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Mallorca II
Had no preference where to go when we started searching for a holiday with five days to go until my two weeks summer break, anywhere in the med' would do just to get some sun on our backs.
Enter stage left 
For those who have not used the above it is very easy, just click on 'search for a holiday' and then 'search our holiday database, fill in your required dates, length of time, destination and choice of airports and it'll come back with the deals. Majorca 14nights s/c £159 came up, good price for middle of June. So, interested I then rang the number to enquire more about the holiday (local rate call and not a premium rate) and spoke to a very helpful young lady on the other end of the phone who told me the holiday was a Thompson 3* apartment although we would not know the destination 'til we got to Majorca. We leave on Friday. My old mate Keith picks us up in the minibus at 21.00 and we're off to East Midlands Airport. Nicola cannot get off work so she has decided to move in and house-sit for us (she only wanted to use my PC for 2 weeks). We get to the airport for 21.15 and the flight is 00.35 Sat morning. I know it seems like a long time before the flight but we like to get there early, avoid the queues and chill out.
Alex and I at
the airport 'chilling' I'm the geek who's chilled with a couple of pints of Stella Artois
hence the daft expression.
Sat 13th May.
Plane takes off and lands at Palma dead on time 3.30 local time. Great flight with Britannia. It's five years since we've been to Majorca and Palma airport has got BIGGER. No buses from the plane to the terminal but straight off the plane to a network of electric walkways that 10-12 minutes later deliver you to where you collect your cases. We find the Thomson desk and find we are going to Cala Bona and staying at the FLORIANNA APARTMENTS. Lyn, Alex and I in one apartment, Eric and Marian(the in laws) in another block. There are six separate blocks of apartments, four floors high and ALL with lifts. The key to your apartment is your own individual switch card and the apartments are excellent.
The balcony of our apartment with Florianna Park in the
background.
The Florianna Apartments are based in a residential area and are part of a large complex including Florianna Park and Florianna Bahia. They all have their own bars, restaurants, pools etc and residents can use the facilities of the other and attend each other's entertainment that was on every night, free and superb.
Just one of the many
excellent shows performed by the holiday club entertainers (this time Grease) and it was a
different show every night beginning with an hour and a half entertainment for the kids.
If I had a niggle and it is a little niggle, for self caterers, as we were, there are no shops on the complex so it means a seven to eight minute walk to the nearest grocers. This was no hardship to ourselves because most days we were out somewhere and we simply picked up the daily essentials on the way back but this may not be convenient for elderly holidaymakers. The Florianna does however offer not only s/c but also half and full board. After the rigours of the night flight and the travelling we all spent the day relaxing beside the pool, ate at the apartment restaurant and had an early night.
A
couple of pics of the Florianna.
Alex loved
the pool.
The next morning Lynda and Marian began a ritual that was to be the norm for the next two weeks, 8.30, thirty lengths of the pool while I was quite happy reading a book on one of the provided sunbeds (no shortage of sunbeds here by the way, in fact when there was a new influx of tourists news piles of sunbeds appeared). Surprising how many people we met during the fortnight who would stop and talk on their way to breakfast in the hotel's restaurant but I have to say the whole ambience of the Florianna is that of friendliness so fair dos to the management and staff on that score. As I mentioned previously, the Florianna is situated in a residential area, blissfully quiet, so it's a gentle stroll past some lovely villas and floribunda to the harbour area.
Typical
'hedgerow'.
Cala Bona harbour area is lively but spacious enough to be able to sit on one of the many seats and just watch the world go by. It is full of bars and restaurants so choice is in abundance. We ate at Janet and John's on a few occasions but also discovered that Smugglers (British bar) do an excellent British breakfast where you can 'mix and match' and they serve Warburton's bread as well with real English bacon (I love the Spanish people but they just haven't quite got the hang of a proper full Monty English brekkie).
Night-time in the harbour is magical.
Running parallel with Bona's mainstreet you will find a couple of English bar/restaurants. We ended up in The London and truth be told ate most of our evening meals there, I even watched the F.A. Cup Final there. Just like walking into my local back home the staff are funny and extremely friendly as are the landlord and landlady, just a pity he's a Leeds United supporter. 5* from me on this one, food good and excellent value, beer good and great atmosphere.
