Inca to Alcudia

The island is only 100km by 70km and Inca is situated in the middle of the island, a mere 29 minute drive north to Alcúdia and a similar distance south to the capital, Palma. 

We arrived in Alcúdia, a Roman Town. On arrival, we had no idea of the location of the hotel as it was within the medieval walls and we had to park outside. We parked and walked through one the medieval gates, 

eventually locating the hotel at the opposite side of the town. There had been a festival in town that weekend and the tidy up and dismantling were taking place. Some of the streets were closed. When they reopened we were able to park our car nearer the hotel. Checking in, we were allocated a room across the road - no amenities but it didn’t bother us as we were staying only one night. 

As we entered the room the heavens opened and it deluged for about an hour!! 

                 A view from our balcony 

The Romans located the town a little inland to reduce the risk of pirate attack. In the 14th century walls were constructed to protect the city. 

The rain having ceased we set out to walk the walls 

From here we had a view of the Tramuntana mountains which traverse the north of the island. 

Returning to ground level we walked the narrow medieval streets. We saw the Town Hall under renovation 

Passed the Place de la  Constitució - the central square 

 passed the artisan quarter 

down towards the hotel, passing a number of 16 and 17th century Casals, Renaissance stately homes with their ornate windows

We came to the Church of Sant Jaume ( James) closed at this time 

and back to the hotel. 

We are nearby ....until tomorrow 

Before, The Day and the After

The night before the wedding, we taxied to a restaurant in Sencelles, about a 15 minutes driver from Inca. We joined the oldies on both sides and later the younger brigade up the road where they had dined. 

The wedding day dawned.  We arrived at Finca Miranda at 14:00 in preparation for the bride’s arrival. 

It was a 10 minute walk to the venue so refreshments were provided at the half way mark. There we met a lovely couple from the bride’s side.We arrived at the venue and were seated under the shade of the mulberry tree. The bride arrived resplendent in a gorgeous white gown and the bridesmaids in a fresh yellow and white dresses. The groom looked dashing in his light blue jacket, shirt and white trousers while his groomsmen wore similar outfits with a darker shade of blue jacket. A beautiful humanist ceremony followed. 

A half an hour later, we were drinking champagne and eating canapés. As the sun went down, we were seated   

at long tables and the meal was served with copious wine to booth. 

We later adjourned to the dancing area by the pool where a terrific Blues band played the night away. Cocktails were served and not normally a cocktail lover, I more than warmed to Coffee Expressos. We taxied home at 02:00! A great day was had by all. 

The following day, we then adjourned to Finca La Miranda at 16:00 for paella and drinks. We returned to base a little earlier!! 

Mallorca - Inca

We’re here for Ronan’s wedding. We arrived on an Aer Lingus flight at 14:05 local time, having left Dublin at 10:35 local time. Check in was a bit of a nightmare as  the carrousel would not accept my tagged bag at the drop bag area and I had to queue to have it accepted at the check-in.  Added to that was the fact that Aer Lingus have this new app called VeriFLY. It is supposed to speed the process of check-in, whereby in addition to checking in on line, one completes the App with one’s personal details, a locator and health form for the Spanish and scans one’s Covid cert.  However,  the App is not fit for purpose. Each member of the. wedding party spent a number of hours trying to complete the forms - even the young techies!! 

At the airport, when I attempted to check in my bag after the ‘drop bag’code was not recognised, there was a separate queue for the VeriFLY group. However, one would have been faster in the general queue. And when we got to the gate, again a separate queue for VeriFLY which though smaller was slower than the general queue!!! The App is not fit for purpose and it has had very poor reviews.  I won’t be using it again!! 

Surprisingly, the flight was full, but everyone was very respectful and wore their masks. 

We had hired a car from Goldcar. We normally take out an annual excess insurance but Goldcar wouldn’t  accept it unless we lodged €1,100 against our Visa. From previous experience, we knew that there would be multiple examples of ‘damage’ when we returned the car!! We paid the extra €200. The car rental sector should be regulated - many of the firms operate very sharp practices!! 

