“Leave the port of Palma and head to the city center. Palma de Mallorca, the capital of the island, is a city open to the sea and the bay that takes its name.
Your tour starts with a panoramic drive along the Maritime Promenade en route to Bellver Castle. This is one of the most important examples of Gothic civil architecture in Mallorca. Dubbed ‘the castle of beautiful views’, its imposing form watches over the port. It was built by Jaume II at the beginning of the 14th century, originally conceived as a defensive stronghold and a royal residence. But it became an infamous prison between the Middle Ages and the Civil War. Among many others, the Enlightenment encyclopedist Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos was a prisoner here for six years. The young French Physicist François Arago, who played a role in measuring the Paris Meridian, was also a ‘guest’ of the castle.
Next stop — the Mallorca Cathedral, which presides over the city and frames its very silhouette. Constructed between the 13th and the 14th century, this is one of the finest examples of pure Gothic architecture in all of Europe.
Nearby is the Almudaina Palace — a monument which was converted from an Arab fortress into the residence of the Kings of Mallorca. Your guide will point out the most important aspects of this monument from the outside.
Next, head to the Bull Ring (1929), whose architectural elements stem from the Baroque to the Modernist. The building is perfectly set out, with four main boxes oriented to the cardinal points.”
The weather for our Mallorcan visit was an ideal 74 degrees. By this time in the world cruise, we have seen many castles and cathedrals but in Palma we saw our first bullring. Interestingly enough, due to concern for the bulls, there is only one bullfight a year. The rest of the time, the bullring is idle and open to the public. It has impressive architecture and was completed the year my mother graduated from high school.
Speaking of school, our stop to see the bullring was very close to a school that had something special going on. The sign on the building read “Pope Pius (roman numeral) Collegio” but the children appeared to be of elementary school age. It appeared to be some sort of assembly where the children were sitting in a courtyard and very vocal with their excitement.
I have to admit, I began feeling a little jealous. Whatever was going on looked more fun than I ever remember having in elementary school. I believe Christa had some fun times at School of the Madeline but parents were rarely included in such events. I did volunteer for the annual Halloween carnival. That was fun.
My observation of the school event was not the only time I encountered children on our Palma excursion. There were whole classes of students walking two by two outside Bellver Castle. The teachers coached them to say “Hello” to the tourists as they passed by. One little boy even asked my name!
It is possible that the large number of children I saw during our Palma outing was due to the fact that it was Easter Week. Perhaps, school was out and I was watching vacation activities.
What really brought back memories to me were preschoolers who were holding on to loops on a jump-rope as they walked along. In the summer of 1967, I worked at Bayside Settlement House which was located then at 1702 Front Street. I would take the little day-care children on walks downtown in precisely the same way. I recall the parking structure near the Civic Auditorium was a particularly fun place to explore with the children.
The terrain in Palma is similar to that in San Diego. Father Junipero Serra came from this island and brought plants that ended up being good for California’s agriculture. The fortress which overlooks the city is similar in location, but not design, to our Presidio. One minute, we were driving along in an urban area and the next minute we were surrounded by trees and other vegetation. In many ways, the port at Palma is similar to ours in San Diego.
While the Shore Excursion office personnel arrange for tours, they rely on local businesses to provide the actual tours. The local tour business provides the bus, bus driver and tour guide. The Shore Excursion office always sends a Holland America employee to escort the tour. Father Bill Gold, the ship’s Catholic chaplain accompanied us. He shared an interesting fact that many non-Catholics would not know. The designation “cathedral” has nothing to do with the building but rather to the fact that the bishop uses it for his church. In San Diego, that’s Saint Joseph’s. Father Bill’s other piece of information was much more “down to earth.” His sister had both of her knees replaced and a bus operator advised her it was easier and safer to exit the bus by going down the steps backwards. I have taken this counsel and find it very helpful. Call me backwards if you want to.