I have lots to post about this rather lovely castle, but, for the moment here are some of the views over Palma from the top of the castle.
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Palma – Taj Mahal Blanquerna and Booking with The Fork
Well, that was a waste of time… I’m not really a fan of booking with discount sites, as there’s nearly always something wrong with the restaurant if they’re deluging out cheap food. However, The Fork, which is owned by TripAdvisor, has a set-up which allows restaurants to give discounts at certain times of the day, so I thought I’d make an effort to try a booking (and I have used them before in Milan, when the process went well). I went with the Indian restaurant Taj Mahal Blanquerna which had a 40% off the a la carte menu offer.
The first time I thought something was amiss was when Google sent a notification which suggested it couldn’t link my booking with a restaurant. Google is very good at adding my bookings to Google Maps, and Google suggested that the address provided by The Fork was wrong, but it gave a nearby address and a slightly different restaurant name, which was Taj Mahal 2.
I thought that perhaps Google was mistaken, so I went along to the restaurant armed with the photo of the frontage provided by The Fork. That to me is the key, if the restaurant looks the same, that’s the right one. Other than it didn’t, that frontage wasn’t at any address in the vicinity and the addresses simply didn’t match up. I thought about guessing about which restaurant they were trying to send me to, but I decided at that point that restaurants really should be trying to make things easier for customers, not as hard as they possibly can. I abandoned the booking, which is a shame, as it was well reviewed.
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Palma – Skalop
I hadn’t initially intended to come here, but apparently this regional chain is popular with locals, so I thought I’d better try it. The welcome process was a bit stilted, so I stood looking pensive for a while standing near the entrance trying to ascertain whether I was supposed to order at the counter or at a table. No-one came over, so I decided to progress this situation by just sitting at a table and looking confused. That did the trick, a staff member came over to take my order.
This puzzled me, they brought me an English menu and I hadn’t said anything up to that point. They must associate confused people with speaking English, which is fair enough. I’ve seen how British people travel abroad, and it’s not always the most elegant and subtle.
This reminded me of the beaker size cup they gave to Scott in Sheffield, but it was cheap. Goodness knows what beer it was, but it wasn’t one of my craft beer selections. It tasted like every lager in Europe tastes to me, which is adequate.
Squashed chicken and chips. I’m not sure how Spanish this is, but the portion size was actually a bit too large, although I bravely finished it. The quality was way better than I expected, tender chicken in a tasty breaded batter, all very moreish. And the chips are the ones I like the best, French fries, which didn’t disappoint either. It’s not exactly haute cuisine, but it was all entirely acceptable. The service improved somewhat after that, although there wasn’t much English being spoken (well, there was by me, including the odd Polish word that I keep using by mistake), but the staff were attentive and friendly which is all I need.
As quick service restaurants go, this was above average, a basic environment, but it was clean and comfortable. There was potential for a quicker welcome of guests, especially when they’re British and are easily confused, but everything else worked well. I think that I’d come here regularly if I lived in Mallorca.
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Palma – Rubén Darío Statue
I must admit that I’ve never heard of Rubén Darío, but after some on-line reading, I’ve discovered that he was a Nicaraguan poet who helped to develop the Modernismo literary movement. Which I hadn’t heard of either. Anyway, everything is a learning experience and this statue was sculpted by Antoni Oliver in 1951 and is made of marble. It has a prominent location near to the Palma Cathedral and there is at least some relevant as Darío came to Mallorca twice. And that’s, well, all I can really add here…
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Palma – Bagel
There are a lot of closed restaurants in Palma on a Monday afternoon in the off-season, but I noticed that Bagel had started to open on Mondays in the run-up to Christmas (I’ll try to avoid using that bloody word too often)…..
I like this traditional look, very nice, with the restaurant being spotlessly clean.
The selection of cakes in the counter.
I dithered about with what to order, which is a little unusual for me, but I was trying to debate whether I was actually hungry enough for the avocado bagel, which sounded quite filling from the menu description (that sounds a bit millennial and something Nathan might say). I know avocado is bad for me because it’s green, but anyway, the member of staff said that they didn’t have any avocados and so that option wasn’t available. That was quite handy, it made my decision for me.
And, rolling back a moment, I’m going to say that the service here was brilliant, verging on exceptional. I really don’t like places where staff make sole diners unwelcome, and I’ve been noticing far too many negative reviews about restaurants in Palma doing exactly that. I can’t recall a city where this has been such a noticeable problem, but it’s not a habit that I like.
The sole diner thing hasn’t been a problem for me yet, although I have noticed one culprit, which is La Mémé at Avinguda del Comte de Sallent, which refuses to accept on-line reservations for individual diners and charges them a higher amount than for those in group sizes of two or more. That’s up to them, but it’s not a good look and they’re the only ones doing that I’ve seen in Palma (although I’ve no doubt that there are others).