We got the car and left Palma airport, heading for Inca, where we were to stay. A hundred metres from the hotel at a roundabout a young local ran into the back of us. We pulled in by the side of the road. He apologised, gave us all his details and then suggested we go to a car park down the road, where we could fill in the accident form. He gave us his phone as collateral. And so the form was filled in, the car company informed and we crossed the road to the hotel!  Ringing Goldcar again, they seemed unperturbed and as the car appears to have little damage, just asked is to drop in the accident form when we returned the car. Though it was quite a bang, there appears to be little damage - so hopefully for the young man’s sake that is the case. 

The hotel is exceptional - Sa Vinya des Convent. It is situated in an Olive and winery 

The interior was spectacular 

A former convent I believe!!!

We checked in and later met my son and his girlfriend for dinner at 

It was a typical traditional restaurant recommended by our hotel. It didn’t disappoint as the owner explained the various local dishes -among our choices were  calamari stuffed with pork - delicious and very unusual, a lamb stew oven cooked for 2 hours and some delicious lamb cutlets. It was a truly a memorable meal served in a restaurant 50 years in existence. 

We retired - exhausted after a difficult day. 

To Dizy, St Mère Eglise Cherbourg and home.

This morning, we set out for Dizy 

near Reims in the Champagne region.  I believe there is a place called Boozy situated in the region also. We arrived in the evening at our Logis, had dinner and retired after a long day of driving. Next day, prior to our departure, we visited a Champagne House. I’m not a great lover of champagne but I did learn that the fewer the bubbles the better the champagne quality. We purchased. 

We travelled to St Mère Eglise, within 30 minutes of Cherbourg. 

We missed the Paris bypass  (use your phone for navigation rather than the car sat nav) and rounded the Bastille twice as the Sat Nav gave up and scooters dangerously wiggled between the traffic!! Eventually, we quitted Paris and made our way north west. 

We have learned from bitter experience that instead of rushing for the ship on the day of departure, it is better to stay nearby the night before. 

We stayed in a quaint hotel in the town square. 

The area is famous for the dropping of parachutists into the town during the Normandy landings 

- a pilot error as they were supposed to land in the countryside and a random fire in the town exposed the parachutists to the Nazis. One of the parachutist’s parachute was caught in the church steeple, which was the Nazis watch tower.

He was there for a number of hours until the Nazis cut him down. He escaped soon afterwards and returned to his regiment. On the 50th anniversary of D Day, he returned to join the celebrations. 

In the church is a stained glass window commemorating the event 

There is an excellent, informative museum in the town which would be of interest to anyone who is a student of WW11. 

From there, we made our way to Cherbourg 

and home.   

 

Strasbourg

Last evening, we arrived at the K hotel on the outskirts of Strasbourg, an ideal location if one is driving. There is a tram, a 10 minute walk away which brings one to the city centre. Across the street was a very good restaurant, where we dined that evening. 

Next day we set out to for Strasbourg. Crossing the vast Keber Square, we arrived at Strasbourg cathedral - so large it was difficult to photograph. 

It is more impressive than Nôtre Dame in Paris 

The interior is magnificent 

In the cathedral is  the famous clock, built by a group of scientists and mathematicians. This is the third clock on site - first built in 14th century, followed by another in the 16th and the present clock  constructed in 1843, when Strasbourg was a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire. At solar noon, Christ and his apostles appear and a cock cries thrice. Unfortunately, though I was in the cathedral just prior to noon, we are all evacuated to make way for the queue outside who had booked to see the event!! 

We continued to the river and had a very pleasant  walk along its banks of the Ill. Here too one could take a boat trip

and wait at the locks 

for the water to level off. 

We arrived at Petit France once the centre of the tanning industry because of its location by the river. 

We lunched by the river, idyllic in the warm afternoon sunshine. 

We visited the nearby 

We took a tram to Neustadt, an area recreated after WW11’s destruction of the area. It now exhibits fine buildings built around a park 

We ate a traditional dinner at a street off  the cathedral platz, 

in the shadow of the cathedral bathed in evening light 

Tomorrow....