So I wrote about going to Mallorca for a Hen party, staying at an all-inclusive. I've been so busy with travel lately that I haven't had time to plan my travel, so when my husband's leave snuck up on us and it was time to go somewhere, we just checked the cheapest last minute flights and found $60 r/t flights Stuttgart to Mallorca.
So 6 days after returning, I was heading back! It makes more sense than it sounds - I'd done Palma a few years ago and really liked it, and I'd seen so much beautiful scenery and interesting old towns just during the airport transfers to the all-inclusive that I really wanted to explore Mallorca my way.
We stayed in Palma 2 nights, and 3 nights in the little village of Cala Sant Vincenc, near Pollenca.
Palma:
Our flight was scheduled to arrive at 20:15, but we were delayed until 21:00. We were on a strange little Austrian airline called "LaudaMotion" which has apparently been purchased by RyanAir, and our boarding passes were RyanAir, which made us quite nervous about our luggage, but no one glanced at it. The airline was fine, a typical European budget airline. The flight attendants wore jeans as part of their uniform, and were either older or younger than you usually expect, but it didn't matter much, and our flight was nearly empty.
From the airport we took the #1 bus into Palma, only took 20 minutes and was pretty reasonable at 4 euros each way. We checked into our hotel, the Innside City Center by Melia. We splurged a bit on our hotels for this trip compared to our usual travel style, as this was an anniversary trip, and I was very impressed with the Innside. Beautiful, modern rooms, a rooftop terrace with sunbeds and a pool, a bar with room service, amazing shower, and the most comfortable hotel bed I've ever slept in. At 130 euro/night I thought this was a good value.
It was getting late, so we ran around the corner to Casa Gallega Avenidas, a decently reviewed tapas-and-seafood bar. We were told the kitchen was closed, but we pointed to some of the big pinchos at the bar, and they said we could have them. They were pretty decent, and we were starving. Would have liked to have tried the hot menu.
We wanted to get a drink or two and walk around the old town, despite it being past 23:00 at this point, but I'd done my research and made notes of a handful of bars that were supposedly open until 1:00-2:00 a.m....and we were turned away from them by staff who all insisted they were closing, right now. It was frustrating. And it wasn't that the hours online were incorrect, this is also what was printed at the bars themselves. It was a Sunday, however.
We ended up at the Born quarter, where things were still lively, largely due to the presence of what I came to call 'Yacht Brits'. We managed to get a couple drinks in the legendary Cafe Atlantico, a US Marine bar specializing in cocktails. A little too touristy for me, but it did have some fun decor and most importantly, it was open late.
Then it was finally time to sleep. Day 2 when we continue...