I’ve given up caring long ago about dining alone, but I know it’s a big issue for many people and making them unwelcome isn’t great. There were numerous pub and restaurant chains in the UK that did this with their ridiculous buy one get one free offers (which are equally useless to groups of three and to single parents with children), but these are being removed at some pace, really (or in my world anyway) it’s just Greene King and Marstons who persist with the practice.
Anyway, I mention this because the welcome that the staff member here gave me was engaging, conversational and really warm. And, he did the same to a sole female diner who arrived later on, even though by doing this he had given away his last table. The staff member also made a German group warmly welcome, again, even though the seven of them were taking up nearly half the seats in the small restaurant and just ordering drinks. Friendliness always shines through and it didn’t take me long to love this place.
The beer option was cheap and cheerful, it’s not a style of beer I know much about, but it tasted fine.
The basic bagel with oil, tomatoes and rocket. The component parts of this were excellent, the tomatoes had a real depth of flavour, the oil tasted better than some wines I’ve had and the bagel was warm, toasted and added texture. For the price of just over £4, I thought this was excellent, with the beer being just over £2.
Unlike my own self-centred pub of the year award, I don’t have one for restaurants. But, because of this place, I think that I will. Absolutely brilliant and I’m irritated at my self-imposed rule not to go to the same restaurant or cafe in the same visit, as I want to go back.
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Palma – Spanish ATMs
I don’t know if the UK has these ATMs anywhere, although I haven’t seen them, but they are very exciting. I used one just to see my balance, as a random excuse to use one, and they’re not unexciting with their dual screen displays and lots of buttons to press. I haven’t worked out why they need an entire keyboard, but I’m sure there’s a reason which is very important. I really need to get out more…..
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Palma – Ca Na Cati
I hadn’t intended to go in this cafe, but the pastries looked just too tempting so I accidentally walked in. To be fair, I do that quite a lot with this sort of place.
I’m missing Greggs at the moment, so this was a pleasant sight to behold. On that point, whilst sitting in the cafe I noticed that Greggs have announced a large jump in profits, which is a wonderful piece of news.
This was keenly priced, something just under £3 for the eclair and coffee, and the coffee was entirely acceptable with a suitable mildly bitter flavour. The eclair was generously filled with cream and that element was delicious, although it wasn’t as fresh as it could have been so the pastry was quite firm, but the tastes were there, so I willingly forgave them.
The toilet situation was confusing, they seem to have put in some anti-visitor system which needs a card to turn the lights on. Fortunately, the emergency lighting was just enough for me to see (although my phone has a torch which can be used in extremis), but it didn’t entirely add a great deal to the proceedings and to the ambience of my visit. And I only realised about the card system on my way out. I can’t be doing with all this technology.
Anyway, it was all clean and the staff member was friendly and helpful.
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Palma – Parròquia de Santa Eulàlia (Terraces)
I bought a pass from Spiritual Mallorca at the weekend, primarily to get me into Palma Cathedral and the Royal Monastery, although it came with other benefits as well. That included access to the terraces at the Church of Santa Eulàlia, and a trip onto the roof of old buildings is always exciting.
This is the turret thing where visitors enter the terraces from. It’s not a problem for those suffering from a fear of heights (like me – although I’m very brave and rarely mention it), but the top bit is just a little bit tight.
Visitors get to walk above the side aisle of the church, underneath the flying buttresses.
Up close to the church’s main rose window at the front of the building.
One of the old wooden winches which were once used to lift and lower the church’s lamps.
A view across the rooftops of the beautiful Royal Monastery.
I had wondered what the strange looking towers were on some buildings, but they are apparently towers built by merchants so they could watch their ships entering and leaving the harbour without having to leave their home.
The window at the end of the church, above the chancel and apse.
Some scratchings into the stonework, I’m unsure of how old they are.
Normally, there’s a €5 charge to go on the terraces, although it was included with my tickets. It was slightly bizarre that when I went up a friendly lady gave me the information on where to go and she pointed out how to get into the tower, telling me “there’s a no entry sign, just ignore it”, which I feared might go wrong. However, when I came back down, not only had the lady gone, but so had all the desk and accoutrements around it. It was like something out of Goodnight Sweetheart.
Anyway, it’s a beautiful church and a trip up to the roof is recommended for anyone who has a spare thirty minutes or so.
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Palma – Mala the Cafe
This rather under-stated cafe looked welcoming (and I’d quickly checked the reviews, I’m not that impetuous) and looked like a suitable little stop.
A rather pleasant view onto one of the squares in Palma. The service was very welcoming and helpful, with nothing seeming like too much trouble. I’m not entirely sure, but it seems that this might be a relatively new opening, since there seem to be no reviews that aren’t recent.
And, the carrot cake and cappuccino. This is one of the best presented cakes that I’ve seen for a while, which did add to the whole occasion. The carrot cake was tender and moist, with the caramel sauce adding a bit more richness. The coffee also didn’t let down the presentation and this was better than average, with a rich taste. The bill came to just over £5.50, which seems reasonable given the location of the cafe and the quality of the experience. Very lovely.