Landlord
in the middle and a couple of the staff (watch out for the cheeky one on the right)
Despite being on
a diet Lynda and Marian could not resist the fudge cake.
If you fancy a walk, either in the evening or escaping from the sunbathing, Cala Bona is linked to Cala Millor by a promenade that is flanked by the sea on one side and a plethora of shops, bars restaurants on the other, something for everyone.
Just
one of the many restaurants to be found that we ate in a couple of times, very good value,
great pies.
As
you near CALA MILLOR some football fans may like this bar. Being a Liverpool fan myself I
loved it, especially the ceiling and walls. Whatever your persuasion worth a visit,
besides the beer and food is good.
There is a saying used by Brits to distinguish between the two places and is as follows 'If there are fish on the floor you are in Cala Millor, When the fish are a gonna you are in Cala Bona'. A glance to the paved walkway explains the rhyme because as you enter Cala Millor (pronounced Myor) the paved walkway changes from plain tiles to tiles patterned with fish.
Entering
Cala Millor (If you look closely you can see the fish inset into the tiles)
A
view of Cala Millor beach.
On one of our wanders to Cala Millor Alex I discovered a Cyberbar (1st season) called Macallans (The Scottish Bar) a friendly bar with two computers online at the far end of the bar 800pesetas an hour (about £3). Alex and I managed to keep in contact with Nicola back home and I managed to wind a couple of workmates.
As you
enter Cala Millor you will come upon a pedestrian walkway that runs parallel with the
promenade where you can find everything you want or need for shops, bars or restaurants
and at night the atmostphere is electric. As you approach here turn right for Macallans which is then a short distance on
your right.
For those who might like to get a car and do a bit of travelling Intercar a couple of doors away from the Waterfront take some beating on price, an English business and there are a range of cars for every need and the price you see advertised on the windscreen is all in complete with fully comp insurance and breakdown assistance. We decided to hire a car just for a day when it was cloudy and headed across the island into the mountains and on to Soller and pto Soller. We went via MANACOUR, where incidentally on a Monday is a large market, Inca and into the mountains and a delightful little village called ORIENT, definitely the place to go to get away from it all where we stopped for coffee in a lovely restaurant and bought the cheapest coffees we had our entire stay in Majorca 150pesetas.
The clouds
were a bit low today.
Since we were last in this part of the world six years ago the only way was climbing through more, higher mountains. Now though it's through a new tunnel. We were more interested in taking the tram/train to pto Soller. Soller is worth a longer stay, the market place full of cosy bars and restaurants. The cost of the train ride is a mere 115 pesetas. The trip takes around 20 minutes through orange and lime groves.
The walk up
to the station and market place in Soller.
Pto Soller is a very picturesque crescent shaped bay and harbour, photo opportunities abound. Many restaurants at which to eat and we had lunch at one of the harbour restaurants, the Mar Y Sol, the meal was good and the service quick.
On ward and upward now and through the mountains again although the roads are a bit wider and not so steep on the way to DEIA, better known as the location of Michael Douglas & Catherine Zeta Jones' villa. The town/village is beautiful and the architecture marvellous.
Next stop VALDIMOSA. Scenery good did not like the place!! Two reasons. Firstly, the 'pay and display' carpark (only one I seen while in Majorca although I'm sure there must be some in PALMA). Secondly and more infuriating failure to get waited on in not one but two bars on the main street,
There are
two bar/restaurants in this photo and in my opinion, unless you arrive, dripping in gold
don't expect to get served, the waiters had it down to a fine art avoiding your eyes
despite having noone else to wait on. We shall never visit VALDIMOSA ever again,, STING
can keep it although in all honesty the area is very beautiful.
In conclusion, Cala Bona and Millor is a beautiful resort with lots to do or not to do with a wonderful variety of bars, restaurants and shops, even a cyberbar and a good base should you wish to visit other parts of the island. We thoroughly recommend stopping at THE FLORIANNA. a member of PROTUR HOTELS