Travel Log for Melvin: World Cruise 2017 Day 96 Palma De Mallorca, Spain

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Today the ship arrived in Palama De Mallorca, Spain at 8 AM. At 8:50 AM I left on a Cruise Specialists tour called "Soller Vintage Train, oil Mill & Tasting". We passed hundreds of yachts and arrived for a photo stop at the gothic Cathedral and Almudaina Palace. We drove thru the town and at the train station we boarded the historic Soller train. Without interruption since 1912 the Spller railway has been running a daily train service along the 17 mile toute between Palma de Mallorca and Soller. From the train we saw beautiful panoramic views of the Majorcan Mountains, orange groves and small fairytale like villages. We passed through 13 tunnels and over numerous bridges before arriving at Soller, a beautiful place nestled in the mountain range. We walked to the pretty church of San Batrolome. We then walked twenty minutes before reaching Can Det. It is one of only three mills of its kind still in the hands of the same original family. We saw the equipment used to produce olive oil and then had a light lunch. Because of the long walk back to the bus a van came for some of the people who had trouble walking. Additional space was available on the van so I got in and rode the van back to the bus. After the other arrived we returned to Palma de Mallorca by the road where we arrived at 2 PM. Tonight Ruben Vilagrand and Dmitris Dekavallas returned to the stage for a variety show after dinner.

Palma often called Palma de Mallorca, is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is situated on the south coast of Majorca on the Bay of Palma. As of the 2009 census, the population of the city of Palma proper was 401,270, and the population of the entire urban area was 621,000, making it the twelfth largest urban area of Spain. Almost half of the total population of Majorca live in Palma. The Cabrera Archipelago, though widely separated from Palma proper, is administratively considered part of the municipality. Its airport, Son Sant Joan, serves over 22 million passengers each year.

The town of Sóller is linked by the historic railway, the Ferrocarril de Sóller, and by a highway with a toll tunnel, to the Majorcan capital of Palma. The Ferrocaril was built on the profits from the orange and lemon trade and completed in 1911. The Andratx-Pollença highway also runs through the valley. The present-day economy is based mainly on tourism and the expenditure of foreign residents, complementary to the agricultural economy based around citrus and olive groves.

This picture was taken from the bus of Palma, Spain.

This is a picture of the magnificent gothic Cathedral and Almudaina Palace where we stopped for pictures.

This is a picture of the Cathedral. We did not visit the Cathedral.

This is a picture of the Almudaina Palace next to the Cathedral.

This picture was taken from the bus in Palma, Spain.

This picture was taken from the Soller Vintage Train on the way to Soller.

This picture was taken from the Soller Vintage Train on the way to Soller. These are olive trees.

This picture was taken from the Soller Vintage Train on the way to Soller.

This picture was taken from the Soller Vintage Train on the way to Soller. This is one of several tunnels that the train passed through on way to Soller.

This picture was taken in Soller of the Soller vintage train. Before a road was built this was the only way expect by sea to get from Palma to Soller.