Saturday, December 05, 2015

The Puerto Pollensa Diaries: Day 7 - Tuesday 22nd September 2015

Today is our final full day in PP.  So it's all about buying final souvenirs and checking out a few places we haven't seen yet.  It's another beautiful, warm, sunny day.





Time for our daily visit to the ducks at La Gola.  Not too many of them around today.
 

I get a bargain on a pair of Menorcan sandals which are selling for half the price of what they were going for in Palma yesterday.

A lot of the clothes/souvenir shops on the promenade sell these Himalayan embroidered/patterned hoodies, some of which are quite nice whilst others resemble an 'acid trip' or something??? Anyway I see a nice subtle one in turquoise and purple, but unfortunately not in my size.  The shopkeeper reliably informs me that each top is a hand-made one-off and he tries to sell me different designs which are in my size, each one more garish than the other and not to my taste.  But he was finding it difficult to take no for an answer and I'm guessing that he must have gone to "Turkish shopkeeper school" (those of you who have holidayed in Turkey will know exactly what I mean by that!)

But we manage to escape and after a wander around. Our main aim today is to explore the 'Pine Walk', the area at the top of the promenade, lined with hotels, restaurants and lots of greenery.  But firstly it's paella time, as we have a late lunch at one of the seafront restaurants.


Another view of the seafront.



Here's just a little part of the Pine Walk, which covers a much bigger area than can be seen in this photo.



On our way back to the hotel I spotted some more lovely exotic flowers.


Unfortunately the last day of the holiday means packing our cases, which is always a sad moment :( But we have one final dinner to eat in PP.  We don't have any problems getting a table for dinner tonight, although I am beaten by the enormous tapas portions (below).  I don't know what's happened to me lately - I just can't finish a meal any more. Maybe I'm just getting used to smaller portions, or is it the bigger I get, the less I can eat?


We couldn't possibly end our holiday in PP without one final visit to Bonys.  


No cocktails or sangria for me tonight: strictly Coca-Cola.  Check out the new sign for the toilets tonight.  Pipi dance!!


So that's it for our holiday in PP.  On Wednesday 23rd September, we're picked up from the hotel in the morning and in a strange twist of fate, after a beautiful week of constantly dry and warm weather, the rain comes on as we board the coach.  Torrential rain actually.  So I guess we are going home at the right time, although we're very sad that our holiday is over. 

Puerto Pollensa was just perfect.  Although I will say that the resort trades on its reputation as a "family resort" so it may not be to everyone's taste.  It's maybe best if you go there outwith the school holidays if you want a child-free holiday experience; there were still a number of young families on holiday when we were there, but it wasn't disruptive in any way.  As "non-parents" we would therefore definitely recommend September for a holiday in PP.  The resort has enough slow-paced laid-back charm and although predominantly packed with British tourists and all the usual trappings of a holiday resort, it also has a real, authentic Spanish feel more than some artificial high-rise Spanish resorts, and the surrounding Alcudia and Pollença towns give a true Mallorcan non-resort vibe.  

Update:  This holiday was to have a very therapeutic effect on me, as I felt very calm and rested for weeks afterwards, before all the madness of the run-up to Christmas hit again.  

We had two great holidays this year - a relaxing late summer week in Puerto Pollensa and a cracking spring break in Brussels, which totally gave us a new insight into that city, which we had previously only explored on day trips from Ostend.  I won't go into the recent events which have saddened and sickened the world, only to say that we were shocked to learn of the terror links which resulted in the subsequent "lockdown" of Brussels with pictures of army tanks and empty streets which once buzzed with excitement.  (On a brighter note, the people of Brussels turned a requested social media blackout into a hilarious evening posting cat pictures on Twitter, for some much-needed light relief in the darkest of dark times).  

It won't be too long until we're planning our next holiday.  We've already got something in mind....watch this space for more holiday news in January :))

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