it will go with my wedding outfit for Fiona and Marcus's wedding next month 😉

After shopping, it was lunchtime, so we headed to a little tapas restaurant we know.  My tapas platter included the best lemon Aioli ever! Meats, cheeses, freshly baked bread and olives, plus cerveza! Delicious sunday lunch! 

😉

Sunny hot Majorca!!

After an abysmally wet summer in the UK its lovely if a little shocking to arrive to dry sunny weather in Majorca - pure bliss!!

Here's our predicted weather for the next week!!  Tomorrow looks a bit iffy, but it brightens for Saturday!! Lol!

We arrived Saturday, via Gatwick which has undergone a major overhaul of their security system - very comforting in view of all the troubles that are taking place across the world.  I had a full body x-ray, I think my bracelets set the security off! - would have loved to see the image! - and no need for the usual 'pat down' by the security guard because my underwire bra usually set off the beepers - shame as I look forward to the pat down as a start to my holiday........

We hit duty free next - I had a long list of things I needed, Kev had just one thing in mind, his whisky - took him over twenty minutes to choose a bottle!

The flight was very quick, just 90 minutes to Palma, Majorca, then an hour ride to the hotel in Alcudia.

Now, about the hotel, the Platja d'or.  This is a super cheap hotel, we've stayed here 6 times, and we use it as a base to get out and about.  Its all inclusive, adults only and a very british octogenarian clientele!  We're probably amongst the youngest residents!!  There's not a lot of anything going on here, its not glamorous like the Excellence hotels, however, its super clean, has all the amenities for a relaxing break, the foods good quality and very fresh, and its very near our favourite restaurant, Rancho Chicos so it has everything we need!  Since our last stay, the bedrooms have been refurbished as well - so very happy!!

We unpacked, napped and met up with some of the lovely hotel staff over dinner and a bottle of wine.

😉