VISIT MAJORCA Next month, my best friend and her boyfriend are going to visit Mallorca. She called me and asked for the best places to visit in our island. I talked with her and I gave her my recommendations… “I recommend you to rent a car… You can spend your days visiting all the beautiful places of our island...” - North of Mallorca: It’s a sixty-seventy kilometers drive from Palma. If you have a car, it’s not difficult to get to the north of Mallorca. You can visit Alcúdia, a city on the site of a Roman houses and an amphitheatre. You can take a walk along Alcúdia’s Port. Then, you can drive to Pollença and “Port de Pollença” and visit the town and the port. You must visit the “Cap de Formentor”; it’s a twenty kilometers drive from Port de Pollença. You’ll like it very much! You’ll be able to see spectaculars views of the coast. You must visit the Lluc Sanctuary! If you continue driving along the “Serra de Tramuntana”, you’ll arrive at one famous cove in Mallorca:”Sa Calobra”. You can visit the “Torrent de Pareis” and go driving to Sóller (near Escorca and in the “Serra de Tramuntana”, too). You must take an special train that connects the center of Sóller with the “Port de Sóller”, a beautiful village by the sea. - You must visit Inca, the biggest city in the Island. It’s in the center of Mallorca and only fifteen minutes driving from Palma. Inca is named “the city of the leather”. Then, you should drive to Manacor (important for the production of artificial pearls and jewellery) and it takes about forty-five minutes (from Palma!!) to get to Porto Cristo where you can visit the “Drac Caves”. It’s a beautiful place!! - You can spend a day in Palma, exploring the old city. You must go shopping! Walk along the “Ramblas”, “El Passeig des Born”, “Jaume III Avenue”. You must visit La Seu (cathedral), the “Bellver Castle”, “Almudaina Palace”…There are a lot of beautiful places in that city. Another day, you can visit Valldemossa. It’s about twenty minutes from Palma. Take a look at the “Cartoixa”, the most beautiful building in town. Gastronomy & Mallorcan Cuisine. EAT: Mallorcan cuisine is genuinely Mediterranean. You should visit a “celler” (traditional Mallorcan restaurant); there are many “cellers” in the island’s villages but the most well-known are in Sineu, Inca and Petra. There are many characteristic dishes: Mallorcan Soups, “trempó”, “tumbet”, “porcella” (pork), “arròs brut”, etc. But, I’d really recommend you to eat “ensaïmada”, “robiols” and “crespells” (because I can remember that you like desserts and sweets very much,or not?)…
DRINK: There are some very good wines, especially from Binissalem or Felanitx. Try it! …HAVE A GOOD HOLIDAY!!
Ana Belén Benéitez Álvarez INTERMEDIATE-I
04-02-2008 Dear Mike, if you stay in Majorca for a week with your girlfriend, I’ll help you. First, you could visit Palma, which is Mallorca’s first largest city. It is worth seeing, especially “La Seu”, the cathedral. Also, you should see the Bellver castle, the Almudaina Palace, Sa Llotja and the Town Council. If you are interested in museums, I would recommend you to visit Es Baluard Museum and the March Palace with its lovely museum. I think that 3 nights would be an appropriate stay. You can choose from a wide selection of restaurants in the Llotja, the Born and Jaume III street to have lunch or dinner. The Born is a pleasant street with elegant shops (be careful with prices)! Valldemossa is another famous tourist attraction, located on the Sierra de Tramuntana (the most important mountain range in Mallorca). You should stay there for 2 nights; you must visit the Carthusian Monastery, which is the most emblematic monument and near towns: Deià, Sóller and Lluc. Also, you could visit the Port of Valldemossa or Llucalcari if you decide to go swimming. Finally, you should visit the prehistoric caves near Manacor (Drach or Artà Caves) and their enormous beaches. They are spectacular! I hope you’ll like it!
Bernat Isern Amengual
MALLORCA TOUR Getting to Mallorca is very easy, you can get here by air or by sea, but the most convenient way is to fly to Son San Joan Airport because there are thousands of flights from the main European cities. There are also ferries from Valencia, Barcelona and other ports sailing into Mallorca. At the airport, there are several taxis and buses that will shuttle passengers into the city, but I
would really recommend you to rent a car to visit all the island.
1 FIRST DAY (A-B): We’ll start our tour in Palma de Mallorca, where you can find a lot of hotels to stay one night, so you can choose, but it’s probably best that you choose one located in the center of the city. In the morning, you must visit “La Seu”, the Cathedral, the harbour area “Passeig Maritim” (where you’ll find a lot of cafés and restaurants) and other nice places like the “Banys Arabs”, “Sa Llotja” and a castle called “Castell de Bellver” (with fabulous views). In the afternoon you should go to Valldemossa, a village located on the "Serra de Tramuntana", where you can visit the church and the “Cartoixa” (monastery).
2 SECOND DAY (C): You can go to Soller and spend there one night. It’s a town famous for its orange groves and terraces of ancient olive trees and recommended to people who enjoy walking and peaceful rest.
3 THIRD DAY (D): You should go to the village of “Pollença” and there visit places like “Es Calvari” and “Claustre de Sant Domingo”. Then you can also visit Port de Pollença to see the bay and then you must go to Formentor, where you can swim in its blue water and enjoy with the views.
4 FOURTH DAY (E): I would really recommend you to stay one day in Alcudia and enjoy the different beaches (Alcanada, Manresa, S’Illot) and visit the remains of the Roman city of Pollentia. Remember that on Tuesday and Sunday you can visit Alcudia’s market, that’s a great opportunity to try local specialities, but be careful with pickpockets. And finally, to have dinner you should go to “Port d’Alcudia” and ask for a restaurant called “Ca’n Punyetes”, which is very peculiar.
5 FIFTH DAY (F-G): You should go to Manacor, a town famous for the pearl industry and you can also visit a few interesting old buildings like the church, the “Torre Rubi” and “Torre del Palau”. Then you must go to Porto Cristo to visit the caves called “Coves del Drac” and enjoy the classical music show.
6 SIXTH DAY (H): I would recommend you to spend all day at the great beach called “Es Trenc” (Campos) with transparent water.
7 SEVENTH DAY (I): I think that its time to return to “Palma de Mallorca” and go shopping for souvenirs at the center, where there are shopping streets like “Jaume III” and “Las Avenidas”.
VIRGINIA GARCÍA DÍEZ