We went to Mallorca for our second summer vacation this year.  I say ‘second’ because we went to Sweden for a week in June too!

I feel so lucky to have two weeks of summer vacation this year in addition to travel during the year.   The funny thing is many people took even more time off than we did this year.  Europeans in general seem to have this work/life balance thing right!

Mallorca is the largest of  the Spanish Balearic Islands and a very popular destination spot, and in some parts of the island, a party destination.  We were concerned about over-development but the island was absolutely beautiful.

There was the turquoise water, beautiful limestone cliffs, small mountain towns and great food.   The weather was warm and dry.

We received some excellent advice from friends that go to the island every year. They are from Barcelona and have family that actually lives in Palma, the capital.

We took their advice and stayed a bit inland away from all the activity. The hotel they recommended had little villas which provided exactly what we needed — some rest and family time.  We mostly spent a lot of time in the swimming pool and hanging out in our backyard on this trip.

Mr. F also had a nice little office set up in the backyard for when he had to work.  I won’t post those pictures though:)

We went to the beach twice — to Sa Rapita, which was a 20 minute drive from us.  The water was very clear and shallow near shore — great for small kids.

I found it on this great site – MumsAbroad Spain.  Definitely worth a look if you are planning a trip there.

In between all the swimming and grilling, we did manage to do some sight-seeing.

Valldemossa

We took a drive to Valldemossa, a historic mountain town and unexpectedly found a little bit of Poland there!  Chopin lived in the monastery there with his mistress, French writer George Sand in 1838-1839.

It was a beautiful town, and I would have liked to explore more but Miss H had other plans.

 

Even with ice cream, the heat combined with a 4 year-old’s interest level in old-town touring made a short trip out of it.

Soon we were in the car on our way back to the hotel (and of course, swimming pool)!

Palma de Mallorca

Our friends that provided the great recommendations, were also in Mallorca at the same time and we met them in Palma.

They took us to a place famous for ice-cream and ensaimades, a sweet speciality of Mallorca.  It has been around since 1700.

We then walked and the girls did some window shopping 😉

A Castle

We also took an afternoon trip up to the Castell de Bellver.   It is a 14th century fortress that is entirely round and has great views over Palma Bay.

The museum was closed on the day we went (I think it was Sunday) and the castle entry was free.  This worked perfectly for us.  We went for the view and in Miss H’s case, a run around.

 

Agroturismos and a Dinner

When we were driving around Mallorca, we saw so many signs for ‘Agroturismos’ or ‘Finca’.  I have always thought it would be fun to stay in a house with a working farm or other related business.

I hesitate every time, because it is a bit of an unknown.  It is hard to find the good ones.

But now that I think about it, we really enjoyed our stay in one at Plitvice Lakes in Croatia two summers ago.  I should look for one for our next trip…and also share photos from Croatia trip!

Anyway, it was fitting that our last night in Mallorca we decided to have dinner at Finca Son Sama.  The restaurant was on a terrace and had a beautiful view.  The food was the best we had in Mallorca and it was on a horse farm.  What more could we ask from summer vacation?