Mallorca, Spain
After returning home for a moment, cleaning the camper and meeting friends and family again, I left for the South again. But another part of Europe, this time, was Spain. I went to the biggest airport in Switzerland (Zurich) and boarded a plane to Palma de Mallorca. There a friend of mine just parked his sailing boat in the Port of d’Andratx and did some maintenance work. There I joined him to help and do some “boat office” (remote work from the boat), how I call it.
It was a great mix of working my regular job and helping him with certain things. For example, we installed solar panels on the back of the boat so he could charge his battery or run devices without using the generator.
A new crew came on the boat on the weekend, preparing to sail to Gibraltar. So there was no more space in the boat for me to sleep. This was already planned that way, and I had booked a very nice Airbnb in the less touristy parts in the North of the island. An absolute hidden gem and a fantastic host. I stayed there and worked focused for a week. Didn’t see any human being other then my host who sometimes came by to see if I’m doing alright. The cottage I stayed in was a old horse stable which got renovated into a cozy and stylish house. It’s about a 10 minute drive away from the next town in “No Man’s Land” off the grid, just some small houses around. I had many animals in my graden like chickens, cats and sheeps.
To my surprise the internet was very fast and I was wondering how. They seem to have a very good LTE coverage over the area. The house isn’t plugged into national wide power grid, there’s a small solar plantage in the backyard which generates enough electricity during the day to keep everything running, the water is coming from a deep well also just behind the house and the internet from a LTE repeater. To my surprise my host even added an automatic watering system which goes off just at dawn to keep the flowers green and healthy.
On the weekend, I made a road trip to some towns around the island’s Northern part. For example, a touristy town on the North East coast called “Port de Sóller”. Close to it, there’s an interesting road I wanted to check out (Nus de Sa Corbata).
Probably the closest bigger town to my place was Pollença. Next to it, they have a mountain with a church on it. That one I wanted to visit and hike up on an evening. The view was lovely, and just some people were doing their workouts while running up or walking their dogs. Very peaceful.
I have a good friend from Switzerland I spend a lot of my school time with. He lived for quite a while in Mallorca and sometimes comes there to visit. Same as his parents. To my surprise, the dates were matching, and we all were on the island at the same time. So we for sure had to meet and talk. We agreed to meet for lunch on the North Coast, in their favourite seafood restaurant in Cala Sant Vicenç. They were really happy to meet me again after so many years, so was I. It’s hard to catch me somewhere on the planet. But the more excited I was. The father said something which sticked to me: “You’re the person with the most interesting life I know, you should write a book”. That was fascinating to hear, since he came around a lot in his career as a general manager of multiple big hotels. Sometimes you don’t really value your privileges and freedom if you don’t get reminded about it, live seems so normal, but maybe it’s not. The thing about writing a book is on my todo list, and part of the execution plan for that is this blog.
The week after, I stayed in Manacor on the east side of the island. I rented a car during my full stay to be able to explore and go around as much and easily as possible.
One thing my grandmother recommended me to do is to see the caves close by (Hams’ Caves). I was surprised that my grandmother even made it to this island, so I followed her advice and went there one afternoon. Over the next couple of days, I made some more trips during my off time after work to places like Cales de Mallorca, the beach “Es Trenc” or Canyamel. All interesting spots at the sea to check out. Sandy beaches or/and coastal cliffs.
Barcelona, Spain
By the week’s end, I returned to the island’s capital city, Palma de Mallorca. I explored some more there, returned my car and took the ferry to Barcelona. When I arrived in Barcelona, I met a good friend directly. I usually hang out when I’m there. We went for some good local food and explored a bit.
Tarragona, Spain
After just a quick stopover for the weekend, since I’ve already been to Barcelona a couple of times, I decided to head to a city an hour South, Tarragona. They had a festival there, and I booked a cosy Airbnb for two weeks in the old town. So I was at the epicentre of the festivities.
The Catalan people have exciting festivities, it doesn’t matter if it’s in Barcelona, the Southern parts like Tarragona or the North, they’re very similar. Sure, in Barcelona, they’re more touristy and less authentic. Overall, they seem to love human towers, marches with big creatures and a lot of loud fireworks.
I had a good time in Tarragona, my place had a nice rooftop, I worked a lot, and overall, it was very spacious. If I wanted to have some people around me, I just headed into the centre, if I wanted to work focused, I just locked myself in the Airbnb. After my time was over in Tarragona, I headed to Madrid, the capital of Spain, where I met a friend from Poland to go on a road trip in Morocco.