Today - the island of Palma De Mallorca off the coast of Spain. We woke up still at sea because we were not supposed to get into the port until 3pm. However, not feeling we could tackle the buffet again, we were up early enough to have breakfast in our restaurant (the one reserved for passengers with balcony rooms - and we can go when we want and sit at a table for two, unlike the main dining area that has set dining times and you have to set with other people). The menu selection was nice and I decided to get pancakes with bananas. Guy had eggs Benedict. When the food came out, my pancakes were small (two of them) with no bananas. Our server said "no bananas on the ship". So then I asked for syrup and he said they had put some on the bottom. No need to ask for more, they were small and it was no big deal. BECAUSE - alas, like our hotel in San Gimignano, TINY DOUGHNUTS!! The beautiful little pastries that are super soft, covered with powdered sugar and in the middle, the most delicious pudding. That was really all I needed. The one server - all he did was to walk around with a tray of pastries, doughnuts and croissants. I new he'd be back around. And he was.
After breakfast we contemplated going up top to catch some sun, but the areas were packed and we didn't want to get too hot and sweaty before going on our city adventure, so I blogged from the day before and hopped on the internet for a very brief time to upload a few things. As I was uploading, a French guy and his son came over and says "parlez-vous francais?" I said no, English. He immediately switched to English and starting asking me about the internet, how good was it, how much did it cost, where on the ship it was free... which I quickly told him NOTHING on the ship is free, not even a daily newspaper. I was more than happy to explain everything to him, but as we talked MY internet was ticking away and I hadn't saved my blog changes so I couldn't just stop. Ha Ha. But I think I answered all his questions, and I was sympathetic because like me...I recognized the desperate look in his eyes to be connected to the world again. Funny how we let technology become such an important part of who we are that when we don't have it you actually feel uncomfortable. The Internet anyway...I think could go everyday without the TV.
After this we walked around the ship and sat up top enjoying the scenery. It was a bit cooler today and of course the blue mediterranean waters are spectacular. Again today we really wanted to take an excursion, but nothing was really sounding good, so when the boat docked and it was time to go ashore, we hopped our bus to go into the city center. The ship wasn't going to leave the port until close to 1am, so you had to be back on the bus by midnight. No worries. LOL. The town was nice. A combination of an island/city feel. The cathedral and palace areas were lovely. Guess what? Yep, they had a red hop on hop off bus and we bought our tickets and boarded the bus. For future reference for those who may be reading this and will be taking this ship/itinerary...the hop on hop off bus comes right outside the shipyard, so we wouldn't have needed to purchase the transfer into town. But we had no idea...so all was good. We sat up top of the bus in the open air and got a really nice tour of the city. We hopped of at the castle, but it closed at 1pm, so we just took advantage of the scenery and the next bus came back around within 20 minutes. After making the entire loop of the tour, we hopped off again and walked the tree-lined streets filled with shops and eateries. I did try on a few dresses in one shop and to my dismay, they didn't fit. One size too small, the other too big. Sad day.
As we walked along the street, pretty much every little eatery had wifi. There was a McDonalds McCafe but I told Guy no...I couldn't do it. So we walked down a few doors and found a nice little cafe called Born 8, where we got some soft drinks and Guy had a chocolate filled croissant. The wifi was good and I was able to upload 3 days of pictures and we both Vibered home. We were there about an hour or so and our $6 in beverage/snack charges seemed like nothing because of all the free wifi we took advantage of. It was nice and they were nice. After that, we bought a few post cards, took a last look around the area and headed for the shuttle. We could still get back to the ship, shower and get ready before the last dinner bell rang. It was wear white night. Luckily I did have a white shirt and it was fun to see all the people on the ship dressed in white.
Dinner consisted of again a nice selection of options from the menu. We both had the eggplant and mozzarella appetizer and the tuscan soup, but I opted for the vegetarian quiche while Guy had the mini lamb chops. They were good, I had a bite, but were small - more of a sampling. I had the black forrest cake for dessert and Guy had a fresh fruit plate. My cake was REALLY good, but I did save a few bites for Guy. So overall, dinner was very nice, we were stuffed and I did remember to bring my camera to document the food. After dinner we went back to the room and I couldn't get my face off and pjs on fast enough. I was exhausted and was out like a light. I did have some seriously weird dreams that woke me up and the tugging of the ship pulling out of the port, but other than that...it was a good nights rest.
I'll get link to the photos on the blog in the next day or so. :)
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