Palma de Mallorca to Avignon, France 🇫🇷
Palma de Mallorca - Barcelona to Avignon, France 🇫🇷
After our wonderful day in Cartagena and having the pleasure of being on solid land, the next port of call was Palma de Mallorca, the capital of this Spanish island in the western Mediterranean. During the summer season this island is a hot spot for tourists and a playground for many Europeans. Sounds familiar to this Florida boy. The winters are mild on this beautiful island and offer many outdoor activities including beautiful beaches, hiking, and of course sightseeing which is all we had time for during our limited time.
We decided to walk from the port to Mallorca Cathedral. This was a bit of I hike (4.5km one way) but after several days at sea and only walking on the track on the ship, we both welcomed the long walk . The views were wonderful and we enjoyed the challenge as well as the beauty along our walk. We both commented that we would love to come and spend more time on this beautiful island in the future.
I love learning about the history of wherever we visit, so please excuse the brief and VERY incomplete history. Mallorca was colonized around 2500-2300 BC. The Phoenicians settled here during the eighth century BC and of course the Romans ruled here as well. (Shocking 😏) The most recent conquest of the island was during the Spanish Civil War and was reclaimed for Spain on 16 August 1936. There is of course Moorish influence on this island as well.
Our walk and exploration of the area around the Palma Cathedral was amazing. Annette & I have visited many cathedrals since we started our European travels and it was so nice to be able to visit this beautiful gothic Roman Catholic cathedral. We recognize the differing influences and design style now that we have visited so many, Antonio Gaudi was invited to oversee the restoration work which started in 1903 and we can see his influence.
After our visit we walked around the old town area before deciding to take a hop on hop off bus to see more of Palma before we walked back to the ship for our final port of call, Barcelona.
Barcelona to Avignon
Barcelona was our transportation hub for our French adventure. We took a taxi from the port directly to Barcelona Sants train station for our journey to Avignon France. It was a cold and raining day but it did not dampen (pun intended) our excitement.
The train ride was beautiful and seeing the marsh lands of Spain and France was amazing. We saw thousands of flamingos along the way and passed through the Pyrénées mountains. Train travel is so wonderful here and very efficient.
We have been here in southern France for a week now and are really enjoying this beautiful area. We have pictures and experiences to share very soon. Our visit has been wonderful so far. We will be visiting a few more towns here before we move on to the Bourgogne (Burgundy) region which has some pretty good wine, so I’m told. 😉
Until next time….
