From Mallorca with Love!

We arrived yesterday morning feeling out of sorts after three flights through three time zones. Our weakened physical state was buoyed up by the sheer physical beauty of the island-- the juxtaposition of evergreen trees, palm trees and orange trees all thriving together is truly nature's bounty.  Arriving at our hotel, the Gran Hotel Son Net, a striking 17th century "finca" (definition: a rural property, especially large farm or ranch) set a top a hill overlooking the town of Puigpunyent, we felt like we had been transported to another time.  A quieter, more civilized, simpler era.  Nestled in the Tramuntana Mountains, only twenty minutes from Palma which is on the water, the only sounds to hear at the hotel are the dogs barking from the town below, a few scooters far off in the distance and a fountain-- happily positioned right outside our window.

Staggering in, looking like hell, Bridget met us at the front desk and couldn't have been cooler and more professional- open to letting us pick our room as it is the low season in the hotel isn't busy.  We chose a Deluxe room on the third floor (two categories up from the room we'd booked)-- we love Bridget!  The room has beamed ceilings and a huge bathroom-- will send pictures later.  This is the view from our room:

Absurd!!  A delightful breakfast buffet is included in the steal of a rate we secured on Jetsetter.com.  Strong coffees made one at a time with hot milk helped us settle into Spanish time this morning!  And the chocolate croissants were ridiculous.

We do realize two things-- it is chillier than we had anticipated--- beautiful and sunny, but fall weather.  As we wandered around the small town last evening (most everything was closed) we were a little chilly and overdressed for town in our dresses, boots and coats.  The rest of the townspeople were pretty much bundled in their winter's finest...  We had a drink at a local family run "Cafeteria/Bar" we walked past and mustered up our courage to walk into the crowded local scene and get across in our Spanish 101 Spanish, what we'd like.  Success!  And you do realize making an effort to speak the local language goes a long way and is appreciated.

Bridget had recommended The Rose (C/ Ciutat, 307194 Puigpunyent, 971 614 360) for dinner and it was perfect on a crisp fall evening with it's stone walls, beamed ceilings and candles. Very cozy indeed.  And though we were early by Spanish standards (we went to dinner at 7:30 with British and German tourists), our waitress was friendly and informative-- and originally from Holland-- one of our favorite things thus far about Mallorca is how international it is.  The highlights from dinner were Cream of Garlic soup, the filet of beef and potatoes au gratin. We also loved our local red wine from the town itself-- a blend of various red grapes.

After dinner and a healthy amount of wine we braved the hill (in the pitch dark!) back up to the hotel.  We were thrilled to crawl into our sumptuous beds and beat back our jetlag....

More tomorrow! xo