Mallorca – Day 2: The East

We woke up at seven o’clock with a single goal in our mind: to drive all the way up Formentor Cape and back by breakfast. The task was urgent, as we knew the road to be narrow, winding, and perched atop uncomfortably precipitous hillsides. We began our ascent on the outskirts of Port de Pollença. After a while, we reached a barrier at a crossroads and, seeing that it was raised, continued onwards. I had my fair share of scares during the ride, though at least the wild goats had the good sense not to jump into the road right behind bends.

It was a cloudy and windy morning. Occasionally, the wind blew so hard that we could feel the car swaying, which was not particularly reassuring above the steep drops. From the lighthouse at the very tip of the cape, we thought for a moment that we could see Menorca, but it was only the second peninsula across the bay. The visibility was not good enough to spot anything too far away. Sighing a breath of relief that we hadn’t encountered a single car on our way to the lighthouse, we began our drive back. This time, we made a few stops at some lookout points, even going all the way up to the Albercutx Watchtower. We parked our car a little too early on our way up the hill and had to climb longer than we would have liked, but on the upside, we saw a beautiful billy goat clear off the path right ahead of us.

We made it back to Alcúdia halfway through breakfast and had more than enough time to take a little stroll through the walled city before driving on again. Alcúdia made a very good impression on me: I enjoyed its quiet, car-free historic centre and its unified colour-scheme. My only regret is that the Roman ruins were closed to visitors for the winter. The area, I should note, was the place where the Romans first arrived (allegedly to wrest the island from the control of pirates) before founding Palma and Pollentia.

We took the scenic route to our next destination, driving past the picturesque town of Artà with its hilltop shrine, as well as Capdepera with its medieval castle. Adjusting our course southwards, we reached the Drach Caves at 11:50, exactly ten minutes before the next open visiting slot. Our tour was timed but unguided, with a non-guide walking ahead of us and a few others keeping an eye out and turning on the lights. Towards the very end, as we arrived at the underground lake, we were treated to a compulsory performance by a local chamber orchestra on rowboats. The gesture would have been charming had it not been for all the crying babies joining in the songs.

Having crossed off the main items on our itinerary, we more or less winged the rest. The only places we were originally going to visit between the caves and Palma were Manacor and Petra, both of which cower in the shadows of their massive churches. Looking into my map, however, I found a few windmills on the way, and my dad insisted on driving up to the Santuari de la Mare de Déu de Bonany, which he saw on the hill standing above Petra.

Our most fortuitous find, however, were the Talaiots of Son Fornés. The word “talaiot” refers to the megalithic structures that arose across Mallorca and Menorca from the latter part of the second millennium BCE to the arrival and upsurge of the Carthaginians. As their builders did not have a written language, their use is not always very clear, with some being identified as meeting halls, others as watchtowers, and other still as dwellings. The Talaiots of Son Fornés are two big circular structures, each possessing a low entrance and a large pillar at its very centre. It is thought that the larger had two levels and served as a place to butcher animals.

We made it to Palma early enough to take a tour around the city in the afternoon light. After leaving the car in an underground parking lot by the sea, we continued to the Arab Baths, which were constructed between the 10^th and 12^th century during the period of Muslim rule. From thence, we traversed the entire centre of Palma from south to north and back again, ending by the glorious Palma Guildhall as the sun began to set. We found a hotel on our phones and proceeded to drive the car there. Much to our shock, it was a building right in the centre, and its parking lot was accessible underground by an automatic car lift.